Sunday, May 18, 2014

FAT


 
Please join me in welcoming my friend the incredibly talented Saranna DeWylde. She has written a fairy powerful story called Fat. It is amazing. What would you do if you gave up your labels?--RR
 
 


 

“You’re pretty, for a fat girl.” 

That’s nothing Claire Howard hasn’t heard before, and there’s part of her that doesn’t care, that thinks it’s okay to love herself just the way she is. Then there’s that other voice in her head, the one that plays on a constant loop that gets louder whenever people scrutinize her dinner order, snicker when she needs a belt extender on a plane, and outright laugh when they see her with her the kind of man they don’t think fat girls deserve. It reminds her that existing while fat is the worst thing in the world. It’s worse than being ignorant, bigoted or cruel—at least according to society’s standards. Even when she has the attentions of two men who are the embodiment of fantasy. 

But it’s not their love that matters, it’s her own. Fat is a brand that’s been seared into every aspect of her life—even her heart. Can Claire love herself enough to reach past the labels for her own happiness?

http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Labels-Saranna-DeWylde-ebook/dp/B00K23BQEO

 


 



FAT

 

Writing Fat was a deeply personal book for me. A lot of how my character Claire feels is how I feel most of the time. There are days when I feel like I’m gorgeous and it’s okay to be me. I’ve worked really hard to get to that point where I can think that and believe it even once. Every day is still pushing it.

 

Since I published this story, I’ve had emails and messages from other women who’ve asked me how I’ve gotten into their heads, how I knew what the endless loop of negative self-talk and doubt sounded like. It’s both comforting and heartbreaking to know that I’m not alone.

 

At its core, that’s what the labels series is about. It’s about seeing the labels that have been slapped on us and owning them. Being true to ourselves and loving ourselves anyway. It’s so easy to say, but so much harder to do.


But I think that every one of us deserves to have a romance with ourselves. We deserve love, we deserve happiness, we deserve to have all of our needs met no matter what we look like or what labels have been slapped on us. Sometimes the worst of those have been put there by ourselves.

 

Claire’s journey is definitely similar to mine, although I didn’t quite get to where she is yet. I’d like to, I’m working on it.

 

I’d like to give away a print copy of Fat to a commenter. To enter the drawing, I want you to tell me something that you like about yourself. And don’t go for the easy ones. Usually, when people ask me this question, I always say my boobs. Being a fat girl, I have great boobs. But that’s obvious. That’s not something I have to work to like. *grin*

 

What I do have to work to like? Even if I lost a Backstreet Boy, I’ll still never be dainty, or delicate. I’ve taught myself that strong is beautiful. Being the size I am, carrying around the weight that I do, I’m naturally strong. I enjoy lifting weights and I’d stopped doing it because it made me bigger. I pack on muscle easily. And from here, it’s easy for my brain to go to that place where I worry about how big my shoulders are, how big my arms are, how big… No. It feels good to be strong. And to me, that’s beautiful.

 

So what about you?

2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for having me.

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  2. You are a rock star!!! Thanks so much for writing this and sharing this and being your hot self. I adore you and am so glad I got to spend a tiny bit of time with you last week. (PSST - It's Jenn Kacey but don't tell anyone cause I'm in DD mode right now.) Ahem...and thank you for coming!!!! :)

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