Only about two and a half weeks remain until WHEN IN ROME can hit your Kindle or Kindle reading app. Exciting, isn’t it? Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter to stay in the loop with announcements, and be sure to keep a close eye here on the blog for info on my Release Day Giveaway that will be starting next week.

Can’t quite wait? Here’s  a little taste for you…

Chapter 1: Phone Calls and Emails

My chair creaks as I lean back from my desk, stretching my arms overhead. The glow of the computer monitor is the only light in the room. Hooking my interlaced fingers around the back of my neck, I squint at the digital images on the screen. This afternoon’s engagement photo shoot had gone well, but I’d promised the couple proofs by tomorrow morning so they can make a selection for their official announcement. I have it narrowed down to four, the styles and poses ranging from traditional to artistic.

Deep inside, I hope they’ll pick the artistic proof, where their heads are partly obscured by a length of gauzy fabric, leaving only the suggestion of an intimate about-to-kiss moment. During the editing process, I can play with the contrast and hues to give the photo an antique filter, leaving the color vibrant in that space right between their lips.

Too bad life can’t be edited as easily as a photograph.

My eyes start to burn, so I spin away from the computer and let my vision adjust to the dark of my studio space. Then I stand and go to the window. The Atlanta skyline stands in relief against the brilliant washes of red and orange from
tonight’s sunset.

One of my cameras sits on the window ledge. Without taking my eyes from the skyline, I lean over and pick it up. Fortunately, it’s my film camera, an expensive tool in today’s world of digital photography. I spent a few pennies I didn’t
really have to buy it online. And without a black room of my own, the cost of developing film images can be killer on a wallet. I’d love to invest in a digital scanner that would let me convert the negatives into digital files. Either that or create a black room. Right now, neither option works with my budget or my current studio space.

I have to be content with sending my film to a specialized developing company, always keeping my fingers crossed that both the prints and the negatives will make it back to me safely.

For a minute or two, I just watch the skyline, my hands automatically going through the steps of fitting the camera onto a nearby tripod. This is the last shot I’ve been trying to capture for my Atlanta Skies series, a project I hope will land me a spot in one of the local juried photography exhibitions. The colors of the sunset deepen a little more, setting the downtown skyscrapers in silhouette.

I hold my breath and bend to the viewfinder.

My cell phone rings.

Want to know who’s calling? Preview all of Chapter 1 HERE.