 Off with Their Heads! Posted by Kate Carlisle May 25 2012, 12:05 am Every family has one – a mother or uncle or grandparent who can’t seem to keep everyone’s head in the picture. If you’re lucky, you get from the chin down, so at least you can see how your smile has matured over the years. In my family, we have all sorts of pictures with one or more headless kids. Lots of scabbed knees, but very few foreheads in evidence. And my poor dad didn’t stand a chance at all – since he was the tallest of us, whenever mom was behind the camera, he suffered a bloodless yet still grisly fate.
Turns out, Mom was just ahead of her time. So to speak.
Have you noticed that more and more romance novel covers feature characters whose heads are out of the frame? I get why. As a reader, it’s disconcerting to flip to the cover to find a character who looks completely different than described in the book. It must be difficult to find cover models who fit the description. Much easier to crop out their most identifiable feature – the face. But still, I kinda miss their heads.
If a mystery novel showed a character whose head was cut off, I imagine it would really be cut off. (Ewww!)
Are you a good family photographer, or do you have a hard time getting everyone in the frame? How do you feel about the trend of not showing characters’ faces on romance novel covers? Do you like it, or do you wish you could see what they look like? TweetPosted in bibliophile mystery, Kate Carlisle, mystery novel covers, romance novel covers Comments42 thoughts on “Off with Their Heads!” |
  
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Not good at taking pics at all. My pics look like a bunch of chickens with there heads cut off.
have fun with the bird today Virginia
Helen
How appropriate, since you’re bringing home the GR! I think he’d enjoy looking through your photo album!
Hey Virginia! Congrats, you got the GR! He’s shy about photos anyway, so no need to even try with him. Something about his “International Man of Mystery” deal…
I’m not a great photographer, but I’m learning
DH is rather particular, so he’s drummed a few basics in; while my shots aren’t award-winning, I usually manage to get everyone’s pertinent parts included ;p
Have fun taking headless shots of the GR, Virginia!
Don’t ya kind of hate when the DH tries to drum something into you?
LOL! Indeed ;p
I’d rather have someone take the photos and get everyone to stand together so we all fit in the frame. There are a lot of headless torso covers, but I am curious as to how the characters look(although the cover doesn’t always match the characters’ descriptions.)
I really enjoy seeing what they look like, too, Jane! I knew I wasn’t the only one.
Kate
I am not too bad with taking photos but not that good either I have quite a few bad ones and some that I am sure I fluke that turn out really good LOL.
As for covers although they are the first thing that you look at they still don’t entice me to buy it until I have read the blurb and I don’t mind the heads not being there as you say there is nothing worse than seeing a dark haired heroine on the cover to find out she really is a blonde LOL.
I have just finished reading Brooklyn’s latest adventure and I loved it Kate so so good I will be off to order the next one so as I can see how Brooklyn fares with the feline she was making great progress with Max’s cat whoohoo.
Have Fun
Helen
Helen, even professional photographers take a ton of pictures just to get a couple of keepers. You’re in good company!
Thank you so much for telling me that you enjoyed ONE BOOK IN THE GRAVE!!!! That means so much to me. PERIL IN PAPERBACK is available for pre-order.
Not a great photographer but I do get their heads in the pictures, just can’t seem to take clear picture, always looks a little fuzzy. Or a little too dark or light, no in between.
I am not crazy about the headless covers on books, if they just get the hair color right I am okay with it…….LOL
It really is all about the hair, isn’t it? If the color is wrong, it completely throws us out of the story.
I hear you on the fuzzy or dark pictures, Dianna! I have the same problem. Even when the camera is supposed to be foolproof, I’m too much of a fool. SNORK!!!!!
Fun blog, Kate! I’ve been the designated family photographer for years. It’s a hobby that I enjoy a lot and one I’m fairly decent at.
Have to say, I do enjoy those Desire covers!
The only bad thing about being the family photographer is that you’re never in the pictures… or maybe that’s a good thing, come to think of it!
Aren’t the Desire covers great? And wow, yesterday I saw the cover of a new Blaze and I just loved it! Harlequin has some really talented cover artists!
