Best Shot

(With a little help from my friends)

Today, we had a photo shoot for the picture on the back cover of Ferradiddledumday. Here's the front cover (the corrected cover—without the things sticking up from the mountain):


The publisher wanted a shot of me doing something of an educational nature with kids. Maybe something country-looking. Naturally I turned to my crit group—and fellow bloggers—for help.

Amy (The Virginia Scribe) has a really good Nikon, so she was the designated photographer). Plus she has two photogenic kids who exude personality and are the age that Ferradiddledumday is geared to. Samantha, a neighbor of Claudia (All Furry Critters), looks like a country girl—maybe because she is. And my cousin Hunter—another country kid who conveniently lives down the road—was on the cover of a previous book of mine, so he's an old hand at posing for a cover shot.

After Amy had taken dozens of shots, we downloaded them onto my iMac. This is our favorite—the definite best shot.


Does that say "reading a country story" to you? Or do you like this one better?


The one in the old gazebo probably doesn't quite work. Too crowded. Looks kind of spooky, though.


This one doesn't have anything to do with reading, but it was fun to see how many of us would fit on one of John's tractors.


After the official photo shoot, we visited the horses. Whenever Cupcake sees a group of kids, she has flashbacks to when she used to give pony rides to my former students, so she didn't join the group. Melody is an attention hog, though.


And what's a visit to a farm without a climb on the pasture fence?


Later, John parked his tractor near the house, and I couldn't resist a photo op. Does this one capture the real me?


Decisions, decisions. . . .

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