Ask me a question, and I will answer. It can be about photography, editing, writing, life--whatever!

I haven't done an Ask Anything session since August, and I'm feeling up for it now.

Why do this?

This is my way of giving back to the community. Many people express hesitancy to ask me about certain things (like photoshopping--I'm not a magician, I promise!), and I like to create an open forum where questions are welcomed.

Have at it!

Edit! Resources for writers added at the bottom!

It happens nearly every other week. I get this message (or something similar): Hi, I like your photos and I'm writing a book and was wondering if I could use one of your pictures for the cover! You'll get credit and compensated when it's published! Or they want to pay me for their cover right away, even when it hasn't been published.

Seriously, it's nice of people to consider me. Really, it means a lot. But here is my universal response: NO. Please, no. No, which is the Spanish word for "No".

Let me explain why before people talk about what a big meanie I am (and I'm addressing this here so I can link people when I tell them my adamant "No" response) in another issue of Long-Winded Journal Entry. Bear with me. But you're interested because I'm clever. Right? Right?! Sheeeeeesh.

Along with being a photographer, I am also a writer, so I totally know where y'all are coming from. I picked up the pen long before I ever picked up a camera. When I was 4, I penned my first story entitled "The Pig Who Flew", because I got tired of my mom telling me that I could do something "When Pigs Fly", so I decided to write a story about one who could because apparently I was also a snarky bitch when I was 4. I wrote my first full length book (as in 80,000 words and above) when I was 12 ("Untitled") about a Mary Sue half-breed vampire with a wicked bad case of amnesia. And decided, "Oy, I want to be published, too!"

(Yes, I still hope that, a decade later. 12 year old me is still there. I have to leash her, or she'd heart my i's and "xoxo" my signatures)

And that's when I started researching publishing (and I still keep up with what's going on, and have for the past decade), and discovered the circus of shit writers have to go through for it to happen. I don't envy them. Well, I do, but they have tons of patience. It's not just sending in a manuscript and you're published like magic. It's finding an agent and being rejected and rejected and rejected and rejected (I've seen writers rejected upwards of 100 times), and maybe something happens, but it's hard to get motivated. And then once they do obtain an agent and an interested publisher, the circus of shit continues.

Among it? They do not choose their own covers! Seriously. Yes. I'm killing the joy here, I know it. Justine Larbalestier wrote all about it here when her American publisher put a caucasian girl on the cover for her book Liar, though the character describes herself as dark skinned. Yes, it sucks that authors have little say. Some may have a little more clout with the image that lands the cover. Those writers are not struggling to get published. They make bank each time a book is released, and even then, very few incredibly successful writers have a say in the image.

Here's who does: the publishing company. Someone is on the payroll to choose some images and run it by the higher ups who then approve an image to be designed for the cover. The images I've had chosen for covers had competition, and I've lost a couple of covers, as well. But the person who contacts me about covers is never, ever, ever the author. It's the cover designer hired by the publisher. Hell, the author sees the covers when I do, and sometimes even after that! That's how little say they have!

So when the designer or someone hired by the publishing company messages me, what will I say? FAB! Yes, yes yes! When someone clearly not versed in the ins and outs of publishing messages me to use a photo for a book that isn't in line to be published? My answer is no, because I'm certainly not so hard-up for cash (and skeezy!) as to accept payment for a book that may not get published, and I am not so obsessed with credit that I would provide a high res image for free. So it's "no".

This is for writers. You need to understand publishing if you have any intention of attempting publication. It is essential. Writers that are naive have a better chance of getting scammed or fucked over by people who are only too willing to take advantage of your goals and dreams. Possibly your best source is published writers and agents. Read their blogs. All of them share a great deal of information about the publishing industry and how to get it all done.