Great blog topic, Kate! I have become a good photographer with my little digital camera; and really good at taking those candid shots that look very calm and not posed. They are the hardest to get without the people posing.. you just have catch them unawares – and quick! – before they strike a Madonna pose and ruin it for ya.
As for cutting the tops off heads? My Uncle Kees (pronounced: case; as it’s Dutch) is famous for cutting people’s heads off. If it’s by accident or on purpose, I’m not sure. But he doesn’t take a good shot; neither does my Dad. But he doesn’t want to learn how to use a digital camera, he keeps forgetting that when you push the button, you gotta keep the whole camera still too.
Oh well, he’ll learn eventually.
LOL, Mozette! I sympathize with your uncle! People keep saying I’ll learn eventually, too, but I fear I may prove them wrong.
I love the look of candid shots… as long as they’re not eating! Nothing worse than having someone try to take your picture while you’re eating.
LOL Kate – we have plenty of those pics in our family album too. Along with the ones with the lurking pink blob crawling across the smiling faces – aka someone’s thumb!
I’m not a bad photographer, but I do tend to have the inanimate object curse … you know the one where the lamp-post appears to go through someone’s head, or the yucky rubbish bin that slides into shot next to the group photo.
LOL!!!!! That’s hysterical, Anna! It’s so funny how the backdrop is invisible to us when we take the picture, but then we look at it later and think, “Why on earth did I do THAT?!” The problem is, there are just too many things to think about when it comes to taking a picture. My poor little brain can’t handle it!!!!!
Most people don’t get close enough to their subjects… but back in the ’8 mm’ movie camera days… my mom didn’t turn off the camera while filming someone famous in a parade… the final bits were all twisty & upside down.. I had a great aunt who always got her finger in front of the lens..while looking thru the ‘viewer’..
That’s true! My favorite pictures always seem to be the close-ups, and yet when I take a picture, I stand way back. I wonder why that is. Must have something to do with perceived personal space. It feels intrusive to stand so close.
What a fun and colorful post!
I tend to be the photographer just so that I’m not in the photograph….but that doesn’t mean that I’m good at it. I get the heads – maybe too much so. I bet if I go through those family photos, there’s a bunch that are only heads – and a lot of wall behind them.
One thing that annoys me is the trend to use the camera in phones rather than an actual camera. I love the convenience but I find that everything I take with my phone camera is slightly out of focus – probably because of the slight tremor in my hand. Hoping that an upgrade (to the phone – not my hand) will improve things.
I like to see the faces on the covers. I don’t for a minute think they are the actual characters so my ability to fantisize isn’t affected by the cover – but I do like the Julia Quinn cover!
Thanks, Donna! I do feel like I got every color in the candy jar into this one post! Pink, yellow, blue, red, green…
I’ve got lots of those “too much wall” pics, too. Guess that’s why people buy photoshop, so they can crop all the bad stuff out of a picture. But really, isn’t our lack of skill at taking pictures worth memorializing, too?
No?
My phone doesn’t take great pictures, either, but it’s so handy! I don’t want to start carrying a camera and a phone around. Maybe I need an upgrade, too.
I love to see the head in tact on romance covers. When I read it’s like a movie going through my mind and it helps to see all of the faces.
If there’s no picture of the characters on the cover, do you still create a picture in your imagination? Do you ever picture movie stars in the roles?
Yes I do picture movie stars sometimes.
Honey is our family photographer and has
been since we met. I haven’t minded that
since he has had some photog training. You
are right in that we have fewer photos with
him in them, unless we snagged someone
to get their assistance or traded places. LOL.
I got my camera for Christmas one year and
set about correcting that situation! I just
have to be very careful since he is tall & we
do want everyone to know that there is a
head atop those shoulders!!
As for the current cover trends, I prefer to
have an idea of what the H & H look like ! It
enhances my enjoyment of the story!
Pat C,
That’s a great way to put it, Pat. It enhances my enjoyment, too. Of course, with ebooks these days, I suppose those readers don’t flip back and forth to the cover as much.
I was the only one that took pictures in my family growing up and then it continued when I had my family. I use to joke that I was the invisible mom since I took all the pictures lol. I sure wish I had a digital back then. I did okay but took longer than people liked. Now I let my grown children take the pictures.
