Mary Louise Reed is literally the face of my book, The Legacy of Sterling Manor.
I have known Mary since elementary school. We lost touch over the years, but with the help of Facebook, we were able to keep up with what was going on in each other’s lives.
While I was in the process of writing The Legacy of Sterling Manor, I scrolled through my newsfeed and saw the photo Mary posted of herself in a hat covered in roses. The photo was so striking and captured what I was writing about so perfectly that I knew I wanted it to be the cover of my book.
The thing is that I wrote the book and just put it aside, not sure of what I wanted to do with it. Six months later, I decided that I was going to publish it. Little did I know how much I had to learn, but as a graphic designer, the cover was the thing I wanted to do first.
I remembered that photo of Mary and scrolled and scrolled and scrolled on her feed to find it. When I did I immediately emailed her to ask if I could use the photo as the cover of my upcoming book. I was nervous that she was going to say no and then I wasn’t sure what I would do because I already had the vision of the cover in my head. Lucky for me, Mary is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside and she agreed. I was beyond thrilled.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Jennifer Franz Griffith: What inspired you to take the picture?
Mary: I enjoy taking random photos. This happened to be one of those days and the photo turned out great.
JFG: Have you done any modeling in the past?
Mary: Yes. I was 4th Runner Up in a Miss MD Pageant as well as Overall Miss Photogenic in that same pageant. I have appeared in a movie, tv commercials, and tv shows. I was a runway model for Fashion Bug. I also modeled in the Miss Full-Figured Metropolitan Pageant.
JFG: How do you feel about being on the cover of a book?
Mary: I am excited and very honored.
JFG: What are you passionate about?
Mary: #1 is being the best role model I can for my son. I am also passionate about animals, especially my cats, and traveling as well.
JFG: Do you have a favorite book or author?
Mary: Of course this will now be my favorite book and Jennifer, my new favorite author. :-) Before that Dean Koontz was my favorite author. My favorite book is called VOX.
Check out Mary on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Full-Figured-ModelActress-Mary-Reed-Swain-194950870562297/