Writer blogs I follow:
Meg Cabot
Rachel Caine
Cassandra Clare
Libba Bray
Neil Gaiman
Jim Butcher (should the man ever decide to update again. It's been, like, over a year.)
Holly Black (who recently had to apologize--take note of this!--for the new cover for Ironside saying, "Okay, you HATED Roiben on the new covers of Ironside. I get it. I really get it. And I showed all the comments to my fabulous editor and fantastic designer and we shall see what they do." See what I mean?)
Justine Larbalestier
Karen Marie Moning
MaryJanice Davidson
Gena Showalter (Yes, I Beefcake Monday, Gena!)
Anne Mini

Literary Agents/Editor/Writer Resource Blogs: (thanks to ~MiSmAtChEd for adding some of these!)
Colleen Lindsay
Galley Cat
Betsy Lerner
Janet Reid
Nathan Bransford
Miss Snark
Absolute Write

Other Resources
Guide to Literary Agents
Predators and Editors
10 Things Teenage Writers Should Know About Writing
Writer Beware
Literary Agent Research

And Because I Miss Snark:
How to Turn Your Query Letter Into Toast
10 Nitwiticisms
3 Things You Did Today That Scream Don't Take Me Seriously
Crapometer First Pages
Crapometer Cover Letters
_{Listen to this woman! She knows of what she speaks!}


Have fun. Be educated. And maybe someday, if I am lucky, my photo will grace your book cover.

I've managed to score a book cover during my "unofficial hiatus" (seriously, that's still happening! I just have tons of work sitting on my harddrive to submit). This one is for Jayne Anne Krentz's book "Obsidian Prey", which is getting a new cover here in the UK...with mah face on it.



Yes, 2009 has been a very successful year for my mug. Three book covers, the MSN America frontpage, the ad in Design Week, and the Wisconsin Dell's Mount Olympus using my image for their Halloween campaign in October (Yes, I knew about that. God, they gave me some fucking funky vampire chompers to top it off. Remember my aversion to "fake things"? Vampire fangs are up there.)...

Which would totally make me feel more awesome if I liked my self portraits more, instead of feeling some strange, awkward indifference to them. Also, that gawky, emo middle/high schooler that still lives inside of me (she's responsible for my obsession with bittersweet romance, so I can't hate her completely. Even if she is the driving force behind my watching both Ghostbusters movies, The Secret of NIMH, Seasons 1 and 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Crow in the last couple of weeks, and she is also responsible for my sitting here in a black hoodie with the hood over my head even though it's pointless and--never mind) is horrified at the idea of seeing my face on more book covers, while the Adult Me is like, "ZOMG A PAYCHECK WHUT!?"

Jeeeeeez, High School Me. Get with the practical "This is What Makes the World Go Round" program!

And I've had it said before in notes about how evil and narcissistic I am and how much I love my own face bladdyblahpoopoo, but I'm addressing it now: this is not a narcissistic thing, OK? It's not like I tell Harlequin Publishing or Little Brown and Co, "Hey, you must use my self portraits so that my insatiable ego can be fed! Seriously! Use it or I will be put out and you would not like to see a girl with red hair put out! We're not nice! We eat baby souls! Use it or I will eat your baby soul!"

I have no intent to be a professional photographer, so name recognition is not what I'm after, and I'm not ashamed to state that getting covers is more about this:


Oh, wait, I'm not in the States anymore. So, it's actually more about this:

_{Omigawwwd, I love you Sir Walter Scott! I loved the Waverley novels!}

So that I can continue to fund this verreh expensive hobby and also put some snacks in my cabinet.

Last day in England, and the trip summary runs from rather good to rather bad (you may keep reading for a semi-depressing, semi-non-depressing ending that may or may not get either better or worse depending on how good or badly my transportation out of here goes):

I spent three days in London at what I can only describe is the London equivalent of a Motel 6, but at least there were no hidden dead bodies in the walls. The shower curtain apparently didn't like myself or my friend, since it fell at least twice during our stay, and since both of us are short, we couldn't fix it. Also, tiny room, tiny beds, tiny continental breakfast, tiny bathroom, and a rather depressing lack of power outlets. Meh, I've stayed in worse.

But I had a lovely shoot in Richmond Park with Jo Rich (Model Mayhem #321970), who is amazingamazing, and it was my first shoot here in the UK! And she was a good sport, even though we walked about 7 or 8 miles total for the shoot.

Then I went to the British Museum to feed my Pathetic Inner Fangirl for Greek pottery and viking jewelry. Pathetic Inner Fangirl was quite happy at the end of the day, despite constant walking about and lack of coffee.

