How "Twilight" made hand model Kimbra Hickey a star
Not even the escaped fame, so it鈥檚 no surprise to see the hand model used for the book cover giving a public wave.
Turns out that 鈥減arts model鈥� Kimbra Hickey is the face behind the now-famous image of ghostly hands cupping a red apple. At the time, Hickey wrote on her 鈥溾�� website, it was just a shot for a teenage romance novel. She knew nothing about the book. Now, she鈥檚 on the , traveling the country and using her hands to sign autographs. In the works, her site said, are sales of a 鈥淗ands of Twilight鈥� body lotion (apple-scented, of course), and an apple charm necklace. (Her 1,200-plus followers on Twitter include 鈥淢rsEddieCullen鈥� and 鈥淣ewborn_Bella.鈥�)
But now Hickey's bite of the apple is drawing some blowback. describes Hickey this way: 鈥淪he doesn't understand why she isn't more famous. It's cute at first, and then you realize she's not kidding about this.鈥� Other headlines joke about her seeking 鈥渉ands-on glory.鈥�
"It was too big of a deal just to let it be," Hickey told the of her quest for recognition, even as she admitted that she has become "a little goofy" about the whole thing. ("Goofy" may indeed be the best description for her habit of carrying a Gala apple in her purse at times so she can recreate the famous pose for anyone interested. Hickey told the Post that she also sometimes "hangs out near the cash register" at the Barnes & Noble near her apartment to help attract attention.)
I must admit that her site took me aback when it said that Hickey 鈥渨ill always be the only living icon of the books 鈥� other than (author) Stephenie Meyer herself.鈥� Otherwise, though, it鈥檚 sweet in a way that any formerly crazed "Star Trek" or "Star Wars" fan can appreciate, with the backstory and tidbits about the modeling shoot and the book鈥檚 subsequent fame. (Diehard "Twilight" fans will drink in ).
Now, I think, there鈥檚 just one question left: Was it really a Gala apple used for that cover shot and, if so, when will the Fruit Growers Marketing Association start spreading the word?
Rebekah Denn blogs at .
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