Tag: Freelancing for Newspapers

Book cover shoot confuses the dog

Annie watched me, confused. Why was I setting up a card table on the deck and covering it with a tablecloth? Why was I carrying out dishes, silverware, cloth napkins, and a candle? And hey, why was I putting her bowl on that table, where she couldn’t even reach it?

outdoor table set with white cloth, ruby-colored plate and bowls, wine glasses with red wine, and a red, white and blue dog bowl. Set up for a photo shoot.

I was doing a “photo shoot,” trying to create a cover picture for my poetry collection, Dining Al Fresco with My Dog, coming out next year from Moonpath Press. Turns out it’s not as easy as it looks.

For years I marketed that book as Bully Wind and pictured a woman standing outside in a storm, defying the weather. My editor vetoed that title. This one is more fun anyway, but here I was fighting the Oregon coast wind to set my table.

For the first try, I used one of the tablecloths my mother embroidered sixty years ago for her canasta club, my blue Currier and Ives plate, Annie’s silver bowl, and one Oregon Coast Aquarium commemorative wine glass. I filled my plate with raviolis and an artichoke and put kibble in Annie’s bowl. I took umpteen photographs, trying not to get too much of the hot tub, the chain link fence, or the defunct yellow wheelbarrow I plan to turn into a planter someday.

Photo shows part of a table with a lavender cloth embroidered with purple and green flowers and a big yellow dog licking her nose and standing over an empty silver bowl.

I left the wine glass empty because wine conflicts with my meds, and I don’t actually drink much. Once everything was set up and photographed, we did indeed dine al fresco. It was delicious, although the raviolis were a little cold. However, in the photos, the food looked disgusting.

There’s an art to photographing food, and the pros use a lot of tricks that make the food look good. Check out this site about styling food for photos. You won’t believe the things they do. For example, that “syrup” on the pancakes might actually be motor oil, and there might be glue in that cereal instead of milk.

I sent photos of the table without food. The editor liked the concept, but said Annie needed her own wine glass, silverware and cloth napkin.

Okay. This time, waiting until the sun wasn’t blasting the shooting area, I used my good white tablecloth, my red Depression dishes, and Annie’s fancy bowl with pictures of dogs on it. I found two wine glasses without writing on them and poured red wine in them, taking a few sips as I went along. I didn’t bother putting food in the dishes because, ick.

This time the editor liked the shots, but she said the dog’s bowl and silverware weren’t completely in the frame and I needed to reshoot in high resolution, something I knew nothing about. There’s a setting for that on my phone? Turns out there is.

I will be reshooting again tonight. Dinner is leftover stir fry for me, Purina’s “vibrant maturity” kibble for Annie. There will be wine in our glasses, but I promise Annie won’t be drinking any.

AI generated photo shows a golden retriever sitting on a chair at a table in a garden. The table has plates, candles, and a big hot dog with a parsley garnish.

This time of year, dining outside is wonderful, but it feels odd doing it alone. I miss the family barbecues when it was too hot in the house, so we took everything out to the patio, sat around the picnic table, and dove in. Hey, there’s a poem about that in the book.

I have set up many pictures for this blog. Usually it entails plopping some object on a plain surface, taking its picture and uploading it to WordPress.com. I also purchase art from 123rf.com and use free art from pexels.com.

Is it common for an author to be asked to provide her own cover image? Not so much, but it happens. In the best cases, you have an artist or photographer in the family or already own the perfect picture. Otherwise, it’s time to get creative.

I have had good and bad experiences with book covers chosen by others. The original cover of my novel Azorean Dreams, which was supposed to show a romantic couple in the Azores Islands off the coast of Portugal, actually showed a scene from Italy. When I complained that the guy was missing my character’s mustache, they drew one in. Worse, after the book was published, I saw that picture on the back cover in magazine ads all over the place.

