Congratulations on the book! Little Darling’s Pinups for Pitbulls is beautifully written and designed. Can you describe the process of making the book – choosing the photographs, the design, format, writing process, etc?
It was intense! I worked closely with my editor from start to finish to put out a book that would be palatable enough to someone who might not know anything about BSL. I wanted it to be well-balanced in its ability to inform but also be attractive enough that it could be picked up by someone based on curiosity alone. I wanted to include images from the early days of Pinups for Pitbulls when photographers would submit images with their model and dog team. The format and themes have changed so much over the years and it shows our natural progression toward a more simplified approach to themes and the structure of the image itself. We want to always show the human-canine bond in each image while still creating something that is recognizable as “Pin-Up.” The writing process was the hardest part for me. I recently finished grad school with an M.S. in Public Policy. I had been a creative writer my whole life and had a tough time switching to scientific writing. I had just come out of defending my case study on the topic of Breed Bans and had to reprogram my brain again to speak from the heart and work creatively. It’s amazing what the mind can do with a simple shift in perspective! Overall, it was incredible. Seeing the book after a year of back and forth with my editor was something that I have had a hard time describing. It was nothing short of magical.