Monday, February 27, 2012

Picture perfect? Maybe not.

Do you know how hard it is to find stock photos of hoarders? That was my dilemma when I put together the cover for my latest story, The Hoarder's Daughter.  Oh sure, Google is full of them, as you can see here, but you can't just grab a photo from that site and use it.  Nope, for commercial use, you need to buy a stock photo.

I'm not sure the photo I ended up using will be a "forever" cover.  I needed something fast, this fit the bill and there you are.

I think the first time I saw the home of a hoarder was on the British show How Clean Is Your House.  At that time, I really knew nothing about hoarding.  I just thought the people showcased were just messy people, but I was wrong.  Since then, I've watched the TV show Hoarders, read about it on the Internet, and decided to write a story about it, as it really does fascinate me.

The saddest thing about hoarding is the reaction of the hoarder when a family members tries to intervene, and how that trash has become such important treasure to the hoarder, that they value it above the relationships they have. It's a sickness, not just a messy person.

I hope you'll give my story a try.  (Click here for purchasing info.)