Mother’s Day – JULIA MCDERMOTT

May is a busy month. It’s when the school year ends (in the south, anyway), and when graduations happen. Mother’s Day falls in May, Memorial Day weekend occurs, and summer vacation is just around the corner. In my family, there are several May birthdays, at least one wedding anniversary, and this year, there was an engagement announcement. It’s also Brain Tumor Awareness month.

I don’t have any author events scheduled this month, but on Saturday, June 10, I’ll join other local “Sisters in Crime” authors in a panel discussion about publishing at the Decatur Library (see my News & Events page for details).

Earlier this month, I scheduled a photo shoot with the fabulous and talented photographer, Lynn Crow. I needed a professional, updated headshot (not taken by an iPhone) to submit to mystery writers’ conference Bouchercon for its program. I’ll appear at the conference later this year in Toronto.

Lynn had me meet her at the Goat Farm Arts Center in Atlanta to shoot the photos. When she sent me the proofs, I thought I knew which one I should choose for the headshot. However, I liked several, and after I narrowed them down, I asked my Facebook friends to vote for their favorite.

The one above is the winner, 18-6, by my count, and it’s the one I thought I should select. Second place was the one below. I sent the winner to the Bouchercon folks, but I can always crop the “brick wall” one for a closeup headshot alternative for other occasions. I used the other photos (slideshow below) on my website, social media sites, and Amazon author page. And there are a few other (so far, unpublished) proofs I’ve saved in case I need them later.

All in all, I’m glad I had this done. I’d had a previous headshot (only) taken by a different photogragher a few years ago, but since then, I’ve lost a lot of weight. The only other time I’ve had professional photos taken was in my wedding dress when I was engaged to be married, over 35 years ago. I’ve always wished that I’d had more taken (or chosen to keep the proofs). But I had a very limited budget then, and didn’t realize how much I’d want to see those photos later on.

It’s different now that photos are much less expensive and easier to share. I’m more often the one behind the (iPhone) camera, rather than in front of it, and I’m more comfortable with words than images. But I’m happy to share these, and I hope they reflect something about me.

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Because I recently sent my bimonthly newletter* (and a previous announcement, about my new novel, DADDY’S GIRL), this monthly List Post is different.

I won’t list my upcoming events** and travel plans, but focus instead on this Sunday, May 8: Mother’s Day, my son Jack’s birthday, and the sixth anniversary of day Jack (and his dad and I) learned he had a brain tumor.*** Read ALL THE ABOVE for more about that.

Two things about Mother’s Day:

Something memorable happens on a Mother’s Day in DADDY’S GIRL. Be the first to comment, explaining what happens, to whom, and when – and win a free, signed copy of the book!
I have four children, and have celebrated many Mother’s Days. The photo below is of my absolute favorite Mother’s Day gift, ever. My daughter made it in school a long time ago, when she was very young. Her “9 Reasons” were spot on about me, and they melted my heart! (side note: this was when I was into scrapbooking, and I made one for each kid – her and her three older brothers).

In “List” format:

She always knows when to give a hug!
Knows how to break up a fight.
Can sometimes be a little pushy about what she wants!
Warning! Can get very emotional.
Loves to go to the movies!
Knows where to go shopping.
Can drive U Nuts! but is still as sweet as can be!!
Doesn’t yell unless needed to.
She’s the best scrapbooker I know!

*sign up to receive it, under FOR READERS and NEWSLETTER

**see EVENTS

***A friend recently told me she didn’t know that it was malignant – maybe because we were so private about it in the beginning, and we desperately hoped that it was benign. If you read ALL THE ABOVE, you’ll understand. One reason I wrote the book was to tell the true story; another reason was to try to touch others.

Tag: Mother’s Day

List Post, mai 2017 (May)

List Post, mai 2016 (May)