I think there are a lot of invisible moms out there. Great name for it!
Oh, forgot about the covers – I actually like the partially hidden faces. That way I can imagine them as the author describes them. I think it’s better than a cover that has someone that I really don’t care for although it doesn’t happen too often.
That’s an interesting point! No picture is better than a bad picture! And we all have our little idiosyncrasies as far as what doesn’t work for us.
Kate,
I just started reading One Book In The Grave last night. Had to chuckle at MInka LeBeouf’s appearance once again. (I love to hate her!)
I actually don’t mind not seeing the character’s faces since it allows me to keep my own image in my head as I read. (Still having nightmares over James Malory being repped by Fabio on the cover of Tender Rebel!)
I sort of prefer the half turned face of the hero and a great torso shot! Except, of course, Adam was yummy, too! (Loved that book!)
LOL!!!!!! For a while there, all heroes looked like Fabio, didn’t they? And if you weren’t into long haired blondes, too bad for you!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying ONE BOOK IN THE GRAVE, Suzanne! Minka is a fun character to write!
Kate, I must admit I’m generally not a fan of headless characters or stray limbs – at one stage legs without a body were doing the rounds of romance covers. Each to his own! I love your mystery covers. I think they’re the perfect mixture of cozy and creepy.
Thanks, Anna! I adore my mystery covers so much that I had a jigsaw puzzle made from the cover of ONE BOOK IN THE GRAVE. I owe a lot of thanks for the cover artists. They always manage to come up with a room I want to be in… you know, as long as no one would murder me there. Haha!!!!!
Hi Kate! I posted earlier, but evidently it got cut off, like a head! Eeep!!! Grins.
Like Anna C, I’m not much of a fan of the headless covers, or “stray limbs” as she put it! heehee. I love your bibliophile covers and peruse them to see what books are on the shelves. Ha! Love to see what clues are on the cover about the story too. Grins. Kinda like Donna’s iconography post about the Victorian paintings!
I do love your Desire covers, and if they’re going to have a hero on them, I like to SEE him or her. :> As Suz said though, Fabio doesn’t do it for me. SNORK!!
Had to LOL about the group shots of family. We’ve been pretty lucky with that through the years, although my tiny little Aunt is notorious for the somewhat opposite problem. She gets everyone’s big fat heads (barely) and a LOT of sky, or ceiling. Hahahah!
Jeanne, how ironic, that your post was decapitated!!!! Wrong, wrong, wrong!!!!
So, let me ask you this – would the Fabio covers have been better for you if his head had been cut off? SNORK!!!!!!!!!
I’m far better at photographing buildings and monuments than I am people. Buildings don’t move!
My niece is currently the family photog. She has a real talent for it.
Cannot WAIT to get Peril in Paperback into my hot little hands! I so love this series!
And WOWZA at your latest Harlequin cover. He is definitely HOT!
As for covers, I prefer to see people WITH all of their body parts. They do help me to visualize the characters – not so much as an exact picture but as a basis with which to start. As I read the book I flesh the characters out in my mind to make my mental picture of them complete.
ALL their body parts, Louisa? I can live without fingers and toes, but I really want everything from the waist up.
LOL on being better photographing buildings!!!!! If it’s a tall building, I cut off its head, too.
Ahahaha! I almost snorted my drink when I read the bit about If a mystery novel showed a character whose head was cut off, it would really be cut off. Good thing the trend isn’t into headless felines. Woo! Peril in Paperback is coming out in my birthday month…when I’ll be getting my usual birthday bookstore gift card! *happy dance*
Well, I would be a good family photographer…’cept I don’t currently have a working camera…ha! I’m a bit ambivalent about the faceless cover trend. Headless pictures bug me a lot but I really dislike it when the pictured character doesn’t match what the character looks like in my head. So…ya, I guess I’m going to have to go with the headlessness trend.
Ooooh, no! Readers would have MY head if we had a dead cat on the cover!!! I’d never sell another book again! We mystery readers *looooove* cats!
Instead of having headless bodies, if a cover isn’t going to show a face, I’d rather it was a scenic picture instead.