It gets worse. I published a book titled Freelancing for Newspapers years ago. (It’s out of date, but still has good advice. If you want a copy, I’ll send it to you for free). The publishing house decorated the cover with a stack of folded newspapers. Makes sense. But on one of those newspapers in big, legible type is the word “genital warts.” Embarrassing!

For a book cover, you need more than just a great picture. It has to be eye-catching and appealing. It has to be a unique high resolution vertical shot, and you need to think about where the type will go, what colors will be prominent, and who owns the rights to the “image” you’re using.

You can’t just rip off a picture from the Internet. You can, but it’s wrong. There are agencies that sell photos, artwork and images created by artificial intelligence, like the one pictured here with the checkered tablecloth from 123rf.com.

The editor preferred to go with an original. So I’ll be setting the table tonight when the light is right. Then Annie and I will dine in style.

Have you ever set up a scene for a photo shoot? Tell us about it in the comments.

Does anyone have a dog who actually sits at the table to eat?

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Tricks Food Photographers Use to Make Food Look Delicious

Robo-Guy Just Doesn’t Understand Me

I’m writing this while listening to “on hold” music that sounds like the record is stuck and somebody needs to move the needle. I try not to do non-writing business during my writing time, but if I wait until later to call my insurance company, I’ll lose my courage, so now, while we have sun and hail happening at the same time (craziest winter ever), I dial the 800 number and encounter Robo-Guy.

Now, Robo-Guy and I have a problem. He does not understand what I’m saying. I think I’m speaking English. I’m enunciating as hard as I can. And yet he doesn’t seem to get me. He keeps spitting out a list of choices, none of which apply to my situation. Specifically, I’m turning 65 on Thursday, I have gotten a pile of stuff in the mail from Medicare and Blue Shield and I don’t understand how the two insurances interact. Do I have a Blue Shield “supplement plan” plus Medicare or what? This is not on Robo-Guy’s list, the same list I saw online before I decided I would have to use the telephone.

Every time I start to mutter to myself, he stops and restarts his list. I must be silent unless I can say something that’s on the list. BUT IT’S NOT ON THE LIST.

I take a chance. I say “Medicare supplement.”

“Did you say benefits?”

“No.”

“My mistake.” He repeats the list.

I repeat “medicare supplement.”

He says, “Did you say benefits?”

Head slap. “Yes.” I’ll say anything that gets me to a human being.

So I get one. I immediately forget his name. Dennis? We’ll call him Dennis. I give could-be-Dennis my information. He puts me on hold. The line goes silent. Am I still connected? Oh! There he is. My plan does not show me having Part D. Part D? But he’s not the right guy, which I knew because I picked a “wrong” choice to get to a human. Would I like to be connected to the other guy? Yes.

Commence the loud hold music. I start to scribble because I am unable to sit and do nothing and the music cannot be listened to. Why is loud annoying music considered better than silence?

Oh! Dennis. He’s still working on it. Hold on.

Why not give us news, information, quizzes, gossip, the Beatles, anything but this noise? How about, this is brilliant, how about employing professional “hold chatters,” friendly people who will talk to you while you’re on hold. You could talk about anything: work, kids, recipes, the weather, frustration with your in-laws. Kind of like therapy. I think it’s a great idea, as long as they’re live people.

Hey! Dennis has delivered me to Erica, who actually makes jokes. She’s going to check which is my primary and which is my secondary insurance. She giggles. “Who’s on first, who’s on second?” She actually remembers the old comedy routine. I love Erica.

Now I’m back on hold. The music didn’t miss a beat. For anyone calling government, insurance or financial institutions, always use the bathroom first and come supplied with coffee, tea, or whiskey and something to do because it’s going to take a while.

Erica is back. I’m listed as a “PPO retiree.” Okay. Blue Shield is still my primary insurance and Medicare is secondary. Is that what it’s supposed to be? Shouldn’t it be flip-flopped with Medicare primary? Somebody who is older than me and understands this stuff, please explain in plain English?

