The Wolves of Janice and Gina

Well actually, they aren’t wolves, and they’re certainly not ours. They’re a breed of husky called Tamaskan, and they belong to our photographer friend, Jessica Tremblay. For The Wolves of St. Peter’s, we wanted an author photo that reflected the story in some way. So Jess to the rescue, along with her white dog Sharayah (meaning friend) and her brown one Taima (meaning crash of thunder).

Now for setting. Unfortunately, we couldn’t jetset to Italy for the photo shoot, and so a crumbling stone wall at old Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario stood in for a Roman one.

Here are a couple of outtakes, including one of our wonderful photographer Jess, taken by Gina.

Getting the wolves to pose was no mean feat

Our wolves were clearly very comfortable with us by now

A portrait of photographer Jessica Tremblay

BOOKS OF NOTE: We haven't read it yet, but it's next on our list: Ross King's Governor General-nominated Leonardo and the Last Supper. We found his book Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling a must-read while writing The Wolves of St. Peter's. Not only brilliantly researched, it was so entertaining and readable, we began to wonder why write fiction at all!

We're also looking forward to The Borgias Season 2, just released in Canada on DVD. Colm Feore brilliantly plays Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, the soon-to-be Pope Julius II. A major character in The Wolves of St. Peter's, Julius makes the Borgias look like saints in comparison. (Note to Mr. Feore: The Wolves of St. Peter's would make a great follow up to The Borgias.)