ASMSG Romance Erotica Ezine Oct. 2014 | Page 8

story behind the series gets? Don’t be. It gets much deeper. Maybe nothing in the paragraphs above other than the inspiration for the story has any direct relation to the series, but if you absorb all the details as a whole, and if you’re a Jack White and The White Stripes fan, you may be suddenly viewing characters, names, and places with different eyes—if you haven’t already when reading the books. The Full-figure Debate and Standards of Beauty Blakely Bennett » Blog Someday, maybe in my 60s or 70s, I will finally learn the lesson that when something seems bad or going in the wrong direction, it’s simply the universes way of joking with me. Redirection straight ahead! Case in point: I posted the blurb for Bittersweet Deceit, the follow up novel after Stuck in Between and #2 in the Bound by Your Love Series. One woman who I owe a debt of gratitude to wrote, “You lost me at fullfigured.” Being full-figured myself (no it’s not code for fat) I was very surprised and at first offended. However what surprised me even more were all the women who chimed in to the contrary. Author groupies even posed the question: Would you not read a book because the character was full figured? There were 296 comments on the question and I have read them all. They either were very pro having a full-figured female protagonist (most) or they said it didn’t matter either way. The average size of a woman in the US has drastically changed during my lifetime. Where I used to be the largest or close within my group of friends, I now fall in the mid to lower region. Our society used to worship the full-figured woman pretty much until Twiggy came along. Models of today do not by any stretch represent most women. My series is based around a group of friends of differing sizes, which is real life. I never considered that Lainie’s size would be an issue. It’s just about telling her story. I’m happy to find out that many women are even more excited to read Bittersweet Deceit knowing that she is a larger woman. Meghan Tonjes is a singer/songwriter, YouTube star, and body-positive vlogger who had a photo removed from Instagram because she is a full-figured woman. I’m sharing her VIDEO with you, which is well worth the watch. Instagram has since apologized to her and reinstated the photo. I have read stories with all different types of characters whether it be race, religion, size, politics, time periods, etc. I personally love realism in what I read, the author’s ability to take me on a journey I would never otherwise experience, and a story that is relatable. That’s what I strive for in my writing as well. Please chime in on this subject. I’m very interested in hearing what you have to share. Warm full-bodied hugs, Blakely