I literally did cartwheels when Deb Wayshak, my editor at Candlewick (she’s a novelist, too – prolific and critically acclaimed and thus, y’know, not intimidating AT ALL) told me they’d commissioned a photo shoot for the US edition of SPY. While I love the elegant, glowing UK cover, I was so curious to see how other people imagined Mary Quinn. The final cover is not quite ready for the world but its designer, Caroline Lawrence, took some behind-the-scenes snapshots of the cover shoot so that we could all participate, too.
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The model is Amber Ahlquist of Click Model, wearing typically elaborate undergarments. Wardrobe stylist Crystal Thompson is an authority on all decades and details of Victorian costume.
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Corsets were often tight enough to rearrange one’s internal organs. Hopefully that’s not what’s happening here.
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The dress goes on. Victorian ladies always had help dressing, if they could afford it.
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Both stylist Crystal Thompson and makeup artist Souraya Hamdi also work on 30 Rock. They do, they do! That puts me at one degree of separation from Tina Fey!
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Buttons: they’re tricky. Also funny.
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So, what do you think of the face of Mary Quinn? (Background: a New York fire escape.)
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Victorian hair spray
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I wonder how many hours this took. Must ask Caroline.
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I love this shot. Mary Quinn also time-travels!
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Photographer Scott Nobles and his assistant, David Gardiner, shooting the cover.
Have you recovered yet? I haven’t. Remember, you have just under 3 weeks left to enter to win a copy of SPY.
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