Guest post – Jessica Skye Davies

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Layla Lawlor — Leave a comment

Today I have a guest post from Jessica Skye Davies, author of Half the World Away! So I’ll turn the blog over to her. 🙂

Thanks to Layla for playing hostess to Dade Faber and myself here today.

Get to Know Dade Faber

In Half the World Away we meet photojournalist Dade as he’s wandering around an Australian swamp with his writer and assistant, Sheamus. He’s not particularly happy with the insect population of Australia and tired of being eaten alive… at least, until he nearly is eaten alive by a croc. It can only get better from there, right?

I sat down with Dade to get to know him a little better.

J: Hi, Dade, great to see you!

D: Hello. Thanks. Glad to be here.

J: How are you doing, Dade? Heard you had a close encounter with a bitey not long ago.

D: Yeah, it was close enough for me, alright. Granted, I wasn’t sure the bugs had left anything for the crocodile.

J: I hope you packed the calamine lotion!

D: If I’d known it was like this I’d have brought cases of it from home and sold it at mark-up down here. Seriously. I’d have probably grossed enough to cover my expenses for the next six months – and I live in London!

J: I’m guessing you rather prefer the London lifestyle?

D: That’s an understatement. London’s been my home since I was a teenager, you know? I love it. At home in a crowd, I reckon.

J: You’re pretty well-known in travel photography, Dade, but we don’t see a lot of cityscapes in your portfolio. Do you prefer living in the city, but working in nature?

D: Not particularly. I really prefer shooting urban assignments. There just aren’t a lot of those at the moment. At least not one’s I’m tapped for. My… editor always packs me off to places like this for pictures of the flora and fauna. Which is only ok with me because it means I get to travel with my best mate, Shea.

J: Best mate, or best mate?

D: No, no, definitely just mates. Really. Shea’s a big-time flirt, shags anything that moves (or doesn’t move quickly enough). Me, I’m for one bloke, probably what you’d call the marrying sort. Shea’s a great guy, don’t get me wrong, but we aren’t really each other’s type either.

J: Talk to me about types. What’s yours?

D: Big boys. I think I wanted to shag the whole rugby team when I was at college.

J: Now that sounds like fun! Got anybody like that at home?

D: Eh… well, depends on what you mean by “got.” I guess the honest answer to that is I don’t know. And when that’s the answer… it’s probably “no.”

J: That sounds kind of tough.

D: I guess it happens. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just that we’re both pretty busy, you know? Nothing a little quality time wouldn’t sort?

J: Yeah, maybe. Tell me more about working in travel photography. I know you said Shea is your bestie and you guys get to travel together. Is he a personal assistant?

D: Nah, Shea is a writer at the same mag as me. I take the piccies, he write about them. Now, most mags highlight the writer of the article and the photos are just there for illustration and the odd photography award. Viaxar, our mag, is, as usual, different. The editor, Jackson Rockwell, he really spotlights the photographers and the articles are there for information about the pictures. Glorified captions, really, but Shea is a brilliant writer and knows tons of biology stuff. That’s why he comes along for the nature pieces I get. When I do get an occasional city piece I work with different writers, depending on where I go.

J: You clearly love your work, Dade.

D: Thanks. I guess I do go on about it. It’s kind of a dream come true for me, you know? Ever since I moved to London to study photography, people told me I was mad, I wasn’t being sensible, so few people make it in a creative profession like mine. I don’t like to say I wanted to prove them wrong, but I did want to. I don’t like being told I can’t or shouldn’t do something I feel strongly about. And when I am told that, it tends to make me dig my heels in and really work for it. I think I’m pretty young for having made it as far as I have, and that’s something I’m proud of.

J: So you’re determined, are you?

D: Stubborn, you mean! But yeah, when I want something, I go after it.

J: We were talking before of wildlife. Some people really have a thing for Aussie guys. How about yourself?

D: Oh, there’s definitely some nice scenery, yes. I so wish I’d been sent to Sydney or someplace beachy. Maybe one of these days I’ll get to shoot at Bondi. The accents are kinda cute here as well, at least when they’re not obnoxious.

J: Well, Dade, I hope the thing at home gets sorted (maybe by that quality time) and I hope you get assigned some more urban shoots.

D: Thank you, it was nice to have a chat. I’m sure everything will work out some way. Maybe I’ve just got to get stubborn!

J: Best of luck, Dade, and try not to get eaten alive out there!

Blurb: Photographer Dade Faber keeps hoping for assignments on a big city beat, but time and again he’s sent into the wild. This time, he’s half the world away from London shooting the Australian bush. When Dade is nearly attacked by a crocodile, it leads to a shouting match with Elliot Harris, who owns Dade’s hotel. Elliot is both hot and persuasive, and when he offers to play tour guide, Dade accepts. After a week spent mostly together in the bush, Dade begins to fall for Elliott. The attraction is mutual, and when circumstances lead both men to London, they find they have much in common. But can their romance bridge the 10,000 miles between London and the Australian bush?

Bio: Jessica Skye Davies has been a writer since her first works were “published” in her grandparents’ living room and written in crayon. She is a lifelong native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she has been active in the community, including serving as library director on the executive board of a local GLBT community center. Outside of writing, Jessica has a wide range of interests and hobbies: from Mozart in a music hall to punk in pubs, from Shakespeare to Vonnegut, from salsa dancing the night away to afternoon coffee in the square to kicking back with a good movie. She loves meeting new people and exploring new places, always open to whatever elements might inspire her next writing project.

Links:
Half the World Away: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4282&cPath=399
Blog: http://jessicaskyedavies.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jessicaskye.davies