So this guy is photographing me for Playboy today. No, it’s not for a special issue featuring short, thirty-something married moms who could, if they so desired, shop for bras in the juniors department…although that would be fun! It’s for the contributor’s page for the May issue. The essay is something I wrote for Ellen Sussman’s new anthology, Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave, which features folks like Mary Roach, Pam Houston, Joyce Maynard, Roxanna Robinson, Daphne Merkin, Sussman, and others on the subject of, well, bad behavior.

So this morning I went online in search of tips for headshots, because you can be sure some boy who turned me down for a date at Murphy High School in Mobile, AL circa 1988 will see it…and found this advice. Apparently, there are very strict rules for lip gloss, eyeliner, etc. Geez, who knew?