Reclaiming the Word "Fat" with Leigh Carron

Why Do We Need to Reclaim the Word "Fat"? In this powerful episode of the podcast, author Leigh Carron opens up about her journey of body positivity, challenging societal norms, and writing romance novels that celebrate bodies of all sizes. Through her personal experiences and literary work, Carron demonstrates how language can be transformed from a weapon of shame to a tool of empowerment.

Leigh Carron writes diverse, body-positive romance that brings the heat and the heart—because love and sexiness come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

In this episode, we're discussing:

• The evolution of body positivity in literature and media
• Challenging harmful stereotypes about body size
• Reframing the word "fat" as a neutral descriptor
• The importance of self-acceptance and challenging internalized negative thoughts
• Representation matters: Creating diverse characters in romance novels

Remember, your worth is not determined by your size – you are beautiful, powerful, and deserving of love exactly as you are.

CONNECT WITH LEIGH CARRON:

Website

Instagram

BOOKS/AUTHORS MENTIONED:

Ep 14 with Aimee - Celebrating Plus-Size Love Stories with Curvy Girls Read Romance

Fat Girl (Amazon)

My Curvy Rival (Amazon)

A Naked Beauty (Amazon)

A.H. Cunningham (Amazon) 

An Imperfect Truth (Amazon)

Running list of books mentioned (Doc)

Thank you for listening to the We Read Smut Podcast! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag @WeReadSmut. Don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast.

Connect with Alesia:
Storygraph

This podcast was produced by Galati Media.
Proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 3:45 Leigh's Author Journey
• 12:30 Challenging Body Stereotypes
• 22:15 The Power of Representation
• 35:00 Q&A and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Alesia Galati: 0:00

What if fat was just a word and not a weapon? Today, we're chatting with Lee Karen all about her powerful journey to destigmatize language and celebrate bodies of all sizes. Listener discretion is advised this podcast contains mature content intended for adult audiences only. Hello, Lee. I am so excited to have you on the podcast. If you could just start with telling us a bit about your author journey. I am so excited to hear this. Thanks.

Leigh Carron: 0:37

I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for inviting me. I've been looking forward to our discussion. So I started with my first book. Actually was fat girl, and it started off as not being a book that I thought I was going to publish. It was just a book where I felt like writing. I always enjoyed writing. And my husband had said, Hey, you haven't written it so long. And I thought, yeah, I haven't life lights and so you get busy with other things. And I sat down and I just wrote and wrote like through the night. I didn't even go to sleep, and the story just poured out of me. But I didn't I still wasn't thinking about publishing. Then a couple of friends read it and said, oh, you should actually do something with this. But I didn't feel I still suffer from the imposter syndrome, but in any case, I let a professional editor read it, and she actually wanted to take it to a traditional publishing route. But I know me, and I know that would never work. I don't like structure, I don't want to be on anyone's timeline. I don't want anyone to tell me what to do. So I knew that wasn't going to work for me, but I was so flattered, that was even a possibility. I thought maybe I'll just put it up on Amazon and see what happens. And it was before the plus size fat positive romance really had taken off, and so I knew the name fat girl was going to be provocative, and it ended up being. Some people were like, Oh yeah, I want to see what this is about. And other people were like, what? That's offensive, right? But that's where I started, and it didn't matter to me about that. For me, it was liberating. That word was liberating for me, and that's the story I wanted to to write. And if that works for you, if that resonates great, if it doesn't, no problem. Don't pick that up. But that's what I wanted to write. So once I did that, and I saw, Oh, got some traction. But then I went on to the next book, a few years later, and it was face between, because I wasn't really taking myself seriously as an author, really, until 2022 and then I started to write more. And at that point, the sort of the body positive movement was underway, and my book at that point got a lot of traction, and people weren't so offended by the term, and people were curious about it, and that's how my journey has been.

