An Interview with the Author:
I’ve had a number of readers ask me questions about Skinny Me and the A New Start series in general. So to answer those questions for others who may have similar ones …
Q: How did you come up with the story of Skinny Me?
A: Si
tting in my comfy blue reading chair one night, I started wondering how many people perceive others’ treatment of them as judgemental or prejudiced when in reality a lot of that attitude comes from the way they present themselves in the world. It must have been what I was reading that made me think of exploring this idea through an overweight person.
I’ve known many people who are the sweetest, kindest, most appealing people, and others who are somewhat bitter, judgemental and sort of walk around the world just expecting people to be nasty to them. As a defence mechanism (I imagine), they let that negativity show and people see that, which, unfortunately, just promotes their belief that their ‘shortcoming’ (in Jennifer’s case, her weight) is why people treat them badly. In reality, most likely people’s negative treatment of them is at least in part because of their attitude.
As a child and young teenager I was quite overweight and I know there was a phase in my life where I let a lot of my own negativity and fear of rejection come out in the way I treated people. I can recall times when I pushed people away or put them down before they could put me down. Jennifer’s story is in no way my own but I certainly drew on several painful experiences from my past to lend some truth to her story.
Q: Jennifer isn’t the nicest person around, was it hard writing someone who can come across as an unlikable character?
A: Jennifer was actually the easiest character I’ve ever written. She kind of flowed onto the page. She’s not always the nicest, but I think part of what made writing her easy was that deep down she has a good heart—it’s just a badly battered heart. She’s had a lot of pain and although that may be an explanation, of course it’s not an excuse for some of the choices she makes. But most of us make bad choices at some point in our lives and sometimes it’s easy to not be the person we wish we were.
A couple of readers have said they just wanted to shake some sense into Jennifer and that’s not a surprising reaction! If anything, once I got going it seemed harder to make Jennifer MORE likable than to make her unlikable. It wasn’t hard to think up ways she could be awful; what was hard was finding ways to counter those less than stellar moments so that, hopefully, readers would root for to become the kindhearted person she longs to be.
Q: Where did the concept of the A New Start series come from?
A: When I was writing Skinny Me I had no plans of writing a sequel or making it a series but I basically fell in love with the characters and the friendships they displayed. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. In today’s society the late twenties and early thirties are what the late teens and early twenties were to people several generations ago. It’s a time where we’re really discovering who we are, what matters to us, and forming the types of people we’re likely to be for the rest of our lives. There’s a lot of upheaval in that and a lot of soul searching. I liked the idea of witnessing the journeys these women go through when they realize it’s time to make a new start.
Q: Do you need to read the novels in chronological order for the books to make sense?
A: Absolutely not. Each story is written so that it can be read independently. However, they are written chronologically, so if you read book two before book one aspects of the previous story will be revealed. Basically, you’ll have read some spoilers!
Based on reader feedback, Skinny Me now has a bonus chapter readers can sign up for which I think is a nice transition between books one and two. It’s not necessary to either story but adds another layer of depth while fulfilling some readers’ desire for a little extra romance! So if you are reading them in order, make sure you take advantage of this bonus.
If you have questions for me about Skinny Me, the A New Start Series or what`s up my sleeve for the future, ask in the comments below and I`ll provide the answers! 🙂
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