Who Am I?
For over a month now, I've been avoiding a couple of little jobs indirectly related to writing. Firstly, there's the stapled mass of papers sitting on my desktop that I consciously pretend I can't see. Then there's the email in my inbox that's been there so long I doubt it would disappear even if Ideleted it. These are requests from my publishers for an author profile and photograph. So, actually it's only one job; it's just that I have to do it twice.
So what's the big deal? Write a little bio, add a cute anecdote or two, chuck in a photo, and I'm done.
Right?
Wrong.
Oh sure, I could write the standard drivel about when I was born, what university I attended, and where I live, but I don't want to do that. Those aren't the things that define me. Those aren't the things that tell people who I am. They're just boring facts. So I was born on April 23rd. So what? Who cares? I don't think the people who read my books are going to send me birthday cards. The things that define me (some of them, anyway) are listed on the ME page of this website. But those aren't the things my publishers want me to talk about. How do I know this? Because they have provided me with questions to address in my write-up. Things like ... where you went to school ... pets ... number of children, etc..
Yawn.
And if I did write about those things, I have to make them clever and interesting ... TWICE!! I mean I can't submit the same profile to both publishers. But how creative can I be telling the world I have two children. I have a girl and a boy! And then... I have a boy and a girl!
Of course, there's the whole photograph thing too. I don't often see photos of myself that I like. If I could submit one of Vanessa Williams, I'd be fine with the photo thing, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't fly. I got my photos done professionally right after I published my first book, and they were good, but I can't really use those anymore. A person changes in ten years. So that's an issue too.
The truth is I'm not very comfortable focusing on myself, which is what a profile is supposed to do. I'd much rather delve into the lives of the characters in my stories. They are so much more interesting.