Hand model Kimbra Hickey on the cover of Twilight wants to have role in Breaking Dawn

Kimbra Hickey wants some recognition for her pinky-size role in the "Twilight" phenomenon.

Hers are the slender, ghostly hands cupping a red apple on the now-famous cover of the first hit book by Stephenie Meyer.

But Hickey's lack of fame has her cracking her knuckles in frustration.

"It was major exposure for my hands," said the petite, 40-year-old model. "But nobody knew who I was."

So Hickey now stops anyone she sees reading the book to inform them of her contribution.

"I see people reading it on the subway, and I say, 'Those are my hands! I'm a hand model!' " she explained. "I'm sure they think I'm crazy -- a crazy lady on the subway."

The good-natured Hickey sometimes hangs out near the cash register at the Barnes & Noble near her Greenwich Village apartment to spread the word. Surprised customers sometimes ask her for her autograph or to trace the outline of her hand on the book jacket.

She even carries around a Gala apple in her purse at times so she can recreate the pose for people.

"It was too big of a deal just to let it be," she said, although she admitted that she has become "a little goofy" about the whole thing.

Hickey is a massage therapist who works a few days each month as a "parts models."

It's her size-6 feet -- not her hands -- that land her most of her modeling gigs. Her tootsies have graced a Times Square billboard and the cover of magazines, she said.

"I never see myself as having perfect hands," she explained. "I guess I'm just lucky that they photograph well."

Hickey's agent, Danielle Korwin, said her hands are in demand because they are "veinless" -- not the sort of hands a vampire would like.

The 2004 photo shoot for the "Twilight" book cover paid $300 -- the industry standard for two hours of work. Hickey had to file her nails extra short so her tiny hands didn't look like an adult's.

Lately, she's been going to "Twilight" fan conventions -- she's at one this weekend in Portland, Ore. -- where she sells apple-scented hand lotion.

So far, she knows of four "Twihards" -- as the vampire-romance fans are called -- who've gotten tattoos of her hands.

Her goal is to break into acting. She's trying to contact the casting director for the fourth installment in the "Twilight" series.

"If I could get a little background part, it would be fantastic," she said -- "even if they only wanted my hands in it."


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