Q&A with Terry Lander discussion

My latest book, "Kama Slumber", was an idea that came to me on a minibus. Producing a parody of the Kama Sutra sounded like a fun, simple idea that gave me an opportunity to become a photographer for a day, if only to save a small fortune. I sketched out a few positions and thought about the model, contacting a local photographer to borrow her camera and find out who she uses normally.

Despite receiving a list of models I had another flash of inspiration - Helen Rule is a working actor who lives locally and has a very natural look. I only really knew her through social networking sites, but had spoken to her before. I contacted her to see if she would be interested and to discuss her availability, after which I got hold of a single bed and tidied up the area for the shoot.

The whole thing only took a couple of hours to shoot as I had a great idea of how I wanted poses to look, what I needed outside of the main pictures and even what the cover should look like. The hard part was editing the photos and typesetting the book, which took considerably longer.

Upon receiving the finished book I was certain it would be more popular than any other book I've ever written and have been proven right (relatively speaking) in the past month since it's official launch.

I'd love to have eavesdropped on your first conversation with Helen.

"Hi, we don't really know each other, but I've got this idea for a book, and I wondered if you'd pose on a bed while I take photographs..."

Ha! It wasn't too far removed from that actually, it was a tough subject to approach but I must have done it with enough tact as Helen agreed straight away.

With a decrease in technology prices I'm well aware of the increase in dodgy photographers and I kept that very much in mind when pitching.

Thanks for your comment.

Have you read the Kama Sutra? Somehow I've missed it.

Naturally I had to pick up a copy for research purposes, it helped me to format the book in a similar style and that in itself has attracted positive reviews.

As for reading the Kama Sutra for recreational purposes, definitely not...

I've looked up the Kama Sutra on Wikipedia. Kama Slumber may be more me :o)

I can empathise. I also have an account for it on Twitter - www.twitter.com/kamaslumber