I do believe I slimmed down a bit on this trip.

Now for that depressing bit.

And I am now in Cambridge and was supposed to have another shoot, but the model appears to have disappeared (appears? No, more like did disappear. But I'm being nice in my sulk). Which is quite unfortunate, since I did plan this second leg of my trip (despite not having infinite expenses--I've been eating One Meal a Day cheap pub food all week so I don't spend too much) specifically so I could shoot with her. So I booked my accommodation (at a much better place than the one in London!) and my train ticket home, and by the time it was too late to refund, she had fled.

Sad day. Especially since we had been planning this for months, she seemed like a very trustworthy and professional person I met right here on Deviantart (and is fairly well known on this site), and now I'm not quite sure what to do about it because I'm sad and thought she was my friend.

There's my statement of utter disappointment and sorrow.

I'm not very good at sitting in my room and sulking. I am paying to stay here, so damned if I'm going to lay in my (rented) bed all day and cry about it.

So I went walking and looked around Cambridge (lovely place). And stopped in a cafe to pull a bit of a JK Rowling to write on some napkins and work on my NaNoWriMo novel (I am actually working on it, despite having done absolutely no updating to my Nano page):


You may note the amount of empty sugar packets starting now...

I have to say, I'm kind of glad this trip is over. I've been gone five days, and I miss Scotland. I am aware constantly that I'm not there. I miss the people. I miss sitting in the pubs and chatting endlessly with Scottish bartenders (some of the nicest people I've ever met, I daresay). And I miss the sea, and the rain, and the wind.

I think this journal has been a long time coming, but I only tonight have had the time (or the inclination) to write it. I don't really like to write rant-y journals anymore. They tend to bring out some angry pettiness that give me high school flashbacks, and then I really have the urge to run away. Not because of the pettiness--but because I like to pretend that I spent those 4 years climbing mountains in Tibet. Then I get the people who like to say, "Dude it's cool OMG just chill out PLZ!" because they assume that long journals of a critical nature must mean that I am typing like this:


Mesmerizing, isn't it?! But that's not what my rants look like.

My rants actually look like this:


Ha ha! See what I did there? Oh, yes, I went there... I kiiiiiiid.

But I digress.

I've been getting a lot of notes and comments about photoshopping. Not, "Hey! Just curious as to what you did here..." That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is the ever present, "Would this picture be as good without photoshop?"

Oh, gosh, y'all. Serious pet peeve: When someone makes comments that imply that photoshop is SUPER EVIL OMG and something only shitty photographers use. Or, that photoshop somehow cheapens an image.

Most people don't realize that the tools in photoshop are developed from darkroom techniques. As someone who used to shoot film (With mah old Pentax K1000, which I miss) and develop prints in a darkroom with all those chemicals, I can say that I used dodge and burn and filters and masks and overlays and pretty much many of the same tools I use now to improve upon the image I took in the camera.

I have no idea where this "GET IT RIGHT IN CAMERA OR U SUCK!" snobbery came from, but it's kind of a disturbing trend. I totally agree with understanding lighting and color and contrasts and getting the initial image very close to the image the photographer sees in their head. Some get that right in the camera--it doesn't mean they're more talented, it just means their vision differs. Many times, I get it quite close out of camera and do very little work in photoshop. But it simply depends on the story I'm presenting and how much help I need making it more surreal (the colours in the Alice in Wonderland series are an example. I simply could not accomplish those in the camera.)

Photoshop is a tool. It cannot make a picture more emotional, or more meaningful. It doesn't create stories. It doesn't make a photographer better, or worse. It doesn't create an emotional connection between the image and the viewer. That is all the artist. All photoshop does is allow the artist to refine their vision. Without it, I could not have the vibrant blues and cyans and greens and reds that help me develop my dream worlds and my fairytales. But it all starts in camera. If I don't get the lighting right or the make up or the emotion, it is a useless image. I cannot use photoshop to make my bad pictures good. But I can use it to give people a glimpse into another reality, in my own way.

So to answer the question, "Would this image be just as good without photoshop?"
Maybe so, maybe not. Regardless, my vision would be incomplete.