Alesia Galati: 2:52

I love that. That is so interesting. When did you release fat girl

Leigh Carron: 2:57

originally in 2014

Alesia Galati: 3:00

Wow. So yeah, that was definitely not at all when people there were like, one or two influencers that I can think of, maybe around 2016 17, that were, like, in your face. I'm fat, and that's not a bad word. But thinking about 2014 like, I cannot even imagine people's responses so interesting. And I'm also curious if you had gone the more traditional route, if they would have pushed back on the title.

Leigh Carron: 3:36

Oh, for sure, because my editor had already said, you know, love everything about this, like those stories going, but interestingly, what she was suggesting is, let's change the title, and maybe let's have her at least think about dieting. And then I knew that was out, because I'm not that's not what the story that I wanted to write at all, and so I figured I better just stay on my own and do I think today? I'm sure that would be a different experience, but that's what it was back then. Yeah,

Alesia Galati: 4:05

I can imagine, oh my goodness, yeah, when we had Amy on. And we'll link to her episode as well. If you guys have not checked out that episode, please do. Yes, it's wonderful. Lots of plus size representation in talking about this, in this industry, in the romance industry, specifically, she had mentioned that she had read one that had been published around 2014 and just how ridiculous it was, where a lot of negative self talk, we still see it, maybe Not so much in the last two years. But certainly books written in 2017 2018 I would say pre 2020, we definitely saw a lot of books where the attitude was, it's a curvy female main character, but she's doesn't like her body. Or doesn't love herself, or is currently trying to diet, or currently trying to change those things to be more attractive to the male main character. And I love that we're seeing that shift. What do you think helped that shift for us? Well,

Leigh Carron: 5:17

I think the whole body positive movement. You had a lot of her name's escaping me, but where she had the at the beauty standards, and she just came out as this voluptuous model who said, I'm not trying to lose weight. I'm me. And she was gorgeous and just very empowering in that way. And so I feel like it's took off. And sometimes you do need, it's unfortunate to say, but sometimes you do need, sort of some celebrity, figure of somebody, to shape the narrative, to change the narrative, although there's been so many movements, I'm sure, prior to that, but that's when I remember, for me, that's when it started to Oh, wow. Okay, people are really talking about this and changing their language about it. The narrative is changing, and then you start to see it more in media. We have a long way to go. So don't get me wrong, I'm not in la la land about it, but I just I have seen the shift, and the shift is great. And I see in the book community, it's amazing. I'm finding so many of my fellow authors who are writing fat romance, and I love to see that in a very positive way,

Alesia Galati: 6:28

yes, in a very positive way.

Leigh Carron: 6:31

Difference, yes,

Alesia Galati: 6:34

yes. I'm even thinking about I saw someone they I do weight training, and I am not currently using it as a way, like working out as a way to lose weight. I'm mid, considered mid size, and I was following lots of people who like do weight training and do workouts, because I like to see what other people are doing, even though I'm probably never going to do what they do, because I have my own thing that I follow and like to do, and like the YouTubers that I like to watch and follow, and all of those ones, the ones that I do follow, their attitudes are, you show up here, strong. You show up out there, strong. It's not about it's about reaching your potential goals. Not about, oh, what's your potential weight? Or let's lose all this weight, or let's burn all this no, let's, let's go a little heavier on our weights so we can get stronger. And so I really just love that attitude. But I saw someone, she was a black woman. She was talking about how her she was like in a gym outfit at the gym, talking as people do. I guess I work out at my house. So I don't know if people do just stand there talking to their phone. It's fine, but she was talking about how her doctor said that she was overweight, and she clapped back a bit, and was like, actually, it's been proven that because they he was going off of the BMI, and according to that index, it was white men who were studied for that to determine what BMI is. And so you one, you don't have women in there, and you also don't have ethnic diversity in there at all. So no, you should go by what's my waist measurement instead of what the BMI says, because I have different bone structures than my white counterparts, and I thought that was such an interesting thing. And I one. I wish that there was more information like that out there, but I feel like authors like you, authors who have these very positive representations of plus size women can really help to heal a lot of that external and internal talk that we get about our bodies. So I want to thank you, first and foremost, for doing that, but I think that what you're doing is such an important thing. So tell us a bit about fat girl. What is it about? What can we expect when we check it out? I'd

