This is what happens when a professional image team gets on your case….

An Image Snafu?

Says my bio: Nicky Wells is your ultimate rock chick author.
Says Cameron, my publicist, “Do you reckon maybe you should, you know, look the part a bit more?”
Says me, “What do you mean, look the part? You know how much I love and breathe rock!”
Says Cameron, “I do. But people who don’t know you, won’t.”

Hm. Point taken, I suppose. What to do about that, beyond Music Monday and my eternal ramblings about all things rock? Oh, I know. A new author photo. the ultimate rock chick likeness! YES! It was about time I had some rock-star fun again.

Hey, Hey, I want to be a Rock Star!

So. Arrange another photo shoot down Bristol-way with ace photographer team, Deborah and Simon Smith, pack the family in the car, and off we go. Last Saturday, we set up the studio, got organised, and got snapping. Between them, Deborah and Simon took well over 500 photos of me in all sorts of arrangements, ranging from the sublime to the outright…hilarious. Loud music and wind machines featured heavily at one point, as did many a laugh and exasperated snort, not to mention endless cups of tea (wine and beer came later) and a truck load of chocolate. The result? See for yourself.

We even had themed mugs. #RockStarService

Showing Off My ‘True Colours’:
Your Ultimate Rock Chick Author

Photo 1
Is that Jon I spot in the distance?
Photograph by Deborah and Simon Smith

Photo 2
Turn up that music….
Photograph by Deborah and Simon Smith

Photo 3
Let’s try a star pose..
Photograph by Deborah and Simon Smith

Photo 4
Collar’s up! LOL!
Photograph by Deborah and Simon Smith

Photo 5
Hello. I’m your Ultimate Rock Chick Author. 🙂
Photograph by Deborah and Simon Smith

Photo 6
Wistful Rock Chick Author
Photograph by Deborah and Simon Smith

Photo 7
Loving that Guitar!
Photograph by Deborah and Simon Smith

Hey Hey.... I really am a rock star, LOL!

Photo 8
Hey Hey…. It’s fun to be a rock star, LOL!
Photograph by Deborah and Simon Smith

Thinking about my next novel in black and white...

Photo 9
Thinking about my next novel…
Photograph by Deborah and Simon Smith

Photo 10
Singing my life with my song…
Photograph by Deborah and Simon Smith

Photo 11
Strike another pose… Me and My Guitar!
Photograph by Deborah and Simon Smith

And phew… that was it! After 500-and-something photos, we declared it a wrap.

Done.

Meet the Crew!

All photos courtesy of Deborah and Simon Smith.
Nail art by Isobel. Hair and make-up consultancy by Isobel.
A huge, big, enormous THANK YOU goes to ‘The Smiths’!!
I loved that you had as much fun as I did. You totally rocked,
and you know how much this means!

Star Crew ~ YOU ROCK! 🙂

Now then…Have your say!

So. Which ones do YOU like best? I need a portrait and a body shot, with or without guitar and chair. I have two favourites, but having picked this lot out of 500 pictures, I might have lost perspective along the way, no pun intended. Help me out here…

Make the editor’s choice today ~ which photos are going to be The Ones?

This Author’s Evolution…

Just for fun, take a look at the history of my author photograph. It kind of captures the development of my author career quite beautifully.

From left to right…
Holiday Snap >> First Purposeful Author Photo >> First Proper Shoot: Nicky Writes Romance (That Rocks Your World) >> Your Ultimate Rock Chick Author.

It’s quite poignant, this, as it also captures the re-emergence of ‘me’ from within the Mummy-me. If you have kids, you’ll know what I mean.

ROCK ON!

(And don’t forget to vote!)

What’s in a photo, you wonder? Well, anything, and everything.
When I launched my debut novel, Sophie’s Turn, unto the world, I was proud of the product (am, to this day, incidentally) and excited to present it to a keen readership. I was a nifty author (still am, of course) but a hapless publisher. As many of you have read over the past few months, my learning curve was vertical in every respect. But there’s one aspect I haven’t yet talked about: the author’s likeness.

The what? you say, incredulous. Yes, the author’s likeness, the legalese term that the industry appears to prefer. A photo, to you and me.

Well, I needed one. Naturally, I hadn’t given that any thought until I started blogging, tweeting and Facebooking. I frantically dug around in thousands of digital photos taken over the past eight years or so, only to discover that not only wasn’t there a decent photo of me anywhere, but also there wasn’t a single (not one!) photo of me without kids or husband. Somewhere along the motherly career path, I appear to have been lost as a person in her own right. But that’s a different blog post for a different time.

Nicky’s author image, mach 1

Never fear, I am crafty with the old cut-and-paste function! Rather than being an egg-head, I selected the most suitable photo and cut myself out of it. Yes, that one there, to the left. What’s that white fog, you want to know? Well, that was my older son’s hand, once, but it looked rather weird there, all chopped off and disembodied. Granted, the white scwobble doesn’t look much better, but it did the job. For… all of four weeks or so. Then I decided I need something more suitable. When we happened to have some friends visiting and I had some time and looked presentable for once, we took some more snaps. The outcome was author photo number 2, yes, the one to the right here. An improvement, don’t you think?

Say cheeeeese! Nicky’s author photo, mach 2

This photo has graced my author’s pages, guest blogs and avatars all over the web ever since. It’s an alright photo. It’s sunny, and very me. But it’s also decidedly… unexciting. Unglamorous. Not like me at all then, seeing as that I write romance that rocks your world! What to do? There had to be a solution somewhere. Well, of course there was. An obvious one, even. I needed a photographer, and a photo shoot. So that’s exactly what I did, with the help of amazing friend and budding photographer, Deborah Smith, and a superbly professional camera courtesy of Simon Smith.

Shooting a likeness: The big photo shoot for Nicky’s ultimate author photo!

9 am: return from school run and switch on computer
9:10 am: switch off computer as feeling uninspired. Potter around the house
10 am: run bath and consume cup of tea
11 am: emerge from bath and dry hair
12 pm: have lunch, select outfit, beautify. Yes, beautify. The whole works. Actual make-up. Eye shadow and everything. Might as well, just this once!

2 pm: arrive at Deborah’s house styled and ready, carrying bubbly for inspiration and courage.

Deborah getting ready for photographic action…

Spend a delightful hour flouncing around, posing, giggling, turning the music up loud and living every rock-star photo-shoot cliche and movie quote under the sun (go on, give me a bit more shoulder…. love the camera…. work it, baby!)

3 pm: done!

Job done! Cheers!

A portfolio of likenesses…

Very first picture… not bad.

A little shimmy on the floor?

Work it baby, work it…

Hello, I’m your local author!

Oh la la!

…and here it is, the ultimate author’s likeness: Nicky’s new, official author photo! ***Drumroll!***

Romance That Rocks Your World! Meet Nicky Wells, Author.

So there, that wasn’t so difficult. In fact, that was fun. And what a difference, huh? (Please don’t tell me you like my old pictures better. No, honestly, don’t. You can’t be serious!)

A big, massive Thank You to Deborah for taking the time to indulge my vanity, snap 150+ pictures (or thereabouts) and having fun along the way. You are a rock star and a superhero. Here is your credit:

ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF DEBORAH SMITH.

or:

AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DEBORAH SMITH.

I like the look of that–there’s a career here for you, Debbie! And, dear reader, now YOU can tell me about your photo moments! Have you lost your identity among the nappies and the baby puree, too? Are you ready to be snapped by the paparazzi anytime? Do you feel the urgent need to glam up, go out, and have fun? Or… have you got that ACE photo of yourself that inspires you with confidence on a bad hair day, anytime? Let me know…