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They Did It Again: Fashion Magazine Slims Curvy America

by Elegant Plus Magazine

They just can’t seem to help themselves.  Fashion magazines, I mean.  Schizophrenic messaging …… one minute they are celebrating women of all shapes and sizes, the next they are photoshopping [is that even a word?] a celebrity or model to shave off any signs of a real woman’s body.  It’s as if they just can’t reconcile the need to sell magazines which requires bowing to a bit of public pressure and demand for more realistic body image and their own, silly concepts of beauty which only embraces one body type………the thinner the better, baby!

Glamour is the culprit this time. But we all know it could be any of them.  September’s issue features the super-hot star of Ugly Betty, America Ferrera.  Yay!… right?   Well, maybe not.  See the little photoshop elves in the art department, rubber stamped if not outright encouraged or directed by the Editor in Chief, worked a little of their digital diet magic.  And poof!  America is no longer a healthy size, what, 8? (She isn’t plus-size by anyone’s standards but Hollywood or fashion). She is now miraculously somewhere between the coveted fashionably sized 2 to 4 on that glossy magazine cover (see above, left compared to un-slimmed right image).  Maybe they thought we wouldn’t notice.

What’s even funnier is that the tag for their on-line interview with the star states:

 “America Ferrera, star of Ugly Betty, is climbing Hollywood’s A-list—and she’s ignoring the unwritten rule that says stars must be blond and Twizzler-thin.”

Now, did someone forget to watch Ugly Betty?  Or are they just too dumb to get the message?  How about The Devil Wears Prada?  Nope, the irony in that one went flying over their heads too. Hmmm.

I thought maybe Glamour was starting to get it with spreads like this one back in April of 2007:

Plus Model Kailee O’Sullivan in Glamour, April 2007

I guess I was wrong.  America - keep doing your thing. Ugly Betty, Real Women Have Curves, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants….. they are all inspirational roles compared to the air-brushed ‘perfection’ these fashion magazine tout. And, oh…. take a page from Kate Winslet: raise holy hell over this manipulation of your already highly attractive body.

And for a little education - check out this link on fashion and digital image altering: If Looks Could Kill: Digital Manipulation of Fashion Models

So what do you think? 

Did Glamour go too far?  Or did America need some slimming to become “Hot”?  And even if she did, do you think fashion, magazines and the media play a part in girls’ body image issues and maybe even a role in the rise of eating disorders?  Is it ethical to digitally alter images to make celebrities and models thinner?

Popularity: 24% [?]

ELEGANT PLUS CONTENT TAGS:Activism, Advice, Back to School, BBW, Beauty, body image, body types, Confidence, Guest Article, Health, Life, obesity, parenting, Plus Size, self esteem, Size Acceptance, Teens women

Fat… So? 

Human beings come in all sizes.  How can we promote health …. and size-acceptance in our schools?

by  Camille Jackson of Tolerance.org
Reprinted with permission at Elegant Plus Magazine

As the “War on Obesity” heats  up, in schools across the country kids who are heavier than their classmates experience size bias and even outright bullying from peers and adults.  And, school health programs can sometimes hurt more than they help. Experts from the size-acceptance community, whose views are often omitted from health debates, offer a fresh perspective: eat healthy foods, stay active, and don’t worry about your weight and size.

Article title based on Marilyn Wann’s book,     Fat! So? Because You Don’t Have to Apologize for Your Size

 ”I’m the biggest in my family and I have the best cholesterol and blood sugar,” announces Kevin, a junior at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, Calif. He has just walked an extra-long distance for a late lunch of salad topped with grilled chicken strips and ranch dressing, followed by chocolate chip cookies. He came to the school’s Teen Resource Center to make a point about stereotypes.

“I play three sports, I ride my bike, I walk everywhere and I’m still the same size,” he says, insisting his health is better than some of his thinner classmates.

Looking at his larger-than-average size, some doubt Kevin is as healthy as he claims. But Marlene Schwartz, co-director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, says it’s quite likely Kevin’s weight may not negatively affect his health.

“I believe if a child is eating a nutritionally balanced diet and is active, if he or she has a higher BMI [body mass index], it doesn’t matter,” says Schwartz.

Schwartz routinely hears people say, “If only fat people worked harder, they would lose weight.” But she and others challenge the hysteria surrounding the global “obesity epidemic,” which defines 17 percent of children age 2 to 19 as overweight.

