Mamamia: The Book Diaries #2

Mia Freedman Monday 7 September 2009 10:16am

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So these past few weeks I’ve been doing magazine interviews to promote my book and to go with some of these interviews, I have had to do some shoots. And while swanning around photographic sets and studios may sound like a box of chocolates, for me it’s not. Don’t like it. Never have. Write about it in my book.

If that makes me sound ungrateful or spoilt or whatever I’m sorry but I just don’t like all the time it takes to get hair and make-up done and then lighting and then…ugh, I’m getting antsy just typing it all out.

It’s an oddly passive thing having your photo taken. And also oddly tiring. Which is weird because you just sit on your arse and get stuff done to you and maybe that’s why it makes me tired because it is all very mind-numbing.

…and while this may sound impossibly glamorous and fun, if you gave me a choice between spending several hours in a studio having my hair and make-up done and then being photographed, or going to the dentist for a filling, I would cock my head to the side a little bit and then ask for some thinking music.

I DISLIKE IT THAT MUCH. The weird part is that this book is pretty personal and I’ve been very honest and so much of my gripe with the media these days is about the way they portray women. So now, in my bid to publicise my book, I am having to be complicit in that very process. Which is weird and sits a wee bit uncomfortably with me (even though I am grateful to those editors who have supported me and the book by running stories about it).

Still, I’m not a fashion model or an actress, I’m a regular person who wants to look like myself. But that’s not how mags work. When you appear in a mag, you have to look like a better version of yourself. That’s the fantasy. I wish I could just get over it and enjoy the playing-dress-ups aspect of it. I’m conscious though, that I want the image that comes across to be authentic. Me. And me is not all Alex Perry.

So I’m having a lot of conversations with stylists and art directors and editors that go like this:

me: “So, um, what’s the concept for the shoot?”

them: “How do you feel about being shot in a jacket with nothing underneath?”

me: “……….”

them: “Mia? Are you there?”

me: “Um, do you think I could wear jeans?”

And this…with my friend Paula who knows me backwards and upside down and is kindly shooting me for her magazine, Madison…

P: “No, you cannot wear your jeans and trainers.”

Me; “Of course not. Um, really I can’t?”

P: “I promise it will be you, just a bit more dressed up”

Me: “Oh, so jeans with sparkly trainers?”

In the end she was divine and let me wear jeans and a t-shirt and and bare feet. I LOVE that woman.

Anyway, because I passionately believe that we all do far too much comparing of ourselves to other women and the last thing I want is for anyone to feel bad about themselves after looking at a photo of me like this one after I’ve had 19 hours of professional attention from a crew of 17 people.

Which is why I’m going to show you this picture of me having my hair done before the Sunday Life cover shoot (you can see the after shot here):

I’m also going to be doing a webcast *because I told my publisher that the women who come to this site and read this book don’t necessarily have time to go into a store for a chat. Will keep you updated on when that will be but I’ve insisted on doing it in the eveing – around 8pm on a weeknight when most people have a bit of time to themselves….

*I’m not entirely sure what a webcast is or how it works but I think it will be me live answering questions or being interviewed or something and we’ll stream it. I want audience participation!

I also wanted to say to everyone who has already bought and read the book and who has taken the time to contact me to tell they loved it….well, wow. I am blown away (and enormously relieved) that so many people ‘get’ what I wrote. All I ever wanted by writing this book was to connect with other women – women who have been through similar things and women who just wanted to read my story.

Walking into a book store is so daunting when you have a book for sale because there are just SO MANY amazing books all competing for your attention and your hard-earned money.

So I wanted to say thank you for buying my book and reading it. That’s all.