Skinny & a giveaway!

What a loaded word. Who can argue that in one way or another, our emotional connection and response to the word skinny does not affect every single one of us, every single day?

I was recently given an opportunity to review Diana Spechler's SKINNY.

I could say it was masterful, that it was witty, that it was engrossing, important, vivid, resonating, real.  And it was masterful, witty, engrossing, important, vivid, resonating, real -- but you see those words on the back of every book in every bookstore in America.  Besides, Joob, Charlotte, and Kelsey have all given this book glowing reviews for those who are interested.

So what I'll say is, simply, this: This is the most important book I've read in years.  If you read one book this summer, read this one.

Ms. Spechler was also generous enough to offer me an interview to share with all of you. Check it out! I am in bold :)

I found a short story you wrote here: http://www.fiftytwostories.com/?p=492. It also addresses eating disorders: namely Binge Eating Disorder, anorexia, and purging. It seems that this is a topic that is close to your heart or at least intrigues you. Why are you so drawn to writing about eating disorders?

Thanks for reading Proximity! I love that story! I still feel so close to that protagonist and her therapy group.

I write about eating disorders because I’ve had issues with body image and disordered eating for almost as long as I can remember. In response to stress, I’ve often turned to eating too much or to restricting calories. I’ve over-exercised, fixated on numbers, and found solace in shrinking, running, Bikram yoga, nachos, pasta, and M&Ms.

The first short story I ever wrote, back in high school, was about an anorexic teenager. I won my home town’s creative writing award for it. I guess that was foreshadowing of my career, but it’s disheartening to think how far back this all goes, how much of my time and energy have been consumed by it. Anyone who has ever suffered from body obsession knows: Body obsession is annoying.  

Was it difficult or uncomfortable to get into Gray's head, especially during her episodes of disordered eating: binging until she was nauseous at a Chinese food restaurant, then fasting for 20+ hours?

I didn’t want to write those scenes! I was so afraid that if I wrote them, everyone was going to know that I understood Gray’s plight. That prospect was so embarrassing. Problem was, I couldn’t write about Gray’s eating disorder without tapping into my own.
  
In SKINNY, all of my characters have dysfunctional relationships with food, but I was trying to write about those relationships as if they were foreign to me. That didn’t work. The writing sounded hollow. I forced myself to be honest by acknowledging that I had a choice: ‘Fess up or write an emotionally empty book.
   
Once I started leaking my secrets onto the page (attributing them to fictional characters, of course), “confessing” became kind of fun. 

You created a website, bodyconfessions.com, to allow women around the world to confess and hopefully exorcise their own body image issues. But with postings like, "I have a great body that many, many girls would die for. But guess what, I binge eat, totally out of control, and then have to compensate by dieting the rest of the time," do you think it's possible that women with past eating disorders or a propensity to them could be triggered?

I’ve heard that criticism of Body Confessions, and my response is always: If the site is triggering you, stop reading it! But most of the feedback I’ve gotten about the site has been overwhelmingly positive. It makes people feel less alone. Shame and loneliness are far more triggering than reading others’ confessions.

Society tells us to keep quiet about our binges, our obsessions, and our negative body image. We’re supposed to “love ourselves” and “eat what we want.” You know, like the celebrities do, right? Come on. Dishonesty only compounds our shame. That’s what Body Confessions is for: honesty, and in turn, de-stigmatizing our body and food issues.  

I know that several of my readers have their eye on a book deal in the future. If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring writer, what would that be?
Here are three pieces of advice: Read constantly. Write every day. Tell the truth.

So -- are you guys ready for the giveaway??

As I said before, this is the most important book I've read in a very long time. Truthfully if I had thousands of dollars I would buy dozens of copies of this book and give them to each and every one of you. Alas, I am a broke college student with a minor protein powder obsession. What I did do, though, was buy an extra copy (attention, FTC: Ms. Spechler gave me one for free to review) to give away to one of you.

How to enter:
1. Be a citizen of the U.S. or Canada -- sorry, international friends =(
2. Leave a comment here telling me one way body image has affected you recently
3. Tweet this giveaway [or post it on Facebook] & leave a comment telling me you did
4. Follow me on twitter (SquatLikeALady) & leave me a comment telling me you did

I will pick one lucky winner on Thursday, May 19!