Leigh Carron: 9:09

like to compare fat girl, that was the first my debut, to my curvy rival that I wrote last year, because I think that's an important sort of like, fat people are not a monolith, right? We're not all the same. We come in different shapes and sizes, and we have different experiences. So whereas D, the fat girl in her, was sort of broken, sad, I'm don't feel good about myself, she was abandoned as a child, and she ate to cope, and she had so many issues around food and her body, and for many women, that's real, that really happens, whether you've been in a foster home or otherwise, in terms of those struggles within ourselves. And so that's what she goes through. And so it's a journey for her where she has to come to. To appreciate herself, to come and learn things about that have nothing to do with her body, but that end up making her feel good about herself, her body included, but that's a journey. Then we take jazz, who was in my curvy rival, and jazz was like, Don't be telling me how I need to look. I know I look good. She's the fat, she's also fit, she's fat, she's also a dancer, she's fat, she's also confident, like those things can co exist. And I think that you were talking about BMI, and I'm gonna say fbmi. I don't care if it's on what, who did it. Let's look at how do you feel. You know that, to me, is important. Do you feel good in your body? Can you move the way that's comfortable for you? Those are the kinds of things I think that are more important than some metric that is going to be imposed on you. Because no matter what the metric is going to be, it's going to be based on a standard. Always, there's always going to be some standard, and I'm just sick of being compared against something else. So I would not go to a gym that would insist on a BMI. And in fact, in my curvy rival, this is the conflict, right? Because she says, I don't do that. And he's saying, how are you going to possibly coach your clients if you don't know this? And so that becomes her being able to teach him that that's not the only way. Maybe, if you care about that, that's fine, no shade, but I'm just saying I don't want that, and I think a lot of women don't want that either, and so we shouldn't have to have that. Yes,

Alesia Galati: 11:36

that was honestly, when I loved that conflict. It was so awesome, because like, in that one, she's putting flyers near his business, and he's like, Um, excuse me, you are a competitor. What are you doing? But then he goes and sees what she's about, and he's never mind you're not a competitor, what you're doing is terrible. And she's like, disrespectfully, let me just tell you how I

Leigh Carron: 12:04

jazz is such a badass. I loved her. Love her.

Alesia Galati: 12:09

So everybody go read my Kirby rival for sure. That one's such a good one. There's a sequel to fat girl. Is that correct? Tell us a bit about that.

Leigh Carron: 12:24

Yeah. And it's funny because it came seven, eight years later, and people of that actually stuck with me, that readers said, Yeah, I came back for going, oh my god, I love you. That's amazing. I would have said, Who's this author again? But anyway, yes, so that was the continuation of her journey where she really comes into her own and wherein fat girl, Mick was really helping to boost her self esteem in a naked beauty. She does that for herself, and she actually does she helps Mick to come along as well, because he has his own trauma and his own things that he goes through. So you see it starts to switch, where she develops her own strength, that her confidence, and he's famous, and she has to deal with sort of the paparazzi around that, and oh my gosh, what are people going to say about me and my body out there? She had a lot to deal with, and a naked beauty is I love the title because it actually came from what I was thinking about, being just naked, just being yourself, where somebody just loves you and accepts you, flaws, everything, it doesn't matter. You can be totally naked with someone, and they will love you, and that's what they did for each other. So it took two books to get that journey, but they got there. Oh,

