It’s been a long day, and I have absolutely no energy to write a blog post tonight. So I’m just going to write quickly about author photos. I need to get some – every author needs photos. But I haven’t had time to get professional photos taken. So instead, to a recent request, I’ve sent the following.

The first three are informal.

The next three are more formal.

These are the raw, untouched photos. No cropping, no photoshop.

Once, I heard a woman – a not particularly nice woman – call writers narcissists because they did things like blog, post pictures of themselves. It made me want to laugh hysterically. She had no idea how difficult it is, for people as introverted as most writers are, to do those sorts of things. I wanted to tell her, you follow this profession and see whether you can handle it! (There are things I avoid, although I shouldn’t. Signings, unless I have a book just out, are one of them. That’s probably not a smart thing for a writer to do.) Being so public makes you hyperaware of all your flaws.

I also wanted to tell her, where do you think the books you read come from? Writers who do these sorts of things to make sure their books are read. Because if you’re a writer and you don’t have an online presence, and you’re not J.D. Salinger, you’re going to pass under the radar. I’ve seen it happen to several of my friends, wonderful writers who don’t get the attention or readership they deserve.

So there you go, that’s my blog post for today: pictures, and a minor rant. I’ll probably post them on my Press page, temporarily. But it’s time to call a photographer and get real ones taken. I think I’m at that place, as a writer. (I probably was some time ago.)

Yes, this publicity thing is hard, when you’re an introvert . . .