Here's the smell of blood still!
Will these hands ne'er be clean?
Today, Max and I worked on the cover for the POD of Half-Vampire, and I asked him to scan in some photos for me, ones I'd taken of Eric's chase scene down the Royal Mile, through Dunbar Close, and over the wall into Cannongate Kirkyard in Edinburgh, Scotland. (The photos were taken with a film camera in 2004 and 2005, as I did not buy a digital camera until 2007.) I'm hoping to use the photos to make a book trailer for Half-Vampire.
As I was hunting through a photo album to pull out the correct shots, I found this little beauty, taken in the autumn of 2004.
I cannot remember this child's name, but she was the daughter of a couple in Perfidious Albion, a medieval enthusiast group I hung out with while I worked on my MSc degree. We were preparing marzipan figures for a banquet, and this little gal really had fun with the red food coloring. When I realized what she'd done to herself, I borrowed that mega-Swiss army knife from a fellow in the group (it was razor-sharp, so we had to be really careful), put it in her hands, and said, "Now, look at me like 'What have I done?!'"
Bless her heart, but she was a little ham, and she did exactly what I wanted.
I gave her parents a copy of this photo, and they framed it and put it in their living room!
This was a happy bit of humor in a day that was mostly stressful with trying to battle Amazon's self-publishing system yet again. :)
And the editing of the photo makes her look even more like someone who just chopped someone up. I don't remember the original photo having her face so white. Great job, and funny picture!
ReplyDeleteYou're right; it wasn't.
ReplyDeleteI cropped it, obviously, and blurred out the arms of the people in the background. Then on picnik.com, I used the HDR app to really intensify everything for a greater contrast. :)
Well, it worked. looks really, uh, what's the word? Psycho. With just a splash of innocence.
ReplyDelete"Psycho with just a splash of innocence."
ReplyDeleteI'm going to remember that line and use it somewhere in a book. Really.
Cool! Glad you liked it.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fabulous pic! And I CANNOT wait for your book trailer! We will have to chat about how you did it and how it comes out...I would love to do one, but am a little sketchy with visual computer stuff. Exciting!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteThe first book trailer will no doubt be the one our school's media productions class is doing. I have a lot to do before I can allow myself time to work on my own book trailer. Besides grading papers and doing housework, I have to work on formatting the POD version of the book and on writing up the tests for it. (Our library needs the tests for contests, but I'll offer them free for other teachers as well.)
lol! It's creepy when you first look at it but I loved the story behind it!
ReplyDeleteAwesomely creepy. (=
ReplyDeleteThanks, CQG and Jo.
ReplyDeleteNice name, Jo. ;)
A friend sent me a picture of Lady MacBeth, pointing to the door and screaming at her dog who had "piddled" on the stone floor with the caption : "Out! Out, damn Spot!"
ReplyDeleteEerie photo but sweet "behind-the-scenes" backstory to it. And Kindle Direct Publishing can be a unique challenge! Roland
Howdy and welcome to the blog.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've seen the dog one before. I also have a large pencil eraser that says, "Out, damn spot!" :D
I currently have the KDP thing working fairly well; it's the POD part that's giving me pain at the moment.
That was an eerily appropriate laugh for my day. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteCute kid!
ReplyDeleteFood coloring is great stuff, and so is strawberry jam, which adds texture. It can also be licked off fingers with convincing relish.