Swords are Sexy (and fun)

So, what did YOU do with your evening last night? Me? Oh, I watched my girl Lauren learn to fight with swords. Yeah, it's as cool as it sounds. :)

We're gonna jump books for a moment and go back in time to Moon Over Manhattan (you know, that first photo-shoot I did). Pictured to the left here is Lauren Steinmeyer, the model for Denika Petrovskii in the Moon Over Manhattan shoot back in October 2010. You'll note she is out of wig and costume...but that's because she's being taught how to fight with two swords...like Denika does in the books.

You're probably asking why...

The sequel has been bopping about in my head a bit, to be honest. And early in the book Cash gives Denika some cool new swords. They're smaller and lighter than her usual swords but easier for close range fighting and they can do some serious damage. They've got a smooth/sharp edge, a severe point AND a serrated edge in the center. ----and yes, these are actually stainless steel and sharp----



ANYHOO...I thought it might be fun, since I'm really good friends with fight choreographer Trevor Swann, to have him teach Lauren how to do a two handed sword cata and film it this fall for the website. :) (Note: Our usual fight choreographer, Mark Rosenthal, is in Germany for a bit and Trevor worked with him/us for the LDG photo-shoot so I asked him in for this project. Plus, he's the one that showed me these swords.)

We started off the evening by having Trevor teach Lauren how to hold the swords. After that they worked on stances and then fighting moves for within the cata itself. I filmed it but I'm gonna need Robbie's help transfering them to a Utube vid for people to see. But, I did get some pics of the whole thing so here you go! Enjoy!







Many many thanks to Trevor Swann for his help, sharing his talent, and the giving of his the time to help us do this last night (and for the time he will put in from here on till the video is shot) and...

HUGE props to Lauren for standing out in the heat last night and learning one of the harder forms of fight choreography. She did really great for her first sword training EVER and on top of that, with TWO swords! I hope you all are as excited as I am to see this when it's done. It'll be posted to music...song is Ayria's 1000 Transmissions...just like in the 1st book (she does a cata on top of the rooftops of her and neighboring buildings late at night when she can't sleep). So stay tuned here to the blog...for that's where I'll announce the videos when they're done!

xo

Tamsin :)

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program...

...where we've been talking about LDG, to bring you the most adorable video I've ever seen.


CUDDLING ELEPHANT SEAL VIDEO

This is worth your time to watch. I have NO idea how long it'll be on the web at this location but it's worth watching the whole thing. :)

My mom actually had the video itself emailed to her and sent it to me (as she knows I have a huge love for Sea Lions and Seals) today. Seems its been out for awhile but in case you've not seen it, like me...now you can.

Also, let me give props to the blog who listed it for me. Her name is Barbara Weibel and she talks about this video on her Feb. 11, 2010 blog post.

I agree with her that if its the animal that initiates the affection/attention then its acceptable to stay and enjoy that interaction.

He just can't seem to stop kissing this lady...flipping his tail up and being playful. He even pulls up next to her, putting his flipper around her like a man would put his arm around a woman when he cuddles with her. It's just priceless.

If you've not seen it...I hope you like it and it makes you smile.

And...if that link doesn't work...I found it HERE too.

xo

Tamsin :)

The 3 looks of Jensine...

Photo from Living Dead Girl Photo-Shoot
Character: Jensine Blackensdale
Model: Kara Addington

When you write, some parts of your personality show up in some of the roles you create. At least, that's what happens to me when I write. Mostly its that one characters gets one trait and another character gets another...and so on. But when I started writing the first book of the Living Dead Girl Series I decided to physically base one of the characters on how I looked at the time.

When I first started the book I was in college (so yeah, a while ago...before the internet was a household thing...*cough cough* OIY.) so the character is described as petite, short but curvy, with curly blonde hair to her shoulders. I had a real, true, bottle induced, golden yellow blond head of curls. I also have olive green eyes. So...that's how you meet Jensine.

But, her looks change throughout the story...much like my looks have changed throughout the past ___ years. I was blonde, then I had long red hair and now...as you can see by the pics here on the blog, I have short black hair.

My real hair color? Well hell...I would say a mousey blondish brown. Some would call it a dark blond or Michigan blond. If I'd have grown up in a southern state it'd been more blond than that but alas, due to crazy cloud cover in Michigan my head was usually a light blondish brown.

Anyhoo...I decided it'd be fun to show you the different looks Jensine has throughout the photo-shoot. The first pic, at the top, is her "blond" look at the top of the story. But, like me, it changes...

