The making of an author photo - Part II

Novel Spaces decided me. Every member had to submit a head shot and I liked the new blog so much that I didn't even mind. A rectangle with a question mark or a beach scene absolutely would not do. I stuck a hazy cellphone self-portrait in my appointed slot and scheduled a photo shoot with my son. Just in time, too, as the very week the group blog went live Connie Ogle, books editor at the Miami Herald, contacted me about doing a small feature - and a photo was required. All that was left was for my son to appear with his beloved Canon, take a couple shots and I'd be set, right? The fact that I asked twice if he had a slimming lens should have forewarned me.

The morning of the shoot was rainy and grey. The rain eventually stopped and I proceeded to get ready. Predictably, my hair refused to cooperate. Sighing, I hooked it up in my everyday banana comb and gave it up as a lost job. I have all the right makeup but as I rarely touch it, hurriedly swiping on powder and lipstick most days, sudden expertise in such matters as concealer calculus and the Sine Law of eye-shadow application did not spring from my inept fingers. The biggest problem, though, was - the fat. There it was in the first round of photos, mocking me. The Death by Chocolate from Jardin de Tuilleries. The Baileys Irish Cream. The potato salad. All transformed into that f-word. It was hopeless.

My son protested. "But Mom, I love these! You look nice!"

"I look fat! No way. Let's try again." A less good-natured child would have rolled his eyes.

Round two began, this time in the backyard. My skirt was long and the grass was wet. My stomach horrified me despite my son's assurances that he would crop it out. I hated every shot. The problem was not the photography; it was me! The boy requested, then pleaded, and finally ordered: "Smile, Mom. You look like you're suffering. Let's get those dimples. Smile!"

I would have consigned all 125 shots to the recycle bin but my submission to the Herald was due the next morning. I agonized then chose the one that now appears in the sidebar of Novel Spaces, the one in which I had actually managed a half-smile. Get used to it, folks, because it'll be a long while before I subject myself to that particular form of mortification again.

Micromanaging, overediting & knowing when to stop

I'm posting over at Novel Spaces today on Micromanaging, overediting & knowing when to stop. I plead guilty to the first two charges. All are welcome to visit!

Grab the Miami Herald today! :)

It's today! I'm being featured on "What are you reading now" in the Miami Herald, so if you're in South Florida please grab a copy - and an extra one for me!

The online version is on the Herald's "Between the Covers" blog so you can click the link below, hop on over and leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you, and Connie Ogle, the books editor, would too!

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/between_the_covers/2009/07/what-are-you-reading-now-2.html#comments

I'm especially pleased to be featured in the Herald because it's one of my favorite newspapers. During my extended sojourns in Miami my entire Saturdays were devoted to the paper. There was so much of it, and it was all good. It was there I discovered writers like Dave Barry, Carl Hiaasen, Leonard J. Pitts Jr., and others - all great columnists. I didn't know until long after that most of them were nationally acclaimed and had won Pulitzers and such; all I knew back then was that I loved their work. It was also through the Herald book reviews that I discovered writers like Zoe Heller (Notes on a Scandal).

So, if I seem happy and excited today - it's because I am. It's the Herald, after all!

R.I.P. Frank McCourt

Even though he was 78, the news still shocked me. Chauncey Mabe, former books editor at the Florida Sun-Sentinel who now writes a blog for the Florida Center for the Literary Arts, has written a tribute here. I'll repeat my comment on his post:

This is indeed sad news. As a former teacher in the process of reinventing myself I take a particular pride in Frank McCourt’s achievements. Teacher Man is the most unsentimental and profound reflection on the profession that I’ve read. The prologue to that memoir was circulated among my teaching colleagues; it is a brilliant, painful shaft to the heart: Yes, he’s one of us. He knows.

He will be sorely missed, but he’ll live on in his work.

I reviewed Teacher Man on this blog almost two years ago. (The post is here.) His other books, Angela's Ashes (for which he won a Pulitzer Prize) and 'Tis, have been languishing on my wish list for too long. I'm moving them to the head of the queue.

My first Novel Spaces post

My first post over at Novel Spaces is up today... Don't be a stranger - come across and say hi!

