The Art of Man
The Art of Man
My Site of the Month (for February 2015) – Paul Henry Photographe of Montreal
So I am running a bit late. I usually take care of this well before the month cycles over. Things got hectic, things got in the way, as they sometimes do in life. But I’ve learned that more often than not sometimes the universe is at work when you may not know it. Not that I think that I am the centre of it’s general concerns, but yes, sometimes it appears that my missteps do reveal something truly wondrous on the other side of my scheduling faux pas, as it were.
While I’ve loved having Abel Korzienowski as my Site of the Month for January, and I do hate to see him go, I knew I needed to press forward and find something else of interest to put out there and say “Hey everyone, take a look at this.”
Well, that’s just what happened this morning. Or maybe it was last night? Well, the fact of the matter is that it happened – and I am all the richer for it. And by richer I mean that I’ve had another artist’s work revealed to me: Paul Henry’s brilliant and very powerful photography.
It came to me quite innocently enough. You see I’d received a notification from Twitter I had a new follower. Which was always a cool thing to have happen. Sometimes I don’t know how they find me, but it seems to be happening more and more now. Anyway, as soon as I saw Paul’s follow I promptly looked him up and seeing he was a photographer of the human form I really became intrigued. So I followed him right back. This was early in the morning and I thought that was it until some tweet caught his attention or he bothered to show me something that caught mine.
To be honest, I never was one to poke someone back and say “thanks for following me” – I know it’s what you’re supposed to do. I get them from time to time. Invariably, they usually thank me for being a follower of theirs and then immediately link back to something that they are doing. That’s the part that always brings me up short (personally and professionally). Not that I am deriding Paul for doing the same thing, because thankfully he doesn’t have my oddball quirks to deal with. He did just that. He thanked me for the follow and he offered a link to his site telling me he wanted to work with authors like me to license his photography if I found it to my liking.
Intrigued, I immediately clicked over (as a matter of record, I usually don’t). This is one of the reasons why I don’t do the “thank you” follow-up because it usually expects me to do the same – “hey, go look at my stuff.” But Paul’s was rather nicely done and I sort of wanted to see what he was up to. I was beyond pleased that I did.
One of Paul’s brilliant and provocative works.
The wonderful thing about it is Mr. Henry seems to be very willing to work with independent authors to use his male model imagery for the M/M fictional genre market. It’s rather lovely to be courted by someone who is so accomplished in his craft. That part of it I found very much to my liking. Having corresponded with him today on how I can highlight it on my own site (deciding for myself that I’d found my February Site of the Month already), I found him to be very receptive to my inquiry and very prompt in responding. Which was also very refreshing. I am sure with his busy schedule that might not always be the case, but to reach out to him on a Sunday and his getting right back to me was quite a delight.
To give a bit of background on him I asked him what his backstory was and how he moves through the paces of getting his projects going.
First impressions, and by his own admission, he is a rather low profile and shy person. It is probably that quiet introspection that gives him a deft eye to capturing his subjects with such brilliant clarity while never losing their humanity. They are definitely riveting work.
Paul Henry of Montreal
Paul was born in the United States (in New York City) but moved to Montreal, Canada when he was five. He has been in the photography industry for the past ten years and has worked with some very notable players in the business.
In his own words:
I shoot mainly portrait, fasion and fitness model. I’ve been published in magazines like Vanity Hype, CoverBoy, Sensitif (France); and since 2014 in the Fit Men Calendar by Zebra Publishing (Toronto). I’m also honored to have been asked for my images for 2 romance novel covers, by authors Xavier Neal and Josephine Raven. I work in my own studio in Montreal, but love to shoot outside as well… usually in the summer.
Cover artwork for Xavier Neal’s “Callous”
The lovely thing about Paul is that given his impressive credits it seems that he’s also gained quite the reputation amongst them (here is what Beautiful Mag wrote about him a couple of years ago):
Asking Paul Henry Serres about himself he says he is just a passionate photographer who loves his job and is in constant pursuit to produce good work. That pretty much sums it all up. But there is more to him than just that. Paul Henry Serres works in all disciplines of the art. He does architecture, landscapes, nature and even sports photography. In fact, he used to shoot for a rugby team in Quebec and states that shooting athletes in action is the best school to learn how to use a digital camera. Paul Henry’s biggest passion is probably photographing people. “Each shoot is for me and the model (as they tell me) a rewarding human experience,” he explains. “There is always fun involved. It doesn’t matter is the model is male or female, young or old. The most important thing is to have mutual trust and fun in what we do.”
There is definitely a emotive response initiated from Mr. Henry’s works, even if they are simply no more than the model looking directly into the camera lens. Paul seems to capture the essence of the moment brilliantly and succinctly.
Another intriguing and beguiling image from Mr. Henry.
When I asked him how he approaches his projects he had a few words to offer on how it works for him, but he also said that he entertains commissioned work (are any of my fellow author’s wheels turning out there? I know mine were).
My approach for a shoot is I like to get prepared as much as possible … I know what I want to do, the concepts … but you never know what will happen on a photoshoot. The better you are structured, the more freedom you have to improvise.
