Fat Head

By Sarah

My newest book, THE CINDERELLA PACT , came out yesterday in some stores and something happened that has never happened before. In the course of one hour I received three unbelievable gushing emails from readers, including one from a woman who said she wanted to be buried with the book.

Don't get me wrong. I've had plenty of people write to say my books should be buried, just not that they wanted to go with them. And let me place this disclaimer here as a native Pennsylvanian who is both aware of and has respect for the fine tradition of superstition: I do not want to jinx myself. I know the bad reviews are coming, the irate emails, the raised fists and thrown books, the "I wouldn't buy another piece of your trash if your name appeared over the title of THE DAVINCI CODE."

But what these first lovely emails told me was that chick lit - and THE CINDERELLA PACT definitely falls into that classification - is not just about guys and being single and getting drunk and working for a magazine and operating under a false identity and achieving a happy-ever-after ending. So-called chick-lit uses those devices as pillars to support a structure on which hangs the real pathos, the real message and heck, the stuff we can all relate to. That's what chick lit is about - or should be - and it's time people took it seriously as a genre.

Critics who bash our kind of writing see only the outlines and none of the coloring between the lines. None of the humor. They are, like, sooo wrong.

Does my character Nola Devlin operate under a secret identity? Yes. She is turned down for a high-profile columnist's job because she's too fat and so she creates a thin, British persona who becomes, natch, wildly popular. Which, in turn, creates a whole set of new problems including one that leads to her losing weight - or trying to. Are there hot guys? Yup, two. One a Brit. Does she get drunk? Once, on margaritas and it drives the plot and provides humor. Happy ever-after ending? Hey - it's called THE CINDERELLA PACT, get real.

But what THE CINDERELLA PACT is really about is how freakin' hard it is to lose weight and what it means to be not just a fat girl, but a fat woman in a world that expects nothing less than physical perfection, the spiritual side be damned. How the stigma of fatness never disappears at any age. How fat discrimination creeps into that most holy of holy areas - the workplace.

I remember after losing a bunch of weight in one of my successful, but never permanent, attempts at weight loss, an editor we'll call Mr. Richard Wadd came up to me and at top volume in a packed newsroom told me that I looked "a hell of a lot better" because when I walked in the door the first day of work he thought, "Whew, there's a load."

Yup. Swear to God. Of course,he was under the misimpression he was complimenting me. Perhaps it didn't register with him that I was a 29-year-old new mother and, as such, really sensitive about my appearance. Or that, with him being in a position of power, I couldn't retort that the day he edited my first article, I thought, "Whew. There's a moron."

And now that I've put back all the weight and then some, his words resonate. When I walk by do people think, "Whew, there's a load"? Correction. Do I freaking care?

There are, after all, some advantages to being 43.

Hope to see you in Pittsburgh tonight at Joseph Beth. Bringing chocolate and FREE TIARAS. But if you can't make it, please stop by THE MYSTERY LOVERS in Oakmont for signed stock waiting just for you!

Gotta hit the road,

Sarah

Comments

[Laura]

Amen, Sarah, on many counts.

I will never understand those who dismiss books based on their genre alone, or worse, who judge them as inferior. Why will they not grasp that there are great, good, bad, and indifferent books in every genre?

And as someone who is turning 42 in a couple of months, I know just what you mean. One of the benefits of getting older, for me, has been learning that other people's opinions are not what's important to me, it's mine. Whether it's how I look, how I choose to live, what I do for a living, or whether my kid is a good person. It seems really simplistic and trite, not to mention common sense, but boy, it took me a long time to understand inside.

I won a copy of your book on Adwoff. Thanks! God willing, I'll be seeing you Saturday in Bethlehem, and buying one anyway so I can share.

[Josh]

You irk me. Unless you have put on lots of weight since Thanksgiving, you are not fat and certainly not "a load." You aren't a "zero," like my 4'11", 102 lb. sisters (except for the 4'10", 175 lb one), but you are basically an average-below average-sized American woman. You are happily married in a secure relationship, and that counts for more than whether you are a 12, a 10, or an 8 at any particular time.

