I recently had the opportunity to talk to Angelica, the model of all five covers of my Urban Ghoul series! I've never spoken to a book cover model before, and must admit never given it much thought. All I knew is that my cover designer, Erin, produces amazing covers.
I thought you too might be interested in the answers to some questions I put to her:
Angelica, please say a little about yourself?
My name is Angelica Kotliar and I am from Kherson, Ukraine. I immigrated to the USA in 2009 with nothing and had to start my life from scratch at the age of 18. It was a crazy journey, but it was totally worth it.
Being a model was always my dream and that dream came true here in the USA. I did lots of runway shows and different types of photoshoots, like music videos and so on, but one of my favorite jobs was of course working for book covers. I still do them but not as often as I used to.
I'm a mommy of two beautiful girls right now: my older daughter Mireille is 3 years old and little Zoe is 10 months old. Besides yearning to be a model, I always dreamed of having a beautiful family, and I wanted it to happen before I turned 30. All that I wished for happened. Everybody always asks me if I ever want to go back to Ukraine, but my answer is no. Soon I will be an American citizen and am not planning to go back. My home is here.
How did you get involved with Erin in doing a model shoot for my book covers?
I was working for the first time at a fashion show and I met an amazing and talented photographer there, Ray John Pila. To make a long story short, he invited me to his studio to have a group fun photoshoot. That day my look was Gothic, and the Period Images team was there (they are the ones who organize photoshoots for the authors and cover designers), and they started booking me about 6-7 years ago.
Did you come up with the poses or was it choreographed?
Yes,I did. I've always loved the camera and every person I worked with loved my natural moves, so the photographer basically never has to tell me how to move. I'm just having lots of fun during the process.
Your poses on my covers seem perfect for holding guns. Did you use props during the photoshoot?
How fun that you noticed that. I don't remember what type of gun I was holding at the shoot for your books. We did lots of photoshoots with the guns, but most of them are super old weapons from back in the days, so I think the guns on your book are photoshopped too. I love guns, and I go to shoot a lot here in California at gun clubs. I'm not a professional shooter, but I find the guns and weapons very sexy. As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone - I hate war and violence.
How did you decide what to wear and makeup etc.?
I didn't decide what makeup to do, since we always have a makeup artist, hair stylist and wardrobe people. They are in charge of all that. Erin photoshopped the costumes used on your covers. I must say she is super professional because it looks incredibly real. During the shoot I was wearing leather pants and a corset, and I think a leather jacket on the top.
Tell us about the photo shoot. What was it like?
I remember this shoot very well, and I was actually pregnant with my first daughter. I loved this specific look on your covers, I feel very confident and sexy in it. To be honest I work very fast. I would say we shoot maybe for only 5-10 minutes. The preparation and wait time is the longest part since Period Images loves to do a lot of different looks with different models in one-two days. We are like one big family - we do photos, videos, we eat, we joke, we laugh and we have a chance to wear different characters. I would say we did about 100 photos from that photoshoot and then the photographer chooses the best ones.
Who does the photography?
Mary does the photos. She is the boss of Period Images. We are also doing videos for the books too, which you can see on periodimages.com
Do you do other types of modeling?
Yes, I've done lots of runways in California and New York, editorial work, commercials, music videos and hundreds of book covers, but right now i am on a break raising my girls. I still get invited for the book cover shoots though and I can not say no to them.
Thanks for your time, Angelica. Very interesting! It would be fascinating to attend one of those photoshoots and watch. I really hope I'll have a chance to feature you on future book covers too.
If you want to follow Angelica:
Instagram : @angelicakotliar
Facebook : Angelica Kotliar
