A question of vanity to other authors! I have a few books out and truth be told, most of them show my author photo as one that reflects the books I've written but is about 6 years old. I'm a ghost hunter and what better photo than me with my arms wrapped around a skeleton? I do have another that is very new (only a couple weeks old) for a new book for animal communications showing (appropriately) me with my wonderful shelter boy, Rufus. I've had no trouble using either of these and feeling good about it.

Then I was looking through some old papers and found...you guessed it...a me from nearly 20 years ago. My first author photo that I'd had professionally done for a book that didn't require a photo. Ah, nostalgia.This was the me that is surely inside the me of today.

I remembered a discussion with another author friend and we discussed how many authors (in the big writing world) use old photos. Hmmm, I thought as I looked at this "old" me. Maybe I could do that. Then I thought of all the conventions and such that I visit. People will surely be shocked to see that I've gained 40 pounds and ... well 20 years of age. Will they be turned off? Why should I care? Let me rephrase that: Why DO I care? It seems a lot like lying. Maybe I can put in my author's bio that this is how I FEEL rather than look....I'm grasping here, fellow authors.

So what do you think? Yay or Nay? Hook or Crook? I believe I may make my decision based on what everyone thinks!