...THE PICTURE

...Okay, last item! So my last item on the Marketing Chore List supplied by my editor was to provide a picture of myself to put on the back cover. Simple, right? That's why I left it 'til last. Wrong!

The problem, as I'm sure most of you will agree, is that the face we see in the mirror every day is not the face that appears in pictures other people take of us. We ask "Who is that person?" Certainly not me!

Don't get me wrong, I like my face, and I'm not really a vain person. At least I didn't think so until the past two weeks. Hmm....

After a couple hundred pics taken by my artist husband, who I trusted implicitly with the task of capturing the essence of my being in a pleasing, attractive way, I was left wondering where the years had gone as we sifted through pictures depicting the face of this "mature" woman. 

One of the problems we faced was the fact that since I talk all the time about my writing inspiration coming from nature, I wanted an outdoorsy picture with mother nature.  Lighting was a big problem, squinty looks from looking into the sun was another. But the biggest problem was this habit I seem to have of trying to imitate Elvis with a crooked, sneery smile. We eliminated all of those and were left with about ten half-decent pictures. I wasn't looking for a sexy pose, or beauty pageant winner pose. The biggest hurdle was accepting the fact I wasn't going to look twenty.


I even referred back to Eckhart Tolle's book  "A New Earth" and reinforced his teachings about living in ego. Is the picture as important as the contents of the book? No!

In the end,  I decided all I wanted was a a pleasant, inviting look that showed my readers I am an intelligent, creative person, capable of writing a great story, as well as appearing as a warm, approachable person. (Is that asking too much? LOL) And here it is:

If there is a lesson to be learned from this blog, I guess it would be to never assume it's easy to represent yourself to the public the way you want to. Park your ego at the door and live in the now as you "mature".

Do I like my final choice for the book cover? Yes.  Does it convey what I want it to? Yes.

Have a great writing week and keep on keeping on writing.