… my dear and valued friend, "Patricia the Fearless Vampire Novelist" as i seem to have taken to calling her... not quite two years ago, Patricia Kathleen McCarthy (hereafter PKM) and i ventured into the sodden wilds of Strathcona Park (where certain key scenes in her novels are set) to do a publicity oriented photo-shoot… out of seventy-some-odd images i was able to salvage a handful which she has used on her professional website and her MySpace. anticipating the release of a totally new website to coincide with the official release of her third novel, "The Crimson Woman." it seemed new photos were called for… the bulk of the images were shot at the Hull Walls. we actually took a frikking cab up to the PAL Lumber on Montclair Blvd. on St. Jean Baptiste Day and worked out from there. the driver was understandably convinced that we were nucking futs… one particular image comes from the walkway between Laurier East and Wilbrod at the end of Augusta. we were pretty toasted by the time we got there but we both felt that it was an important location because a beautiful scene in "The Crimson Woman" is set here. well, it's kind of a plunder scene (spoiler alert). but it's gorgeously handled. there's a lot of 'periodic' muff diving in the "Crimson" series and a fair amount of S&M, and the protagonists run a grow-op, and we get to visit art galleries and buy coffee-table books at Nicholas Hoare on Sussex before we deke over to the Earl for a pint and hang with Picasso and certain things are revealed about the Ottawa Police (only the nice stuff, i'm so sure) yadda yadda… so anyhoo, this fine lady is precisely the kind of degenerate i like to hang out with…
Thank you for visiting my gallery of acute narcissism. It pains me to have to display photos of myself but begrudgingly I accept writing is not only about writing. Promoting your image is also a necessary evil, like huckstering novels. I am grateful for DTR’s patience and photographic eye. It was his idea to incorporate a graffiti motif. As to DTR’s reference of “toasted”, possibly he is inadvertently commenting on the fact that I had enjoyed delicious toasted rye bread for breakfast and or that coincidentally Mr. Gin and Tonic unexpectedly crashed our lunch in the middle of the shoot. No need to fear, however. We not only survived the intrusion but in fact thrived. You’re welcome to reproduce these media images, providing you remember to give appropriate credit to David Three Rats. The black and white pics from 2006 were re-used on the back covers of The Crimson Man (Second Edition) and The Crimson Woman.
