SATIN-Laura thank you for taking the time to talk to us, i know my ladies will be glad to have a female point of view to have along side the men's .
.Right lets rump right in, can you tell us a little bit about your self, so my ladies know who you are, if they didn't all ready..
LAURA - Hi Sue! Thanks for having me on your blog. I am a Wilhelmina model and actress in New York City. I have been doing book covers for many years and have appeared on over 1000 books.
SATIN-. why did you get into modeling, what made you think wow this is for me. (i know if it was me it would be to stand next to them hunky men lol).
LAURA-When I was a teenager I started doing Beauty Pageants. I had many people telling me I should go into modeling at that time so that put the bug in my head that I could actually do it. As a teenager I thought it was exciting and glamorous and I wanted to travel to far away exotic places...and yes being able to stand next to hunky men was definitely a bonus in choosing my career path ..ha ha!!
SATIN- Ha ha I love it lol.OK I read on your website that you have done a little bit of TV, which do you like doing better the modeling or the TV. have you met any one really famous , and can I meet them *smiles sweetly* lol.
LAURA- I have done many TV commercials and several parts in films. I am currently a hostess for CorporateProfile.com where we talk about recent developments in small cap stocks and interview CEOs. I have an appearance in a movie called "Novel Romance" that is just now coming out with Jay O. Sanders and Steve Guttenburg from 3 Men and a Baby. I am also in "Movie Money" playing the role of Leslie that stars Andre Royo from The Wire and Richard Kline from Three's Company which hopefully will be released this fall. I enjoy both modeling and TV but for different reasons. I find TV is more rewarding when I see the finished product but doing TV work is very grueling with the hours. Usually we work at least 12 hours in a day and sometimes longer. I did one TV commercial for Johnson & Johnson and I worked for 21 hours straight. Whereas with print work the days are much shorter. For example most bookcovers are shot in less than an hour. So it's very quick which is nice to have the day to enjoy.
SATIN- . when you were posing for very intimate scene. what thoughts were usually going on in your head?. did any of them lead to trouble *wink* .do you think these scenes are harder for men or women.
LAURA- When I first started doing romance book covers years ago, the look was very different than now. The men mostly had long hair and often wore loincloths. That seemed to be what the romance industry liked at the time. My first book cover I did I was only 18 and they had me laying on the floor with my arms wrapped around the model's leg (he was in a loincloth of course ...haha!!) and I had to be looking up at him adoringly (see attached black and white photo of "Captive" Cover). I remember wondering if he was wearing underwear underneath cause the strap around the side connecting the 2 pieces was so thin..haha!! It was a bit intimidating being my first cover and probably the first time I had posed that close to male model. Now I am used to it and being around half naked men doesn't faze me. I only care if the models are nice and my first priority is getting great shots that the clients and readers will like. Alot of the poses are hard to hold for a still picture so it's important for the models...both the men and woman to know how to pose and work with another person. Your muscles can really start hurting during the shoot if the photographer has to spend too much time directing the other person while you're stuck in an awkward pose. I think of doing a cover like doing a dance ...when I move in one direction the guy needs to know how to follow me and vice versa. Also we have only an hour to shoot most of the romance covers so if the models are not professional...showing up on time and being prepared, knowing how to move and work then the quality of the pictures really suffers.
SATIN - So do you find your line of work stressful, how would you deal with the stress if there was any. i know what id have to do *cry like a baby* lol.
LAURA - It's a hard business and tough emotionally when you have to rely on your looks for a living. You have to be really strong and secure with yourself. We are always having to sell ourselves to get the jobs. The hardest part is the lack of control you have at the end of the day about who hires you or who doesn't hire you. It ultimately comes down to someone else's opinion of you as to whether or not you get the job. But I try to manage the stress by being as professional as possible and that seems to work for me. I try to be always on time and prepared, getting rest and eating healthy. At the end of the day someone can like me or not like me but they can never say I am unprofessional. I think people appreciate that and it helps me to get rehired back again and again.
SATIN -. now could you tell all my ladies about the book covers you have modelled for., is there any my ladies would know, which was your favourite one to do.
LAURA- Last I counted with my invoices I have done over 1000. I stopped counting after that. The best place to see a sampling is on my website www.laurawilliamsKleypas. She told me I should be sure to pick up an extra copy of it. And my boyfriend has a copy of "Ten Ways to be Adored When Landing a Lord" by Sarah Maclean that he shows to all his friends ..haha! So I'm assuming that's his favorite. Some other recent covers I have picked up at the bookstore the past couple of months that I am on are: "The Inherited Bride" by Maisey Yates, "The Mistress House" by Leigh Michaels, "Scandal of the Year" by Laura Lee Guhrke, "The Countess" by Lynsay Sands, "Lady of Scandal" by Tina Gabrielle, "Just Wicked Enough" by Lorraine Heath, "Wicked Surrender" by Jade Lee and "Bedding the Enemy" by Mary Wine
SATIN- Has there been anything that has disappointed you in your work and anything that has really made you happy....
LAURA-The main thing I have struggled with in modeling is the height issue. I am 5'6' tall. Even though I did extremely well landing big advertising jobs with major companies like Conair, Wet N Wild, Pantene, Braun campaign with Heidi Klum, Budweiser, etc. etc. there were many doors that weren't open because I wasn't 5'9" or taller. It has never made any sense to me since you can't tell how tall someone is in a photograph. I would have had many more opportunities had I been just a little taller in the high fashion modeling world. But with every cloud there is a silver lining. Now that I am working more in film and TV it has been a real asset to not be so tall. And the bookcover clients love petite woman as well. We make the guys look bigger and more masculine : ) I definitely wouldn't have been the book cover queen if I was tall and overshadowed all the gorgeous men. So everything worked out.
SATIN- yay now on to my favourite question... i all ways like to ask a totally random question because my ladies know I'm totally random...do you do funny dances to music when
no one is looking and do you sing into your hair brush, what do you do when you forget the words to a song..lol... oops that's more then but I couldn't make up my mind which to ask lol..
LAURA- I actually haven't done that in a long time but now that you're asking me I'm thinking I need to get back to that :) Nothing like some good dance moves and singing in a hair brush to a good song when you're alone .....haha!!!
SATIN- Laura id like to thank you again for taking the time to do talk with us, is there any last words you wanna say to my ladies..
LAURA- I would like to thank all the ladies for their support of the romance novel industry and for their loyality. It is much appreciated. It has been so much fun working as a bookcover model and I hope I will be lucky enough to do it for many many more years. The romance book fans are the best!!!!
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There you have it guys, I hope you have enjoyed reading this because I so enjoyed doing this interview, again im sorry its late but as you can see it was well worth the wait.
Laura, how lovely to have a name to go with that gorgeous cover! People always comment on how lovely you look on it and I agree. I feel like I should thank you for it...so I will! Thank you!
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