Given the breadth of his work that’s posted online on his website and Facebook page (link to the Facebook page to be provided below) and the current promotional tweets he’s been broadcasting to gain the attention of authors out there – I knew I was a fan and potential customer as well:
You can BET I retweeted this ASAP…
It was such a nice treat to interact with him today. So if you’re an author who is constantly on the look out for a great photographer to work with, I gotta tell you, Mr. Henry was a breeze to correspond with. I was both impressed with the volume, the quality and the breadth of his work as well as the prompt and welcoming approach he took to my inquiry.
It gives me great pleasure to present as my 2015 Site of the Month – Paul Henry Serres Photography.
I mean, don’t you just feel the need to write a story about this guy? The creative juices are flowing…
His Facebook page can be found here.
The best way to reach out to him for commissioned work is via his contact page on his website.
Prison guards make for hot story telling too.
Lastly, a weekly updated listing of his available photos for exclusive licensing can be found here. I highly encourage you to take a look at this man’s brilliant and well crafted work.
A Guest Blog Spot on Lady J’s Website – Hooray!
Guest Blog on LadyJ’s Site – Hooray!
Guest blog on author pal, Lady J (Jayne Lockwood)’s blog site and her erotica website SavannahSmythe.com regarding the release of my new work – HO’M,O – Henry O’Malley, Omega A Sparrows Hollow Lycanthropic Adventure.
Author pal – Jayne Lockwood/Savannah Smythe
I encourage you to check it out and also to take note of a cracking hot story coming your way from the Lady writer herself – Lexington Black. Looks to be one helluva read and I can’t wait to sink in.
Thanks for the shout out, Lady J. Big hugs to ya for highlighting my recent release.
Check out the book that was too much for Amazon –
For every reader who buys the “watered down” abridged version (The Shrill of Sparrows) on Amazon they’ll find a email address to reach out to me and I’ll send them the controversial version of the work free of charge!
Guilt by association? Banned by my own hand? You be the judge …
Banned By Association
Banned By Association
Guilt by association? Banned by my own hand? You be the judge …
Okay, maybe it was my fault.
Maybe …
So I hit a BIG learning curve here. Epically so. Why, you might ask? Because my first work, a novel that was released to the world from several selling platforms, Amazon being just one of them, got BANNED! But since it all took place this past week I didn’t want to do a knee-jerk blog post about it. I wanted some distance from it to sort it out. I’m like that. I can be wordy and preachy when my ire is provoked, but at times, like this time, I was able to quell that rash desire to lash out and opted instead to think things through.
I’m glad I did. And while I might not like Amazon’s decision, I recognize it was theirs to make.
I mean, they’re the big guns in the literary world, like it or not. Even the big publishing houses have to play ball with them. So a little guy like me doesn’t have much pull. I haven’t brought enough money to the table. And I know that it is all about the money.
I mean, I think it is interesting that my book, with a rough sex scene (the hero in the story is raped physically by the bad guy in the series) near the end of the book, could be blocked/banned because of that scene when say EL James 50 Shades (of crap, if you ask me) gets a pass. Though to be fair, I guess rape wasn’t in the cards for that drivel. But what about the Bible? It has rape, pillaging and all sorts of violence spread throughout the work.
TO BE CLEAR: I don’t consider the Bible (or any other religious text, for that matter) to be holy or sacred. They are books like any other – written BY MAN. So yeah, I so won’t get into that debate ’cause to my way of thinking that’s just messing with 9 bags of cray-cray (as my granddaughter says).
But as a newbie author, doing the self-pub thing on my own, I know I have a learning curve ahead of me. I know that my works will stumble and I might make some epically bad moves. I get that it’s part of the process. I don’t expect to be “the next BIG thing” when it comes to literary works. Though to be honest, I do write literature. I write character studies. I find them infinitely fascinating to write from. I want to immerse the reader into the psyche of the character who is telling you the story. All of the inner monologue that we all have in our day to day lives that never gets said to the outside world.
Those monologues are deeply fascinating to me. At times I listen to my own mental ramblings as I interact with others. Not that there are voices in my head – well, okay there are, but they are my characters working out their upcoming scenarios that I need to get sorted before I write them down – I SWEAR!
Anyway, so my first work was out there on all platforms –
The reworked and final image for the first of my HOMO series of gay werewolves set in 1956 West Virginia.
The Shrill of Sparrows – the reworked abridged edition as sold by Amazon.
Inspiration for Hank O’Malley in my story
- It was meant to be a fluff, fun and slightly scary read as part of my NaNoWriMo 2014 writer’s challenge project that I won last November -writing the bulk in what made it into the published work within 26 days out of the 30 for the challenge. The werewolves have this ease with themselves where sex comes into it because that is how pack life is for them. The sex keeps them rooted to their human existence.
- It was meant to be a story for my very first fan, Michael, who has a penchant for sexy guys and werewolves. I wanted to do some thing for him. I even made him one of my wolves IN the story. He loves it and I couldn’t be happier. The hot and heavy man action was a nod to him.
