Cover Story

I wanted the cover of my book to convey so much.  Maybe too much.   Humor, intrigue and exoticism are just a few.  Then I wondered how I was going to capture all that in one image.  And when I thought about it more, I came back to a photo that Jade took of me in one quick take over a year ago.  One that captures my awkward essence. I had it.  The inspiration for the cover.

 Except it didn't look exotic enough.  Or funny enough.  Something was missing. A few things actually.  I'd have to take a new photo.

Back in October,  just a couple of days after my husband fell off the roof onto his head, almost died with an arm that looked like a billy club, I made him use his good arm to take photos of me. We only had a brief period to fit it in while all the kids were farmed out to friends' houses.  Made all the briefer considering we had to work in Craig's daily post accident nap and the fact that we had a  friend stopping over in half an hour.  No problem.  We can fit this in.  What's it gonna take 5 minutes?  Just snap it and move on, right?

Turns out, it took me over 5 minutes just to get dressed.  You try getting into a cold metal coin bra.  And getting your hair unstuck from the intricate jagged metal chain closure.
Without using scissors.
Then walk down the stairs with your roller skates on.

The stage in the front room has the best afternoon light, so we wouldn't need to use a flash.  I wanted to make sure that the skate was in the shot.  Which required I stick my leg way out (even though it doesn't look that way) arching my back while trying to keep the sword balanced on my oblong head.  And all the while I'm trying to make a face that says "WTF".  But, I'm also trying to make that "WTF look"  look pretty.  Not pretty psycho.  Do you know how hard that is?  DO YOU?  Take a break and try it in the mirror.

Craig, with his left arm in a splint raised above his head keeping his wound elevated to keep the swelling down, has the camera in the other hand.  And he's urging me to change it up and give a variety of expressions.  His arms are starting to tremble with overexertion and he needs his nap.  But we still haven't captured "the one" yet.  What we do have is nearly 100 photos that basically look exactly the same.  Of course, this is precisely when the doorbell rings.

"Am I interrupting something?"  Our friend Hillary asked when she sees me with her young son in tow.

"Oh trust me, it's NOT what it might look like", I retort.

After she left, we finally got it.  The one photo with just enough WTFishness and just enough roller skate.  Which I then passed on to my graphic artist friend, Lisa.  I went on-line and bought the image of a gorgeous Moroccan door.  And she brilliantly put it all together to make my cover a work of art.

So, it's totally ok with me if you judge this book by its cover.

(Wait til you see the back.)

***Addendum:  Craig is getting the plate in his wrist that on the x-ray looked like an IUD removed today.  I guess this means I'm responsible for birth control again.

****Secondary Addendum:  It's now available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble as a printed book and an e-book!  Amazon is up and running with free shipping even and Barnes & Noble is taking pre-orders until Jan. 1, the "official" publication date.