A blogger from Australia named Bill Harper who is a big Jack McMorrow fan had an interesting reaction to the DAMAGED GOODS video. He turned it off like it was about to bite him.
You can read his reasoning on his post but it’s pretty simple. He already has a picture of the characters in his head, or he will when he reads it. He doesn’t want somebody else’s idea of them mucking things up. It’s the reason that most people think movies can only ruin a good book. “What? That’s not what she looks like!”
I don’t disagree. Ever see the first Spenser series in the U.S. I rest my case. In fact, close readers will find that my physical descriptions of most characters, including Jack, Roxanne, Clair, are vague. I can picture them in my head, but even that is a blurry image. Is McMorrow 5-11 or 6-1? Are his eyes blue or hazel? Is his hair sandy brown or jet black? Depends on who you ask.
I have great faith in the power of imagination. I try to construct characters who are real to me, with dialogue that is real and revealing, who act in a way I think is believable for who they are. But what do these people actually look like? If you want to know, ask a reader.
It’s an interesting phenomenon. In the DAMAGED GOODS video, there is only one character from the book actually shown. Mandi, the escort, is seen in a quick shot from a distance. The stalker Dad is shown from the knees down. The doll? Well, the doll did a full star turn. I did, too, though starring role would be an exaggeration.
I admit I had the same reaction as Bill when I saw the cover concept for DAMAGED GOODS. There was Mandi, or at least a photograph of a young woman thought by the designer to look like Mandi looks. In my imagination and yours. I thought: whoah. Is that really her? Well, maybe so. Or maybe not.
The only other photo-based covers I’ve had have been in other countries. They’re big in Japan. I had one in the UK. U.S. publishers usually go with something more conceptual. But I think the cover works, in the sense that it’s quite arresting. The woman has an expression that is somewhere between seductive and threatening. She’s mysterious and that is Mandi’s most important quality. Who is she? Where did she come from? Why does she work as an escort in a small town where she knows no one?
The answers come, as McMorrow, racing the local cops, peels away the layers of her facade. Eventually Mandi is unmasked and the young woman who is revealed is something very different from the seductress on the cover. I hope you enjoy the journey.
So if the video bothers you, skip to the end. That’s where It’s just me talking. If I don’t meet your expectations, well, nothing I can do about that.