WS: Today’s guest is Kathryn Lilley, a multi-published author of young adult books who makes her adult mystery debut on October 2nd with DYING TO BE THIN, first in the Fat City Mystery Series. Hello, Kathryn!
Kathryn: Hello, and thanks for having me as a guest in your corner of cyberspace today! I love reading the posts on “Working Stiffs.”
WS: Can you tell us a bit about DYING TO BE THIN?
Kathryn: Plus-sized TV producer Kate Gallagher has often been told she has the “face” for TV—it’s the body she needs to work on. So when she gets dumped by her boyfriend and laid off from her job in the same week, Kate decides to trade in her Whoopie Pies for thinner thighs and enrolls in an exclusive weight loss clinic (read: fat farm).
After just one day at the Hoffman Clinic, Kate is about ready to sell her soul for a white mocha with a coffee cake chaser. Working freelance on a story about her own transformation, she must endure petrified fruit, tasteless gruel, sunrise walks, and crazy neighbors. But when the clinic’s principal diet guru turns up dead with a pair of fondue forks where his eyes should be, Kate loses her appetite. Now that the menu features murder, she has a breaking story on her hands…
WS: Where did you get the idea for the series?
Kathryn: As a pre-teen, I had two passions: Nancy Drew mysteries and Pralines ’n Cream ice cream. So I guess it was inevitable that I grew up to write a series called the Fat City Mysteries!
And like my journalist sleuth, I understand the battle of the bulge all too well. I once had to lose 90 pounds in order to land a job on camera in TV News. (And even today, I avoid the street that goes past 31 Flavors!)
WS: What’s coming next in the series?
Kathryn: Right now I’m finishing up A KILLER WORKOUT. When Kate’s TV audience ratings go down in the “cosmetic” area, she gets sent to a boot camp to do a little emergency downsizing on her derriere—only to wind up sugar crashing it into a gruesome crime scene!
WS: So except for the readout on the scales, one could assume that your books are on the “lighter side”?
Kathryn: Whatever gave you that idea
To learn more about Kathryn, visit her web site at www.kathrynlilley.com. She’s also a member of Killer Hobbies, posting on Fridays at http://killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
12 comments:
So Kathryn (I'm as someone who writes about compulsive overeating) did you lose the 90 pounds? I want to hear that story!
Your books sound like lots of fun. Do you also acknowledge some of the more (serious) issues around women and weight, and the unreasonable expectations (about above) in our culture?
Oops! That should have been, "(I'm asking as . . .)"
Welcome, Kathryn! We're glad to have you here. You're book sounds great!
Welcome to Working Stiffs, Kathryn.
Of course, you realize that diet and exercise have nothing to do with body weight, don't you? It's those Fat Fairies who come in the night. If they really, really like you, they will leave you a few pounds.
Gina, what a revelation!
I always wondered where these extra twenty five pounds came from!
Welcome, Kathryn! I think you've hit a mark with your series. Your book sounds like a lot of fun.
Hi Tory! Yes, I did lose the 90 pounds and went on to a job as a reporter in TV News. It was like one of those "extreme makeover" shows--I even armed myself with a new designer wardrobe. But I found it almost impossible to maintain the very low weight that the camera loves. Now I'm a chubbier and happier fiction writer!
I do refer to some of the darker origins of morbid obesity (Kate, for example, started gaining weight as a pre-teen, when her Mom died). And in a KILLER WORKOUT, some of the reasons for the characters' weight issues get surprisingly dark. So there's an overlay of humor over the real-life issues.
And thanks for letting me know about the Fat Fariries, Gina and Joyce--I'll have to write them into the third book, lol!
Best, Kathryn
I can see it now: Fat Fairy Repellant.
Of course, you do become unpopular with the Fat Fairy set!
Personally, since I know the Fat Fairies to be sweet gentle creatures, I prefer to leave them notes under my pillow:
Dear Fat Fairies:
Thank you so much for you gifts. You have been more than kind. However, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from leaving any more fat in the future, as I now have ample supplies. In fact, I would be happy to share my wealth with those unfortunate thin people, so please feel free to take some of the fat you've left for me and pass it on to those in need.
Sincerely,
Gina
So sounds like the title for book number four should definitely be, REVENGE OF THE FAT FAIRIES!
~Kathryn
Thanks for visiting with us Kathryn!
Thanks for inviting me! It was great fun.
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