Paul Campos, author of The Obesity Myth, argues that Americans are, in general, only 15 pounds heavier than they were 20 years ago. It is public health standards, not our bodies, that have changed, becoming more rigid in defining the majority of Americans as “overweight.”

That news is small consolation for students subjected to harassment and prejudice, sometimes unrelentingly, from peers and teachers because they are heavier than others. Many have been frightened into hating their bodies by grim medical reports about childhood obesity. Too many believe that dieting is the only solution, even though study after study shows dieting doesn’t work.

Michael Loewy, a psychology professor at the University of North Dakota, paints an unsettling picture in his essay Working with Fat Children in Schools: “It is amazing that so many fat children survive adolescence, given the hatred and meanness directed at them.”

‘I Put Myself Down’

At Sequoia High School’s Teen Resource Center, Dana Schuster, a speaker with the Health at Every Size program, has gathered a group of students to discuss how the war on obesity has taken a toll on their self-esteem.

“In my family they tell me, ‘You’d look nice if you were smaller,’” says Celia, 15.

“I think I put myself down more than anyone,” adds Rachel, 18, referring to the negative thoughts filling her head about her size.

One girl says she’s more confident and accepting of herself now that she’s in high school, yet she’s just finished a juice fast, essentially starving herself. “I felt good. I lost the 10 pounds,” she says.

Naomi, 16, listens quietly to other students’ comments about the frustrations of gym class and clothes shopping. Then she says simply, “It hurts when you weigh a lot.”

Victims of size discrimination often suffer from depression, anxiety and loneliness. They may also suffer from low self-esteem, voluntarily serving as the butt of jokes — the stereotypical funny fat kid.

“If they say things to you, it doesn’t matter,” says Max, one of two boys in the group, shrugging his shoulders. Max says he responds to insults with humor.

Naomi does, too. But she also has a more straightforward comeback: “I tell them, ‘It’s my body; if you don’t like it, don’t look at it.’”

ALL sizes

Children learn anti-fat attitudes from many sources, including adults who talk negatively about their own bodies or who allow size-based teasing to go unchecked.

“A lot of people who don’t have this [size] difference aren’t aware how painful it can be,” says Frances Berg, a nutritionist and international authority on weight and eating based in North Dakota. “When someone tells a fat joke, the response should not be to laugh, or even to be silent.”

Many students say teachers or other adults rarely speak up about size bias, embracing the myth that thin always is better than fat.

It’s a myth some see the medical community presenting as fact.

“If one already prejudges fat people as gluttonous or lazy, it is not very difficult to think that they are also sick,” writes J. Eric Oliver in Fat Politics. That means even a visit to the school nurse doesn’t feel safe for some fat kids who are used to the medical community trying to “fix” their size.

Connie Sobczak, executive director of Body Positive, a nonprofit based in Berkeley, Calif., that helps teens with body issues, says the medical community does a disservice to thin kids by focusing solely on kids who are overweight.

“There are so many [children of all sizes] who aren’t eating well, and not [being active],” Sobczak says. “We ignore all those children, then we focus and shame the fat children.”

Size-related stereotypes, of course, work both ways — against fat and thin kids.

“We can’t just talk about it as an issue for fat kids. The ones who are ‘perfect’ get overlooked, too. It’s hard for them to talk about being blond and thin and looking like Barbie,” says Debora Burgard, a California psychotherapist and creator of BodyPositive.com (unrelated to the Body Positive group in Berkeley). “They have a stereotyping problem, too.”

Those prone to believe one stereotype often are prone to embrace other stereotypes, as well.

“In fact,” writes Oliver in Fat Politics, “people who have strong anti-fat attitudes also tend to be more hostile toward minorities and the poor.”

Stigma-by-association also exists. A recent study by British psychologist Jason Halford shows that prejudice against fat people is so strong that biases are also formed against people who associate with fat people.

Fear of Fat

Responding to concerns about childhood obesity, John S. Martinez School in New Haven, Conn., was one of the first K-8 public schools in its district to rid its campus of junk food. Last year the school hosted a pilot program introducing more physical activity, healthier cafeteria foods and nutrition education.

The inner-city school with predominantly Latino students offers swim classes using the school’s state-of-the-art pool. Students also can earn 30 to 45 extra minutes of gym class each day. The school’s health clinic monitors each child’s health and weight loss.

