How do I look?

So I just got my new author photo, which I love, but it also makes me think of all the previous photos I’ve had taken and where I was in my life at that time.

Author photo 2022

Here is my most recent photo and I look hopeful, I think, and friendly. This was the first time I ever had a photo taken outside, in natural light, in front of a tree. No make up, except for my regular make-up. A little dog was running around the lawn. The photographer, Robyn Field, had me get to the shoot a half hour early, so we’d have a chance to chat. This is probably why I don’t look incredibly tense and my shoulders aren’t hunched.

Author photo 2017

This is my author photo from 2017. It’s way more formal. I was, and am, working on a book about Anne Boleyn, so I was trying to channel that vibe. It took about an hour to put on all the make up I was wearing. False eyelashes and so on.

Author photo 2015

2010

Then there’s this one, from 2015. This is definitely channeling a church lady vibe. I feel like I should be handing out lemon bars. I had this taken soon after I found out that Maggie Dove had sold, so perhaps that’s appropriate. This one was taken by a fancy NY photographer and he kept asking me to think about a secret that I was holding. Whatever that secret was, it’s still a secret because I’ve forgotten it. He also thought I looked like Agatha Christie.

How about you? Do you have any author photos to share?

Susan Breen is the author of the Maggie Dove mystery series. Her stories have been published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. The MWA anthology, Crime Hits Home, in which she has a story, just won an Anthony Award. She teaches novel-writing at Gotham Writers and is on the staff of the New York Write to Pitch Conference. www.susanjbreen.com

One comment

  1. Your new photo is very approachable and you seem confident and relaxed. I just had my very first author photo taken. It was one of those steps in the publishing process I never thought about while I was writing, querying, etc. My debut is still a year away from release and I imagine I’ll have many more of these unexpected moments along the way. It’s an exciting time.

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