[Josh]

Disclosure: My family is leaving town (my son) or the country (wife and daughter) for five weeks tomorrow, and I am especially touchy. Sorry if I offended.

[Maryann]

Hey Sarah :o)

As someone who has never been thin...well maybe at birth, but that lasted all of about five months...I can commiserate(although your picture certainly says trim to me), but you know, I've decided it's how I feel about me that counts. This comes with age, and from the sage advice of my oh so wise daughter :o) I figured this out after I began going to the local fitness/therapy center to try and counter-act my arthritis and creaky knees. Haven't lost a lick of weight but ran into someone last week who said "You've lost weight!" (I didn't say no).In any case, I'll be off to B&N asap to get the book...and where can I mail those chocolates? :o)

[Kathy Sweeney aka Smart Tart]

Fan-freakin-tastic!!!

I won't risk the jinx by elaborating on your great beginning with the book - I'll save that for after I've read it.

Here's my take on fat. First of all, you're not. I am, so I can make that call. I've been fat for about 12 of my 45 years (the last ones) and I just don't give a shit what people think about it.

However - I will say that I have observed that people - men and women - who are overweight as teens seem to have a bigger hurdle overcoming the negative feelings about it. I don't know whether that holds true across the board, it's just my experience.

Meanwhile - tonight - we have Cheesecake!

[Margaret]

Hmmm. Isn't Mr. Richard Wadd an agent?

Maybe I'm thinking of Mr. Richard Hedd. I've met him, too.

Enjoy your bookstore event, sounds like tons of fun. Every chick needs a tiara.

[Harley]

"Whew. There's a moron." Thank you, Sarah. I needed a laugh this morning, esp. at someone else's expense. You're beautiful and so's your book.

[Susan McB]

Have fun, Sarah!

[nancy martin]

Harley, you're so right! Cinderella Pact *is* a beautiful book!

[Kathy Sweeney aka Smart Tart]

Margaret - my sister dated a guy named Richard Less. No kidding. What the hell were those parents thinking?

[William Simon]

Sarah-

In re: Editor Wadd, please keep in mind at all times the immortal line as uttered by Tom Berenger in THE BIG CHILL:

"Ah, F*** 'em if they can't take a joke."

Of course, using only the first three words of that sentiment has come in quite handy for me at times. Feel free to use as you deem appropriate..:)

[CinemaDave]

Ah...we did not get "Cinderella Pack" yet...when we do, I will start pushing it. Harley's "Dating is Murder" is about to leave our shelves for two weeks again :)

Hey Sarah, the last time I saw you, you were heading off to the Daytona Beach.
All I can write is,
"You made me Look!"

[April Redmon]

WOW. I have to read this book!

[nancy martin]

What a great party last night, Ms. Sarah! Even Stacie from Raspberry-Latte showed up! (All the way to Pennsylvania from WISCONSIN!!!) Check her out: http://raspberry-latte.blogspot.com/
We'll be adding you to our blog roll, Stacie. (As soon as I learn how to do that!)

[sarah S]

Thanks, Nancy, you beat me to the punch. And, yes, that was some deal. Meeting Stacie was a highlight. Shows you that virtual people are real!

[Jen]

Sarah, I'm so sorry I didn't get to Jo Beth to see you last night. Will head to Oakmont to get my copy of the book, ASAP. Hope it went well. Can't wait to read it - congrats on all the good reviews. We'll just ignore any bad ones that may show up in error!! and P.S. You Look Fabulous!

[Stacie Penney]

It was great meeting you too. Really, what were the odds?

I'm going to have to start playing more attention to book tours when I'm planning business travel. If Sarah hadn't blogged about it, I would never have know.

And I bought more books than I would have, if I had just run in to get Cinderella Pact. So, having the blog, in this case, sold a few extras.

Cheers!

Stacie