One physical education teacher says she sees the effects of the obesity epidemic firsthand, with younger children being diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes and elevated cholesterol levels.

“Most of them get on the scales without problems,” she says, but for other students the process is “stressful” and “hard to approach.” She contacts parents to discuss the best ways to intervene.

One winter afternoon, with snowflakes swirling outside the windows, several 7th- and 8th-graders gather at the school to talk about what happens when their parents get that kind of call.

“I hate it,” says Michelle, 13. “My mother makes me drink diet soda.”

The 8th-graders say all these efforts to get or keep them thin — eliminating vending machines, serving salads for lunch, increasing their gym time — have increased their fear rather than reduced their weight.

Twelve-year-old Arianna worries about high cholesterol. The message she gets from her parents and her doctor is that she must lose weight to get healthy. “I get depressed if I think about it too much,” she says. When she’s depressed, Arianna confesses, she sneaks Snickers and Milky Ways.

Emily worries her extra weight could lead to a heart attack. “I’m not going to be big in high school,” says the 12-year-old, shaking her head from side to side. “No, I’m going to go on a diet.”

Focus on fitness, not weight

In 2003, Arkansas was the first state to require schools to chart its students’ BMIs. Three years later, the state’s percentage of heavy school children remains the same: 38 percent. But another statistic has emerged: 13 percent of parents reported that their children had been teased because of the new program, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Weighing children regularly does not help them become thin, says Miriam Berg, president of the national Council on Size & Weight Discrimination. Berg believes promoting weight loss as public policy is misguided for three reasons:

• the policy targets fat kids and promotes discrimination against them;
• teaches all kids that fatness should be avoided at all costs, resulting in dangerous diet practices and eating disorders; and
• ignores the nutritional, exercise and health needs of kids who are average weight or thinner than average.

Instead of forced weighings and BMI checks that focus all attention on heavier kids, Schwartz, of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, says schools should develop creative ways to get all students more active. She suggests PE classes that emphasize different choices of movement, not just team sports.

Laura Perdikomatis, chair of Woodside High School’s physical education department in Woodside, Calif., couldn’t agree more.

“I think we’re turning them off,” she says, of mandated fitness tests that are harder for larger students to complete.

She says coaches, who often use running as a punishment, sometimes stand in the way of progress. Perdikomatis has heard a group of PE teachers, for example, laugh at the very concept of Health At Every Size.

“They think everyone should be the same size,” she says.

Perdikomatis just received a grant to furnish her high school’s fitness center with games like the interactive “Dance, Dance, Revolution” and a stationary bike/Play Station II combination. The equipment is not only fun, Perdikomatis says, but it also puts the focus on heart rate rather than on the mechanics of a fitness test.

Frances Berg, founder of the Healthy Weight Journal, says that’s the way it should be.

“It’s important to practice healthy habits no matter how much you weigh,” Berg says. “It’s not the weight; it’s how active you are. (And) kids have to enjoy what they’re doing, or else it won’t work.”

_______________________________________

 Teaching Tolerance’s educational kits and subscriptions to its magazine are FREE to: classroom teachers, school librarians, school counselors, school administrators, professors of education, leaders of homeschool networks, youth directors at houses of worship and employees of youth-serving nonprofit organizations.

More size-acceptance resources from Tolerance.org include:

 

Tips For Teachers
People usually think about diversity in terms of ethnicity, class, gender and ability. Fat children also have a unique perspective on the world. Learn to see fat children as a valid part of diversity

 

LABELS: The ‘O’ Words
The size acceptance community embraces the label “fat” over words like “obese” and “overweight.”

 

Kids Come In All Sizes
Use this workshop to teach all students to feel good about their bodies.

 

This Story at Work
Do you possess anti-fat biases? Take a free, confidential online and find out what’s lurking in your subconscious. After taking the test, try to identify steps you can take to offset or minimize biases you may hold related to size or other factors.

Popularity: 39% [?]

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Inspirational Living: Embracing the Seasons

by Rev. ReBecca Ames Sala, Regular Contributor to Elegant Plus Magazine

Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore writes in “The Peace of Autumn”  Today the peace of autumn pervades the world. In the radiant noon, silent and motionless, the wide stillness rests like a tired bird Spreading over the deserted fields to all horizons its wings of golden green. Today the thin thread of the river flows without song, leaving no mark on its sandy banks. The many distant villages bask in the sun with eyes closed in idle and languid slumber. In the stillness I hear in every blade of grass, In every speck of dust, in every part of my own body, in the visible and invisible worlds, In the planets, the sun, and the stars, the joyous dance of the atoms through endless time.