Erica offers to transfer me to another person. I can’t take anymore. “Not today,” I say. I may be over-insured, but going into my birthday, at least I am covered. I am double-blessed with insurance from my late husband and from Uncle Sam. I know a lot of people struggle to have any kind of insurance at all. I am lucky to have had Blue Shield all these years via Fred. On my own, I’d be at the mercy of the Affordable Care Act, which our president wants to abolish.

I’m still thinking about Robo-Guy. Oddly, I feel guilty, like I screwed up our conversation. He wasn’t even real, but he sounded so real, so anxious to please yet so perplexed by what I was saying.

So, tell me about your Robo-Guy experiences. Does he have trouble understanding you, too?

***

I wasn’t going to write about my upcoming birthday anymore. So I’m turning 65. Get over it, right? Right. But let me close with two important reminders about the upcoming anniversary of my birth (Thursday, Thursday, Thursday).

Some of my local area friends are joining me for lunch at The Chalet in Newport on Thursday at noon. Contact me if you want to come, too, so we can get a big enough table. No presents or even cards are necessary. I’m still thinking I will end the day at The Drift Inn in Yachats, where the music begins at 6 p.m. Let me know if you want to join me there, too. In between, I might go for a long hike if the weather is decent. If not, maybe I’ll do a little antiquing.

This is my kind of tea party

IMG_20150131_150700963[1]An ocean of hot tea, plates of itty-bitty sandwiches, sugar cookies shaped like teapots, and sorbet eaten with doll-sized spoons, plus books–what’s not to like? Saturday I was one of the guest authors at the annual Samaritan House tea in Newport Oregon. The tea raises funds to support our local homeless shelter. The ladies who organize it go all out, and it shows. The tables and walls were decorated with books and antique tea cups. The programs, thick with ribbons and more teacup images, included recipes and bookmarks to use on our next reading adventures. The beautifully crafted treats included cucumber sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, orange lavender polenta cakes, black olive and rainbow chard bars, and little teapot figures created with green grapes and frosting.

IMG_20150131_152111126[1]Held at First Presbyterian Church, the tea sells out early every year. Middle-aged and old ladies and young moms bringing their little girls jam the fellowship hall. They doll up in flouncy dresses and big hats decorated with feathers, flowers, and lace. It’s a scene right out of Great Gatsby–if it was cast with our friends and neighbors. The atmosphere is loud, giddy with too much sugar and caffeine, and generous. In addition to the tickets, the tea-goers bid on a silent auction, buy the books and teacups decorating their tables, and donate cash to the cause.

The theme varies. This year as part of “Tea and Tomes,” six authors were invited to display and sell their books and give brief talks about their work. We shared a table and swapped stories from our publishing adventures. It was fun getting to know each other and showing off our books. Besides me, the authors included: M.C. Arvanitis, author of middle grade and young adult fiction; Patsy Brookshire, author of the novels Threads and Scandal at the Willamina Quilt Show; Deborah Lincoln, author of the historical novel Agnes Canon’s War; Deborah H. Trusty, author of The Kid from Valsetz, a biography of former Newport city manager Don Davis; and Karleene Morrow, who wrote a novel titled Destiny and How to Write a Novel. Morrow passed away recently, but her friends brought her books and told her story.

Many of the people at the tea knew me only as the girl behind the piano at  Sacred Heart Church, which was where I had to go right after the tea, to play for the 5:30 Mass. They were surprised to see how many books I have published. I had five at the table, Childless by Marriage, Shoes Full of Sand, Stories Grandma Never Told, Azorean Dreams, and Freelancing for Newspapers. Info on all of them at http://www.suelick.com/Products.html.

For those who think I’m amazingly talented, I tripped over the microphone cord after my talk. I also dropped one of my little sandwiches face down on the carpet. Nobody’s perfect.

The photo above shows me on the right and my friend Pat Stern in her fancy hat.

Have a cup of tea and read a book. It feels good.