Conley’s Author Portraits – Charlotte Portrait Photographer Carina Studios

“Now, standing in front of the well, watching the sun shine through the green-leafed maple trees and listening to the wind whistle through the stones, making the hanging rope bucket creak and move, Mary felt a hard lump in the middle of her belly, and clutched the handle of her pail until it bit into her hands. She had to go inside that big old well and clean it. Her eyes flicked over the outside stones.  One side of the well was covered in moss. There were dead leaves crunched up and rotting around the edge, where it met the dirt.  Least that’d clean up fine. She was more scared of going inside.”  excerpt from “Oh, Sisters, Let’s Go Down to the River” by Conley Lyons

Eloquent command of the written word is something I’ve always admired. I’ve never been much of a writer, myself.  In elementary school I wrote my own colonial Dear America book in a weathered diary (so clever, I know), and in junior high I wrote an elaborate three part book about a war princess named Jem Fizzer (oh, yes).  But somewhere in high school I lost my written way and fell deeper into visual arts.  I struggled so much in college, I actually handed in drawings in place of written finals because I simply could not think of anything else to say.  (It was a damn good pencil drawing of Woodrow Wilson, too, that passed my US History final.)  Pick up any article or magazine today and it’s clear just how important a copywriter is.

In February I had the pleasure of photographing portraits for a dear friend and coworker, Conley, who is not only a talented copywriter but also a published author.  As we spoke about the shoot, we decided Uptown Charlotte felt like the perfect setting for her portraits.  So our session was at The Green, a literary-themed park full of fun, creative book sculptures, plaques, and author tributes. Although it was a little breezy, we had a blast, and chatted about how she got into writing (using her parents’ Macintosh/old stenography notebooks), her favorite things to read (magical realism, historical fiction, and movie reviews), and what she’s currently working on (comic book fans are going to love it!!)

Conley earned her B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing from Elon University, and writes science fiction, fantasy, horror, and a little gothic.  Sometimes she writes long rants about film and TV.  You can check out her website and follow her on Twitter for updates on her upcoming projects and the latest internet cat memes. You can also keep up with what she’s reading here on Goodreads!

Want more?  Get a free excerpt from her story, “Oh, Sisters, Let’s Go Down to the River” on Wattpad.

Oh, and if you happen to be thinking, “Wow!  This is an extremely well written blog post for once,” you’d be right because I had the help of a wonderful editor 😉