Her RED look:

















Her BLACK look:

Kara Addington, the model for Jensine, did an amazing job and I can't wait for you to see her in the video we filmed of the bo-staff fight she does with David (Character: Alex). Our fight guys, Mark and Trevor, were bloody excellent! The fight is both elegant, intricate and has a bit of humor to go along with the aggression.



Have a great day all....more pics to come as I introduce you to everyone else so stay tuned!

Tamsin :)

In honor of Marriage Equality in NYC...

Picture from Living Dead Girl Photo-Shoot.
Characters: Grayson Alex Stoltz & Stephan Throneburg
Models: David Mavricos & Thomas Daniels

Most people state that Grayson is their favorite character in the series and that his relationship with Stephan is their favorite pairing in the series as well.

So, in honor of MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN NYC I decided today was the day to leak the pics of everyone's favorite couple.

This is Stephan Throneburg (Model: Thomas Daniels)



This is Grayson Alex Stoltz (Model: David Mavricos)



CONGRATS to everyone in NYC! As a city we are diverse and we've always been ahead of everyone else. This is just more proof that we are embracing that diversity and showing the world our acceptance of anyone, be it their race, sex or sexual preference. I was in LA when I learned the verdict on the vote and I was, and still am, proud to say, "That's my city!" I can't WAIT to attend all those weddings that finally get to be official and legal in the eyes of the state!

xoxo

Tamsin :)

Oh my...you have to see...well...this...

Character: Pepper
Model: ?

Thought ya'll would find this entertaining.

xo

Tamsin :)

Meet Sean, Atlanta and Valencia

(Pictured above: Brian Cluney as Sean and Angeliese Adams as Atlanta.)

I thought I'd share this pic...as I like it...though we laughed and said it looks like a picture Sean and Atlanta would use for a engagement announcement in the paper. LOL!

I've started going thru pictures from Sunday's shoot and I'm hoping to get workable files today for the Saturday shoot.

Stories of how the shoot went, in order, with pics will start as soon as I have the pics from the first day....until then, I leave you with this picture of Valencia (played by Amanda Magyar) and Atlanta (played by Angeliese Adams).

Not a drop fell!

So...before we LAUNCH into TONS of stories and pics from the LDG photo-shoot from this past weekend (that I think my body hates me for...but whatever) I wanted to talk about one tiny thing.

Rain.

We got hammered with it on Saturday for a bit and lost some picture opportunities. By the end of that day we were so tired and the weather reports were screaming scattered thunderstorms for Sunday and unlike Saturday, where part of the shoot was inside, we would be outside ALL day. Every picture of weather for Sunday showed tons of lightning.

I was beside myself. I had a moment where I just lost hope. I'd worked SO hard to get 2 days of this organized...cast...etc. If we lost shooting on Sunday we lost the role of Alex to a show in Maine until mid August AND Josh, who lives in LA, would obviously be gone. Plus we'd have lost the role of Elizabeth until end of July as she's getting married (Cheers, love!). AND...you never know who else will move away by then or be booked. It could've made HUGE issues as some who played roles on Saturday were playing roles on Sunday too (ie: The twins, Amanda and Alicia; Amanda pics were Saturday and Alicia was to be Sunday). Add on that we were loaned clothes from Vampire Freaks that are perfect (and if we don't use them we loose them)...it was a nightmare.

As many of my friends know, I'm not overtly a religious person, but I'm quite spritual. So during my breakdown on the train (silent tears of exhaustion and stress as I headed home) I prayed about Sunday. And to be honest...I felt a real calm come over me. Like God just said, "Don't you trust me?"

Well, there's no arguing in that. So I trusted and I emailed the cast when I got home and said, "We're still ON" ----with one change...we moved make-up to my apartment (and THAT's a story all on its own I'll share later!) which is 2-3 blocks from the shoot locale that day.

And you know what? I slept w/o fear, w/o stress, and w/o worry...and I woke up to dry, overcast weather (great for even light for pictures) and not a drop of rain fell until just after midnight. Not a single drop fell where we were the entire day of the shoot. They called for thunderstorms...and we got almost perfect lighting. Other people told me that areas of New York City were windy. We didn't get that either in the park up in Inwood.

Miracles like this are great, no?

We got most of the pics I wanted...and the ones we didn't get, had nothing to do with the weather THAT day.

Trust and faith.

I had a great lesson in it this weekend.

Hallelujah!

More stories to come about the shoot...so stay tuned!

I get the pics TONIGHT! Woot!

xoxo

Tamsin :)