Lights, Camera, etc.

Remember that coat I made?  And the dress?  And the corset?  And the bonnet?

Last weekend I got to wear them all as the model for the cover of The Sleeping Partner, the new Sarah Tolerance book.  I have never been so intimately involved in a book’s cover before; it’s gratified to have my opinion solicited at every turn, but a little unsettling, too: you don’t get to complain about the cover if you’re this involved!  Still, I trust my new publisher enough so that, at this point, I am merely eager to see what they produce.

The idea of the image is to evoke the time and place (hence the coat) and something of Sarah Tolerance’s separateness from the various layers of society through which she moves–and her readiness for trouble.  Attending the photo shoot were the publisher, Nic Grabien; his wife and Plus One Press author Deborah Grabien, and the photographer, Annaliese Moyer.  Annaliese does a lot of live music photo shoots, rock and roll musicians, concerts and so forth, so this is a little off the beaten path for her. But she dived in with gusto (and many lights and bits of esoteric equipment).

We shot the photo in different ways: hair up, hair down; bonnet on, bonnet off, sword at the ready, dagger in hand, table with stuff on it, no table at all, photo lights, natural light.  We were shooting for about two hours, and I have no idea how many shots Annaliese took, but every now and then I’d hear a satisfied “Hmmmm” from behind me.

What I learned was: 1) modeling is not glamorous; it’s work.  2) wearing a properly laced corset makes standing in one place somewhat easier over time. 3) the first breath after you take off the corset is really deep and delicious.

I can’t wait to see my cover.  Watch this space.