The difference between perception and reality

Just a curious little thing I noticed lately...
So maybe a lot of authors write because they feel more comfortable behind a screen writing the story, rather than being in the spotlight. Maybe. And often, authors use book covers or relevant images as their profile images in social media. Now, every one of us has our different reasons. Sometimes it's for promotional purposes, other times it might be self-conscious shyness, or to value their privacy. These are just 3 examples. Some authors will include an image of themselves with their biography in their books. But a lot of authors don't. Personal choice, and I'm not writing this to say that authors shouldn't "hide", so to speak. Some of us like the anonymity. I know I enjoy it a little, myself.

Courtesy of Flickr user Ryan G. Smith

Now, what this post is about is that, given that a lot of authors don't reveal real pictures of themselves in social media or in their books, it is up to the reader to create their own mental picture of what their favourite authors look like. I've even noticed that, on my list of authors with whom I'm friends, there are quite a few of whom I've never seen a real picture, so I'd created my own mental images of what they look like, from things they post and comment on, pictures they share and who knows what else. So when they post a real photo of themselves, I am stunned to see how far off my own thoughts were. I'm not saying that I was disappointed or delighted; I was simply surprised. However it got me thinking about how different perception and reality truly is. It's rather funny how the mind creates an image from things we glean from each other, without seeing each other, and yet we're, usually, far from correct. Society's obsession with beauty, I believe, is one cause. Beauty is extremely important, and sex is for the young, so if someone we talk to is funny, nice and is relaxed in talking about sex, writes about it, and even play-flirts with fellow authors, just as fun among colleagues, then surely they're young and hot, right? Wrong. Anyone can be a nice person, anyone can be kind and anyone can be interesting in sex. It doesn't matter what they look like; it doesn't determine the personality.
I guess what I'm saying, in a round about kind of way, is that you really shouldn't judge a book, or its author, by the cover.

Phoenix Johnson is an Australian author who has always had the passion for the written word. She had her nose in at least one book ever since she could read and would even scrutinize the back of the cereal box every morning at breakfast. It was only natural she take up writing.
After reviewing a few delicious titles for Naughty Nights Press as she wrote her first title, The Wolf in the Neighborhood, Phoenix was of one mind to submit it to NNP, and she hasn't looked back. The Return of Their Master now joins her first title for sale, and both books are receiving great reviews. Phoenix feels that being invited to write for the NNP blog is a great honour, and loves being part of the team!
You can get in touch with Phoenix on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr or view her website here, or buy her books direct from Naughty Nights Press, or other good ebook distributors.