#ReadingShooters Project
When I asked some of my old photography pals around the world to take pictures of themselves reading my book, they did not disappoint. In fact, they went above and beyond the call to create amazing, professional images with wit and charm—and lots of humour.
Zombies, sharks, dogs, and a moose made appearances in the photos. James Musselwhite, whose portrait studio is based in Portsmouth, even roped in WWE wrestler Nina Samuels.
Scott Johnson, award-winning wedding photographer and Brazilian jiu jitsu blue belt, said: “Lockdowns and the global pandemic brought this already wonderful profession even closer than before, and when one of our own asks for help, then we are only too keen to oblige.”
Sets were built; lights erected; props made; costumes assembled—or not, in the case of Jerry Ghionis, world famous wedding photographer and the inspiration behind Connor Knight, the heart throb in Shooters. He snapped himself in bed with his wife, Melissa—except Melissa was more interested in her reading material than what was going on under the covers. Jerry says: “The idea was to keep our identities a mystery until you notice the photos of each of us on either side of the bed!”
Every time I look at that picture, I laugh. Jerry photographed my husband and me in our pre-children era, so we understand how awesome it is to be on the receiving end of Jerry’s talent (as does Melissa, obviously. Haha). I imagine they had a lot of fun making that image. It’s very much in the spirit of Shooters.
Shooters is my love letter to the photography industry as well as being a sexy and hilarious romcom about wedding photographers. It’s sort of like Bridget Jones for photographers.
Sanjay Jogia, who is a Canon Ambassador and was named one of the top 6 wedding photographers in the world by Professional Photographer magazine, also took part. “I teamed up with newborn photographer Maggie Robinson to help with the vision for her shot. She wanted to be photographed on the wing of a Spitfire.” They spent a whole day at Biggin Hill Airfield playing with real vintage airplanes and having a ball. “I froze my tits off, but it was great fun,” said Maggie.
Frequent bather and master photographer, Damian McGillicuddy, said: “Julia is such a lovely and talented lady, I felt compelled to try and help her in her latest endeavour. As a senior figure in our industry, I thought I’d take the brave step of poking a little fun at myself while sharing something true, honest, and private. As an amputee, I find it therapeutic to take long hot baths—the perfect place to hide away with a great book. And Shooters is a great book.”
The idea for Shooters came to me after having coffee with the fabulous Sarah Edmunds at the SWPP photography conference in London, where I am launching my book this week. I told her that I wanted to write romance novels about wedding photographers, and she said, ‘Oh! You want to be the Jilly Cooper of wedding photography!’ And just like that, a title, plot and characters popped into my head and I was off.
Photographers involved in this project include some of the world’s best, including all the ones mentioned above plus Kelly Brown, Steve Scalone, David Anthony Williams, Martina Wärenfeldt, Melody Smith, Justine Ungaro, Mark Rossetto, Gurvir Johal, Giles Christopher, Neil Shearer, Keith White, Gary Hill, Mandy Carter, Selena Rollason, and Gary Hughes.
Not wanting to be left out, I planned my own photo shoot and executed it with the help of Magdalena Sienicka. “Julia turned up at my studio with roller skates, a large balloon, and a beret. But that’s the sort of thing I’d expect from her.”
Just because I’m independently publishing, doesn’t mean that I can’t have the debut that I’ve always wanted. In fact, I refused to not have it. I wanted to do something fun an interesting to mark the event. For today only, I’m lowering the price of Shooters to 99p, in the hope that I can achieve another goal: to hit a best seller list. I need to sell 550 copies in the UK today to do that. Can you help me?
The hashtags for the campaign are #romanceisforeveryone and #readingShooters.
Shooters is available to purchase on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. It is also enrolled in Kindle Unlimited.