The making of an author photo - Part I

I didn't want my image on the Internet. Didn't want it my book(s) either, and definitely not in any newspaper. For an author these days achieving this, I realized, would demand a bit of dodging, running and conniving.

When the editor of Café Au Lait sent me the list of items I needed to submit, a photo was among them. Was this optional? I asked hopefully. Yes, she replied. Bingo! One down - but how many more to go?

The blog came next and I saw that I had lots of company in the incognito-blogger department. Then I realized that although this was true of writer blogs in general, it was certainly not the norm for the sites of published authors. Norm be damned, I resolved. My avatar would be a beachscape, and that was that.

The press releases were a bit trickier to negotiate since an author photo was de rigeur there but no one made it an issue - except for the features editor at one local newspaper. She called and told me she'd run an article, but insisted on a photo.

"I don't have a recent, decent one," I replied. That was the truth. All my decent pictures were taken years ago when I was young. And thin.

"No problem!" she chirped. "Are you in Trinidad at the moment?"

My alarm-o-meter redlined. "Uh, well, yes..." Damn. A lie would have solved the looming problem but where was one when you needed it?

"Okay, then. I'll send a photographer around."

"No!" I thought fast. "You can't do that."

"Really, it's no problem. We do this all the time."

"You don't understand," I squeaked. "I have the cold, I've been in bed for two days and I'm an absolute wreck right now. I cannot, CANNOT face a photographer." This was the truth, but it sounded like a whopper even to my ears. I produced a wracking, hacking cough for effect and the editor lady capitulated.

"Okay," she decided. "I'll run it as is this time but I'm just letting you know I'll be coming back at you for that photo."

Ha, I thought. Catch me. But I could feel my time running out...

Men, Fidelity and a Skillet

Novel Spaces is honored to host Bonnie Glover, our very first guest blogger, on July 10th. Her column, with the intriguing title Men, Fidelity and a Skillet: Back to the Basics, promises to be a thriller - so don't miss it!

Bonnie is the author of Going Down South (nominated for an NAACP Image Award for an outstanding literary work of fiction earlier this year) and The Middle Sister.

News just in: Bonnie Glover's novel Going Down South is #3 on Essence magazine's paperback fiction list - that's the August issue that's on newsstands now. Congratulations, Bonnie!

Novel Spaces Launch & Giveaway #7

You are cordially invited to the launch of

Novel Spaces

Date: July 1st, 2009

Venue: NovelSpaces.Blogspot.com

Contributing Authors:
Phyllis Bourne Contemporary Romance
K.S. Augustin Science Fiction & Romance
KeVin Killiany Science Fiction
Stefanie Worth Paranormal
Farrah Rochon Romance
Terence Taylor Horror
Karen White-Owens Contemporary Romance
Marissa "Pynk" Monteilh Mainstream & Erotic
Jewel Amethyst Contemporary Romance
Shauna Roberts Fantasy, Science Fiction & Historical
Liane Spicer Contemporary Romance

Giveaways * Contests * Guest Columns by Agents, Editors,
Publicists & Award-Winning Authors

A couple months ago I started a series of book giveaways on this blog. Six have gone by and the last, a copy of Café au Lait, will go to a visitor who leaves a comment on any post on Novel Spaces. Just mention over there that you came from here - and you're in! Contest closes July 31! *

*Update: The giveaway has been postponed. Leave a comment on Novel Spaces in September for your chance to win a copy of Café au Lait!

And the winner is...

The winner of Book Giveaway #6 is DeeDee. Congratulations! I'll be e-mailing you shortly to request a mailing address, and A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena De Blasi should be winging its way to you soon.

There's one more giveaway to go... I'll try to tie it in to the launch of Novel Spaces, so stay posted!

A third Amazon review :)

This writing life is so uncertain, you learn to treasure every glimmer of light that comes your way. My ray today came from Café Au Lait's third review on Amazon. It was added June 17 but I didn't see it until tonight. The reader got the book in a library and is actually considering buying it. Here are some tidbits that have me smiling into the screen right now:

"Wasn't a 'romance' reader until this book!"
"a book that transcends the genre"
"plot is well-thought out"
"kept me intrigued the ENTIRE time"
"love the characters"

Thank you, reader, whoever you are. Now where did I put those happy-dance shoes? Never mind - I'll dance without!