While it is hard to think about autumn right at this moment, (as I write this column it is a VERY humid 95 degrees), it will be here before we know it, and the inevitable back to school and/or frenzy of our regular lives will resume. 

Rabindranath Tagore’s reflection reminds me that we are on a joyous, inspirational dance with the seasons if we would only stop to take a moment to listen and pay attention with all of our senses.

How do you mark the beginning of each season? While there are holidays that help us, have you ever created your own way of celebrating? Do you have a favorite season you look forward to every year? Have you ever thought about why it is your favorite? Is it because of what the season itself represents or is it because of who you are with that makes it so special? 

Several years ago, a ministerial colleague and friend, who specializes in relationships suggested to my husband that we should go away four times a year to reconnect with each other and get away from the work and distractions in our lives. We loved the idea because we are both ministers, and it takes great intentionality to make time for each other.

Each season, we take turns finding a bed and breakfast in Connecticut where we live and surprise each other with a weekend away. It is a time just for us, an opportunity to relax and just be with each other and to get to know the state we have called home for the past four years. One recent weekend, my husband picked me up from work and I had no idea where we were going until we got there. It is nice to have a little mystery in your life now and then. He chose a beautiful B&B in Wallingford, CT with a pond and across the street from a winery. Everyone seemed especially friendly on this weekend and I left my concerns back in Stamford for a little while. We spent a lazy Saturday morning swinging in a hammock by a pond and then walked over for a wine tasting across the street later in the day. We found one of few remaining independent bookstores in Connecticut and spent hours browsing and talking with the owners. It was an inspired weekend because we both were able to just be in the moment without a set schedule.

While I have always loved the change of seasons, I appreciate them in a different way then I have in the past because I am take the time to look at the changes around me, feeling more connected to the people in my life, to nature and my place in the universe.

The seasons are God’s poetry made manifest for us to see and read if only we would take time and notice the subtle changes of color on an autumn leaf; the unique and fragile beauty of the first snow of the winter as it falls like lace on the barren branches; the first hopeful blossom that heralds the birth of spring or the glorious dance of the fireflies on a summer night. There is peace to be found in all the seasons as well as an opportunity for a deeper connection to the natural world and to each other. 

Weekend getaways do not have to be limited to spouses or partners. It is just as important to take the time to reconnect with friends you have not seen in a long time. As spiritual beings, we must feed our souls just as we feed our bodies. 

Before summer ends and things kick into high gear again, I invite you all to find your own way of making each season special with the people who are close to you, whether it is in your own back yard or in a place you have always wanted to go. The inspirational part of the journey is the relationships you rediscover along the way.

Namaste (I honor the light within you)

Popularity: 9% [?]

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 What Readers are saying about Patrick Sanchez and The Way It Is:
 
 ”This book is drama drama drama from start to finish…..You’ll find it hard to put down and if you read it in public you’ll find people staring at you for laughing out loud.”
 
 ”… It was so refreshing to read a book about two truly large women and see how each one of them handled it so differently. The book was hilarious, well written, and has a great ending. BUY IT!“

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Book Review: The Way It Is

By Jen Henderson of Dangerously Curvy Novels for Elegant Plus Magazine

Heroine’s Body Types: Varied

 They don’t know it but they are on a collision course with each other, three women who will change each other’s lives:

           Rubenesque Ruby wants to be thin and craves her mother’s and society’s acceptance almost as much as she does food.  But every time these opposing desires start bickering in her head, the food demons win out and she finds herself agonizing as each bite she consumes carries her farther away from her size six ideal.  Anxious to love something other than food Ruby fixes her eye on her gorgeous coworker, but her low self esteem keeps her from trying to reach out to him.  Or to any man she wants.  Up until this point the peaks of her romantic experiences have been flatter than Kansas, and the only men in her life now are her lackluster ex-hubby and her gay pal.

 

           Bootylicious Wanda is anxious to make it big in the plus modeling world, but she has three strikes against her: size, age, and race.   Add to that a snotty, rich, daddy’s girl coworker who undermines her at every turn, Wanda will be lucky not to wind up in the slammer for wringing the chick’s neck.

