Photo Shoots

Wow, have I had a busy three days. Sunday night through Wednesday I've been fined and dined by the wonderful folks at B&H, my new publisher. My editor, Karen Ball, and the marketing director, Julie Gwinn, have spent the days with me, introducing me to everyone I'll be working with and meeting with me to discuss all the marketing that will be going into my books.

On Tuesday we had a 10-hour photo/video shoot that was fabulous. Julie, photographer Michael Gomez, and other design folks had spent a lot of time beforehand planning the different looks and scenes we wanted. These various looks will be used with individual novels, plus we wanted general shots to be used on my web site, back book covers, etc. I had brought a huge suitcase of clothes and accessories. The wonderful Joel Green, who's done make-up and hair for models, singing stars, even President George Bush and his wife, was hired to make me look good. After every shot Joel would change the make-up and hair a bit for a different look.

Julie found a photo of a red velvet tufted chair she wanted me to sit in for one of my general shots. She scoured local antique shops until she found one like it to rent for the day. She also had the cool idea of doing a classic suspense look, perhaps even in sepia tones, sort of like something from the Hitchcock era. So she looked for an old classic convertible that we could use. The car was parked in a garage with white sheets around it. They put me in a black trench coat behind the wheel, and in some of the shots I wore a scarf around my head, blowing in the "wind" created from a fan and a thin wire holding out the end of the scarf. In the final picture the car will be merged into a background of a road disappearing into trees on a moonlit night.

I was surprised at how many people it took to create all this. Michael had 5-7 assistants at all times.

In other shots I'll be in an alleyway on a cold night, sitting on a great-looking old stone staircase outside, walking through misty woods, and in an old freight elevator surrounded by thick wire mesh and brick. When the photos are done I'll be able to show you actual shots, and then how each looks when merged with its background.

Getting ready.

Getting dressed in the black trench coat.


Setting up the car for the shot.

Ready for the elevator shots.


Setting up for shots in the red chair.

Waiting to be photographed for the alley shots.

Watching the photographer manipulate a photo
in a rough idea of what the shot could look like against the alley background.

During my stay in Nashville I've been at the beautiful
Wyndham Union Station downtown--and near the B&H offices.
The hotel used to be an old train station. It still has
the rich wood, decorated walls and incredible stained glass ceiling.



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Winner for last week's Photo Friday (chosen by me):

kimsch, with this caption: My hair is gone and this combover just isn't working!

Congrats! Contact me for your free novel.