Now that I am an established author (smirk), it’s time to look forward to my next book.  My initial intention was to write a YA book about childhood obesity and the struggle to fit in.  I think that book is still in me somewhere, but I have not felt ready for it lately.

I have always wanted to chronicle my life fighting obesity, and food addiction, but without a happy resolution to date, I’m not sure I can pull it off.   

I think it’s time to explore my struggles in more detail, but only with a real, non-fictional happy ending, a triumph over my daily struggle to fight the urge to clean my plate and get another, to empty that box of Oreo’s once a single sleeve is ripped opened.  

At the very least, writing about the daily pain, discipline, temptations and frustrations  may help me as I fight to cope in positive ways with something that has been with me since I can remember, with very few breaks.

I know so many people, especially women, who have gone through similar struggles.  And it’s not just feeling physically ‘yucky’ and unhealthy when your body isn’t right, it’s the lack of energy, the depression, the clothes that don’t fit right and display every flaw for the world to see.  The perpetual sweat and the feeling that everyone is looking at you differently.  I know from being thin, and being morbidly obese, and being several sizes in between, that not only do people treat you differently based on size and girth, but you treat yourself differently.  And my Italian American heritage, the abbondanza, doesn’t help a bit either.

I’m imagining this next work as not so much a how to as much as a how did I get here, and what, if any, answers are out there that can help others.  I want to create a positive book that you will want to read, want to use to understand yourself or someone you care about.  And it has to make us laugh, because without humor, what’s the point?

Would love to know what others think about this.

And no worries.  The Girl from the Hill is not dropping off my radar anytime soon.  The real Girl is actually pretty happy about the whole thing, if not a little overwhelmed.  A lot of people have pre-ordered and requested signed copies by her vs. me, which is wonderful.  I think we have to take our show on the road – the Summer of the Girl, here we come!

Related articles

• Mika Brzezinski: Obsessed: America’s Food Addiction–and My Own (Excerpt) (huffingtonpost.com)
• WeAre2Fit2Quit Fights Obesity “One” Rep at a Time (weare2fit2quit.com)