 

            Luscious Simone is dying to get out of the local TV news racket and into the limelight of the entertainment industry.  Literally.  She even figures the notoriety of leaving behind a trail of boy toys might add to her cachet.  But she’s got tunnel vision where her career is concerned and doesn’t see that her life is unraveling around the edges.  Living fast and furious might be her ticket to the top–or to six feet underground.

What worked for me:

 

This book has a great cover!  It’s sexy and sassy, colorful and eye-catching.  And most importantly it doesn’t downsize the big girls.

 

            The story is funny, has interesting characters, good plot twists, and a great if not completely pat (the way I like it) ending.  Yet it takes the time to insert insightful comments on various social issues rather than deliver up pure fluff.

  

           The characters have some flaws that render them unlikable at times, but it’s these same flaws which make them leap off the page with realism.  (The author also did a great job nailing down the behavior and  innermost thoughts of an unhappy-to-be-fat woman.)

 

            Size-wise Ruby and Wanda were abundant and Simone was petite but shapely.

What didn’t work for me:

I slurped this story down in one sitting.  So honestly, the few technical issues I saw barely registered with me as I was so anxious to keep cruising along.

 

Overall:

The Way It Is  is: . . . outrageous!  You’ll laugh, cry, and possibly throw a few things while reading this book. Don’t miss it!

 

Warning: there are some coarse words, eating disorders, and sexual references in this book.

 

NOTE:  Catch the Elegant Plus author interview with Patrick Sanchez!  In addition to The Way It Is, Patrick Sanchez has written: Girlfriends, Tight, and Once Upon a Nervous Breakdown.

Popularity: 19% [?]

ELEGANT PLUS CONTENT TAGS:BBW, Beauty, body image, Book Reviews, Confidence, fiction, Plus Size, plus size boots, romance, self esteem, Size Acceptance, women Women and Media

“Lots of drama…truly hilarious…a fast enjoyable read that readers will devour!”                                     –Romantic Times Magazine about Patrick Sanchez’s The Way It Is

  An Interview with Author Patrick Sanchez:  The Way It Is

by Elegant Plus Magazine

    Elegant Plus Managing Editor, Thea Politis, takes a few minutes to chat with Patrick Sanchez, the hot author who penned the voluptuous and entertaining current  Chick Lit hit  The Way It Is .    A native of the Washington, D.C. area he currently lives in Arlington, VA with his daschund, Gomez.  He loves to hear from his readers and you can drop him a line at:  PO Box 4493, Falls Church VA 22044.

EP: Patrick, glad to have you here. Tell us a little about what led you to write novels from the perspective of a woman, let alone a plus size woman?  And how do you get so well into their/our heads?

PS:  I actually sort of fell into writing from the perspective of women.  I wrote my first novel, Girlfriends, when I was still in my twenties and part of the whole bar scene.  I spent so much time in different bars and nightclubs and thought it would be fun to write about how ridiculous the single’s scene was and that’s where Girlfriends came from.  But originally Girlfriends was more about both women and men making they’re way and finding romance; however, when I sold the manuscript to Kensington Publishing, they requested that I work it into more of a women’s fiction, Sex and The City-type book (now referred to as “Chick-Lit”).  They thought the book would be more marketable that way.  So I did as I was told and scaled back the male characters and beefed up the female characters.  Luckily, Girlfriends was a success, so I decided to stay in the genre when I wrote my second novel, but I wanted to do something a little different.

When I started The Way It Is, I was in my thirties and rarely saw the inside of bars or nightclubs anymore.  I had grown out of the whole club scene and wanted to write about more mature characters (the characters in Girlfriends are in their twenties while the characters in The Way It Is are in their thirties).  I’d read a few books about large woman and noticed that most of them ended with the heroine losing vast amounts of weight and then finding love and having her whole life come together.  I thought it would be fun to write a book where the heroine never loses weight but, instead, learns to love herself for who she is.

I’m not sure how I “get so well into women’s heads” or if I even do.  Believe it or not, there is so much of me in all my characters.  I did do a lot of research and interviews when writing The Way It Is, but most of who the characters are just came from my gut and my instincts about how they would react in certain situations.

EP: Are your characters in The Way It Is drawn from real life people? If so, whom?