- Sex within my packs of werewolves (which are ONLY male, btw) is a way of exchanging power. It is a metaphor I am using in that submissiveness doesn’t equate weakness. Sometimes, it actually takes far more courage to be there for another in that way. I wanted to play with that dynamic. My wolves keep telling Hank (Henry) that, as the pack’s new Omega, he doesn’t belong to them – they belong to him!
Hello,
We’re contacting you regarding the following book:HO’M,O – Henry O’Malley, Omega: A Sparrows Hollow Lycanthropic Adventure by Collins, SA (AUTHOR) (ID:5629640)During our review process, we found that this content is in violation of our content guidelines. As a result, we cannot offer this book for sale. If we identify additional submissions with similar content that violates our guidelines, we may terminate your account or you may lose access to optional KDP services.To learn more about our content guidelines, please visit our Kindle Direct Publishing Help page at:
https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A2TOZW0SV7IR1U
Best regards,
Kindle Direct Publishing
kdp.amazon.com
The scarcity of Amazon’s KDP policy with regards to content. There’s precious little to latch onto and learn from.
Since the work was classified as Erotica, I assumed that the first two sections of this lack of direction was the Pornography and the Offensive Content areas of this little policy write up. But how was I supposed to work with that?
It could’ve meant that ANY of my sex scenes were objectionable, right? I had to question it all. So I went out and offered a “hey, I’m new – what do I do to address this so I can learn from it and not repeat it?” I just wanted something or someone to direct me to what was in violation of the policy.
All I got was this (the bolding and underlining of the email content are mine as I am just drawing attention to what stood out for me when I read it):
Hello,
We’re contacting you regarding the following title:
HO’M,O – Henry O’Malley, Omega: A Sparrows Hollow Lycanthropic Adventure by Collins, SA (AUTHOR) (ID:5629640)
We’ve confirmed that your book(s) contains content that is in violation of our content guidelines and we will not be offering this title for sale in the Kindle Store. As stated in our guidelines, we reserve the right to determine what we consider to be appropriate, which includes cover images and content within the book.
If you wish to re-publish your book(s) with content that meets our guidelines, it will need to be submitted as an entirely new ASIN and go through our standard review process. Previous customer reviews, tags, and sales rank information are not transferable because the title will essentially be a different product.
Our content guidelines are published on the Kindle Direct Publishing website.
To learn more, please see: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A2TOZW0SV7IR1U
We appreciate your understanding.
The FINAL – FINAL version of the book cover for “Angels of Mercy – Volume One: Elliot”
Another of Hank O’Malley – tough luck lookin’ like that, huh?
Love a boy in wolf’s clothing, don’t you?
Quick! The Stork Done Took My Baby!
Quick! The Stork Done Took My Baby!
Okay, not really freaking out too much here. I mean, there was no stork, even if there was a baby (of sorts).
What happened was, I bit the bullet. I grinned and bear(ed) it. I took a leap of faith…
I published my first work.
The book is out in the world now. Hall-le-fucking-lu-jah!
I’m happy with it. Even if it isn’t the type of work I normally do. Part of me was concerned with that — perceptions and all. You see this work is a silly piece of fluff. Well, not silly, more sentimental and erotically charged. And while I am not about censorship when it comes to gay men and our sexuality, it is rather strange that I have a very sexual book out there that my mother can read!
Okay, I should stop worrying about that. I am gonna write what I’m gonna write. It is what it is. Right?
Yeah, well, I ain’t so sure now. Only because the next work I am putting out there is the important one. It’s the series that I feel the strongest about.
Hank and my boys of West Virginia are great. I love them and they’ve given me a spark of interest in writing about werewolves that I didn’t know I had. I sort of love my furry beastie guys. And Hank’s a rather pretty boy in their midst. I mean, the picture I have of him as an inspiration says nothing but pretty (if decidedly, beefy) boy.
Inspiration for Hank O’Malley in my story
Oh, that ain’t the only picture of him, neither (as he’d no doubt say):
Another of Hank O’Malley – tough luck lookin’ like that, huh?
So yeah, pretty and beefy. Just look at them arms and them pecs, will ya? And I am not so much for blond guys – but, uh, yeah. He’d do — no kicking to the curb with that purdy boy! #jussayin
And Hank’s a lovely boy to write about. He’s caring, un-obsessed with his own good looks, genial and easy to get along with. Completely unassuming. And who’da thunk he’d be in the middle of a werewolf war that was about to break loose? Or that his mama and closest thing to a grandma he’s got are a pair of powerful witches? I know he sure didn’t.
Hank and his boys are near and dear to my heart. Which was sort of a revelation. I mean, as an author, you are deeply involved with your characters and your worlds that you create. That’s fairly a given — unless your completely dispassionate about the work then, why bother? But even if you are deeply in bed with them, it doesn’t always mean you have to like them much.
But with Hank, Riley, Tanner, Mike, Toby, Darby, Dylan, Maynard, and Spike – I am really already rooting for these boys to triumph over the likes of Cade Bowen/Talbot.
Don’t know who he is?
Yeah, well, go pick up the book, dammit!
Country Crooner Steve Grand in all of his bloody manly redness…
Angels of Mercy – Volume 1: Elliot
Angels of Mercy – Volume 2: Marco