Danielle Steel

Best-selling author Danielle Steel's new novel is Big Girl. From her Q & A with Nanci Hellmich for USA Today:

Q: What inspired you to write Big Girl, which focuses on weight, body image and self-esteem?

A: Books are always written about beautiful people who find other beautiful people, but most people are regular people, and weight is an issue for a lot of them. I thought, it must be a drag to always have beautiful people highlighted in books. Why not make a heavier woman the star of the show? If you notice, I do not have Victoria lose weight by the end of the book, but she gets a great guy. I thought that was important and more real.

Q: What messages about weight and body image do you want readers to take away?

A: That it's OK to be you, less than perfect. Our role models are ridiculous. Most of the models that you see in Vogue are extremely young and way too thin to be healthy. We are a society that worships extreme youth, extreme thinness, extreme beauty — and anyone who doesn't measure up feels ugly. Women are born saying, "Do I look fat in this?" Somebody gave me a funny bracelet a few years ago that...[read on]

--Marshal Zeringue