PS: I think all writers borrow traits and personalities from real life people and weave bits and pieces into our characters.  None of the characters are based on any one real-life person, but they do share some traits of people I know.  Although, like I mentioned earlier, there is more of me in all the characters than anyone else.  A lot of my own life and personal struggles where channeled into Ruby.  I thought a lot of Queen Latifah when I was writing about Wanda as both Queen Latifah and Wanda are confident and beautiful plus-size African American women.  I thought about Jennifer Lopez too when I wrote about Simone.  I certainly have no knowledge of Jennifer Lopez having an eating disorder, but I think she and Simone share the same raw determination to succeed.

EP: Ruby, one of your main characters, in the opening scene is enduring what has clearly been a lifetime of put downs about her size from her own mother. This is something many plus women can relate to. What is it about our  society, do you think, that makes this sort of cruel behavior towards our loved ones acceptable?

PS:  I think it’s all about equating being thin with being healthy and happy.  Even though their words hurt, I think loved ones may think they are ultimately helping their fat family members or friends by motivating them to lose weight.  I also think there is this misconception that it’s okay to degrade fat people because fat people “choose to be fat,” that it’s “their fault” and “if they just had some self control they could lose weight.”

EP: Not only are your main characters in different head spaces in regards to their weight — Ruby battles self-esteem issues and related “feel good” closet eating, Wanda is supremely confident in her own skin, and Simone is a once fat, skinny girl who battles her fear of becoming fat again — but they are also each of different races: Caucasian, African-American, and Latina, respectively.  Do you think that any of these weight related behaviors are typical of one American sub-culture or ethnicity or another?  Or were you trying to draw characters to which almost any woman in America could relate?

PS:  I absolutely wanted to draw characters to which almost any woman in America could relate, but at the same time I think there are some cultural differences related to size.  Although I know a number of African American women who diet themselves to death to try and be thin, it does seem that a larger number of plus-size black women seem to be comfortable with their size.  And it’s been my experience that large African American women are much more likely than their white counter parts to dress in sexy revealing clothes.

EP:  What was the significance of including the gay guy pal in the story? The gay community often struggles with many of the same “buff body” ideals that  women do in our society.  Is this significant?

PS:  Absolutely!  Not only are gay men just as obsessed with body image as straight women.  Gay men and fat women seem to share a bond.  It’s like gay men and Cher…for whatever reason where ever you find gay men, you find fat women.  We are both often treated badly by society, misunderstood, and crazy loons are always trying to make us into something we are not…something/someone that fits their ideals and complies with their agenda.

EP:  Do you like the artwork on the cover of your book? Does it capture the essence of your characters in the way you envisioned them?

PS: There are things about the cover art that I do like and things about it that I wasn’t thrilled with.  I like the bright yellow background and, although she is portrayed as impossibly thin (her neck is as big as her waist), the artist’s rendition of Simone was pretty much dead on; however, in my mind, I pictured both Ruby and Wanda much larger than they appeared on the cover.  I’m glad they were not represented as stick figures.  At least they appear as voluptuous women, but I still would have liked them to have been larger.

EP:  Your first novel, Girlfriends was a huge success.  And The Way It Is  looks like it is following suit. What was the difference in your experience in getting the two published?  How did you get the interest of the publishers the first time out?

PS:  When I finished the manuscript for Girlfriends (which I had called Misery & Company when I was shopping it around), I sent query letters and the first few pages of the manuscript to several agents with no luck.  After a little retooling, I contacted some additional agents and actually approached some publishers directly.  This time around I got some interest from two agents (in addition to about 30 rejects), but I also got a direct offer from Kensington Publishing.  The advance was tiny, but I was so thrilled to find a publisher I immediately accepted their offer.

When I was ready to shop around an outline for The Way It Is (after you publish one book you can usually get an advance based on just an outline for later ones) I hired an agent to represent me and negotiate my contract.  This time around the advance was much more substantial and the terms of the contract were much better.

EP: Thanks for chatting with us Patrick!  Readers, , if you like Chick-Lit, this one is a must read! To learn a little bit more about Patrick Sanchez, you can also stop by his web-site.

 NOTE:  Since this interview was first published in 2003, Patrick Sanchez has gone on to write Once Upon a Nervous Breakdown and Tight. 

Check out the hilariously funny  Once Upon a Nervous Breakdown Video below!

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=q89ijBycfHI]

Popularity: 23% [?]