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Every princess is rescued by her prince and they live happily ever after.
Well not anymore.
Now the princess is usually an unsuspecting doctor, victim, or dump truck driver.
What they rarely are - and only have been in two books that I can quickly recall - is fat.
Their men can be scarred and emotionally wounded, but the women are usually 5'4, 110 pounds with flawless skin and hair that reflects gold flakes in the sunlight.
Okay, one was body-tattooed with more baggage than an airport so she gets a pass. But she was still freakin' skinny.
Maybe you authors don't write larger-than-life leading women because you're unsure of the rules. Here's a few what-to-dos to get you started:
1. Don’t squeeze her into something she can’t fit in and try to make it sexy
Never has it been nor will it ever be hot to strut a muffin top. Maybe put her in a form fitting dress when she usually wears muu-muus and give her Spanx for confidence.
2. It’s okay to let her eat
Most fat heroines didn’t get fat while on the couch throwing back carrot sticks. You want to make her a size XX? At least let her eat her way there with chocolate.
3. Any size double digits can be fat
No, I’m not calling a size 10, 12, 14 or anything else fat. But these sizes are the ones likely to view themselves as less than perfect. And it’s hard to describe the “curvaceous figure” of a size 4 without laughing.
4. Fat heroines can be happy – or sad
Fat women may not enjoy being fat, but their bodies do not control their happiness. On the other hand, fat women can be upset about other things.
5. Bad things happen to fat people
Don’t be scared to put your fat heroine through the hellishness of your book. Great people get screwed over all the time in fiction. Fat women don’t get a pass.
6. Fat women can be secondary characters
Let’s face it. Readers expect romance about perfectly imperfect people. Write your Barbie and Ken story and let Skipper be overweight. Then as your series progresses readers will bombard you with emails requesting you write her happily ever after.
7. Fat heroines can lose weight for healthy purposes, but not artificial ones
Artificial improvements happen all the time in real life, but you make a fat girl lose weight so she fits better in her halter and you just committed novel suicide.
8. Fat women are sexy and drop dead gorgeous
Fat does not equal unattractive. Curves are sensual and should be used as such.
Hopefully this gets you all started.
Let me know if you need any other suggestions.
I'm writing a plus sized heroine now. Thanks for the pointers :)
ReplyDeleteReally? That's excellent! Good luck and let me know how it turns out.
DeleteAnd the hero looks like Daniel Craig! lol :)
DeleteBond. Nice.
DeleteHe's a jaded, womanizing, chain smoking, alcoholic former Olympic gold medalist marathoner still grieving the loss of a wife who betrayed him. She's a morbidly obese woman who struggles with mental illness who dreams of qualifying for the Olympics and believes he can get her there.
DeleteI love this post! While I write fantasy, I do have an overweight hero in my own series. And your rules mimic my own. I'm so tired of characters that are defined by one singular characteristic and that's especially true with physical appearance.
ReplyDeleteI love that you write fantasy. It's a genre I should read more often. And an overweight hero is *awesome*
DeleteLike your post. I often think to myself, It would be nice if the Heroine wasn't a -2 or double zero size. I think it was Jude Deveraux who wrote a Heroine that was over weight as well in the book Wishes...This is based off memory and i could have misspoken. Please forgive me if i have. :)
ReplyDeleteI think ppl are afraid or nervous to write about an over weight or real curvy heroine. Maybe i'm wrong, but you sure don't see them all that often.
Thanks for your post.
I recall Elizabeth Hoyt's most recent novel, Thief of Shadows, has a plus size and blind heroine. She wrote that woman beautifully.
DeleteBella Andre also has a size 16 heroine in Take Me.
My latest book, SECOND CHANCES, has a heroine that's not only overweight, but over 40-- and she develops a wonderful, trusting relationship with a young man who loves her for exactly who she is. Thanks for the encouragement!
ReplyDeleteI love those romances. A lot of drama and emotion. Gives the writers and readers much to work with.
DeleteThis is awesome! I think of all the books I've read, maybe three of the heroines were described as "curvaceous" and up to a size 12 at the most. Funny, but I still remember the books. One was Cherise Sinclair's Master of the Mountain and the other was Marie Donovan's Royally Romanced, with the heroine being an "all vintage pinup girl with twenty-first-century sex appeal."
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see more "real" women in some romance stories.
Thanks! I mentioned this once to an author I read often and she said books with perfect heroines just sell better because people are expecting fabulous lives that are better than their own.
DeleteThis makes sense. I think if readers could be eased into it (like the series idea) then maybe that perception of size 0, perfect everything would change.
To be fair - so should our hero expectations be changed. I know the males on our covers are real, but they are far from average. We need to appreciate understated muscles and cushiony midsections. ;)
But it IS romance fiction. What part of the "fiction" are we really willing to give up?
I can see why perfect bodies would sell better. After all, a lot of us want to read about lives that are far removed from our own. That's the beauty about escapism.
DeleteI don't know if easing readers into it would work because we all read what we really want to. Some women may not want to read about a heroine similar to themselves in physical appearance. As for heroes, I'm sorry, but I still want my six pack men, not the couch potato.
And no one can blame you for that!!
DeleteI just finished Perfection: A Neighbor From Hell book by RL Mathewson and the Heroine is overweight and never gets to a size 2 and her Hero yells at her to eat!
ReplyDeletePS
I am starting Cinderella tonight - online to look something up for Mom - did some retail therapy with Mom today!
Gah, hey!! Hope your vacation is FABULOUS.
DeleteDid you like the book? I kinda want to read a hero like that. ;)
Can't Wait Until You're Back,
Sallie
Do you mean Perfection? Have you ever read a RL Mathewson? The book is cheap .99 - but I will say it did wear on me at the end. In the book there is a group of men who are related who are food obsessed and it gets kind of old. The character knew she was overweight and goes on a diet - but there is no deep conversation about her weight - or why she is the weight she is. - She has a new one coming out in the same series - Checkmate - you oould see if you can review it. Zoe the heroine in Perfection will be in it.
DeleteToday was a good day - a little rain but Mom and I shopped. I came on to check books.
Yea, Perfection. I'll give it a try. My review list is getting full, full. >.< Had to turn one author away today and have to put another request on "the list."
DeleteBoooo
Great post Sallie! My current heroine is Rubenesque...and she gets to play with the sexy Apollo, who says he loves a curvy woman. I will take your points to heart!
ReplyDeleteRosanna you are on my list of books-to-drool over. With your Greek God heroes. Mwah!
DeleteI'll also make a point to do so over wine. Out of respect to Dionysus, of course.
It has been a couple year's since I've read it (am due to re-read it) and my brain is telling me Tessa Dare's "One Dance with a Duke" has a fat heroine - Amelia. For certain she is one of my all-time favorite heroines.
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to read Tessa. You've just selected my book. Thanks!
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