One of the many thing neither of us knew when Eric started this literary journey is that new authors and/or non-famous individuals are required to do a lot of their own promotion. Eric has had great support from his agency and publisher - but you know I had to get my crafty hands all messed up in this, too. So I had the idea to do a cosplay-ish photo shoot with Eric as Dr. Potter! We just happen to have a generous and enthusiastic neighbor, Bob, who has a small Old West town in his backyard AND who spent his career as a professional photographer. Not only did he agree to let us use his town, he agreed to make the photos, lent us some props and costumes, gave lots of helpful and insightful suggestions, and just helped take it to the next level. Well, more like a couple-three levels up the chain! Our dear neighbor Carla, also contributed costumes!
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| A daguerreotype-ified shot by Randi. |
We also recruited several other neighbors & friends to be "townsfolk" and they came out on a December Sunday to stand around outside in the Montana weather wearing what they dug out of their closets and what others brought. We. Are. Damn. Lucky.
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| A sepia shot. |
Bob shot in both color and sepia. Because we knew we would ultimately use the photos in non-full-color, we were able to cobble together simple costumes for all our volunteers more easily: color coordination be damned. Eric's friend, Randi, was able to make the color photos look like daguerreotypes, too!
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| We knew we weren't likely to use color images as-is, but we thought it was a good idea to have them. Either way we did not consider color-coordination when dressing. Ahem. |
Then afterwards we invited the whole "town" up to our place for a warm lunch and cool beverages. Not everyone could make it, but we nearly finished it all anyway.
I got to make and design **lots of cool stuff for this, too! But I will post about those things separately. Probably. (see below)
*Well, I spent the first week of December finishing up preparing for the photo shoot, too. Also, tidying up the house after our moms' visit and decorating for the holidays. I also dyed my roots. [wink] This is why no one got a holiday card this year... no time to make them, didn't send any.
**I'll just give you a list preview... because I know you're dying to know. I made Eric's suit and vest, customized the store-bought crate, designed and applied the Sagwa labels to the bottles, designed and painted the banner, & made some bonnets.
ADDENDUM: I'll add links to the various projects as I post them. I am nothing if not accommodating... about showing off my crafts, that is.
Chock-a-saw Sagwa Tonic Bottles
Promotional Banner
Why am I just now seeing this? All this stuff you did and made, the Western town next door (seriously, who has that?) are just simply amazing! Well done, all, I can't wait for the book!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Peggy! Ain't it a strange and wondrous world that we have a neighbor with an Old West town front?
DeleteDoesn't it just seem like this move to Montana was pre-destined. Like the universe had it planned all along. You move there, perfect writing place, the book gets published, you have neighbors who have just what you need for promoting the book and are willing and want to help. I mean, your neighbor could have had a super hero town back drop instead of an old western one. I just love how all of this is falling into place.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem a little serendipitous!
ReplyDelete