Alesia Galati: 13:44

I love it, yeah. So let's go a little bit back to this word fat. Right. In your choice of this word, you could have picked any other word. So why this word specifically? And I know we're starting to see that this fat is not a bad word. It is a fact. It is a part of everyone's bodies. And I use this with my kids a lot, because I might say, Oh, I got a lot of fat in this part of my body, right? Or, like my belly area. And it's because I had you guys, and so my body changed, and so fat deposited here, and that's okay, or yes, you have fat on your body, or 10 and seven, so there's not a lot there at this point. But even like looking at their baby photos, I'm like, look at how chunky and fat you were in a positive way, not using it as a negative, because fat, and how much fat your body has has so much to do with genetics, and, like you said, trauma, potentially your relationship with food. And as you were talking about that, it made me think of I was talking to my kid just the other. Other day, he was like, Mom, why do you eat so fast? And I was like, Well, when I was little, I only had 30 minutes to eat and if I wanted to eat my fill, because I knew when my next meal was coming, because I lived in a cult, so I knew this is when we have breakfast, this is when we have lunch, this is when we have dinner, and this is when snack time is I don't have any choice over my food or what my options are for food at this point, I'm a child, and if I wanted seconds, or if I wanted to fill up, because I knew there were hours until the next meal, then I would have to eat really fast in order to be done in time for seconds, the seconds call and then to be able to eat that really fast. But I only had 30 minutes to eat as much as I could. That sounds

Leigh Carron: 15:51

like a whole podcast on its own, this whole call to an eating, I know I'll look forward to that in the I'm sure it sounds good.

Alesia Galati: 15:59

I know, right. And so I was explaining that to him, and I was just like, Damn, that's messed up, but that's why I struggle with eating really fast, and so sometimes I have to slow down. I have to, yes, remind myself, I have to talk to you guys while we're eating, instead of just scarfing my food down and trying to get it down really fast, and then also portioning myself right, because whatever portions they gave us, they just filled up the plate. And so I would just try to eat as much of the plate so I didn't have to waste and they would, man, this is really crazy. Memories, lovely when we would bring our trays to the kitchen when we were done eating, if there was because we didn't dump it out ourselves, we had to bring it. And so if there were a lot of leftovers, say that it was a veggie you didn't like, or whatever, you get a side eye and like you need to not be wasteful. And

Leigh Carron: 16:58

oh my gosh. Then you learn you need to clean your flight. You develop those kinds of habits, yes,

Alesia Galati: 17:05

and so now being an adult and being like, Great, now I need to unlearn all of these things, but it does have an impact on my relationship with food. So yes, let's get into this word fat, your decision in choosing that word. And then what you hope that we're starting to see it, but what you can hope to see with that word fat for individuals,

Leigh Carron: 17:29

yeah, for me, growing up fat was so negative. You know, nobody wanted to be called that. That was terrible. People could insult you with just that word, bring you to your knees with that. And I knew that I wasn't alone in terms of that, that there are many women men, too, who experienced that, and because I had spent so much of my life with that as this weapon for me, that I decided I didn't want that for me. I didn't want it for my characters. I have a daughter, and I didn't want that for her either. And it makes sense that the reason why we hate this word fat is because it hasn't been used so negatively and so when it's really just a description. But I wanted to take it beyond just the description for it to just be affirming. So you're fat. Okay, we all have fat in our body. Some of us have more than others, and big deal. And so that's where I wanted to come from. Let's not have shame around it. Let's just call it what it is. I'm not opposed to plus size. It's not my favorite term, but I'm not opposed to that. But fat just is the one that I choose, and that's why I put it right on my cover, because I was going, I'm owning this. And I just think that, because it's been the stereotype where fat people have been picked it as lazy, as unintelligent, as undesirable, not lovable, all of those things that I wanted to say, no, that's just not true. And it took me a long time to get to that place where I could be comfortable. And so I'm not trying to say everybody needs to use the word that, if that resonates with you, if that's part of your journey, your progress, great, if it's not, if you're not there, that's okay too. But I'm just saying that it's important to me, for those reasons, to take it back and say you're not going to hurt me with it, and if you've been hurt by it and you want to take it back to join that fight.

Alesia Galati: 19:28

Yes, I love that. And so now I'm curious. You're in Canada, correct? So I'm curious. I know how it is in the US, because I'm born and raised here. Sadly,

Leigh Carron: 19:42

this time, it is a little sad,

Alesia Galati: 19:45

yes, but I'm curious, because we talk in pounds and pretty wack sizes here, and so I'm curious what the kind of size. Industry is like, on your side as well.

Leigh Carron: 20:03

Very similar. Yeah, very similar. That way, where I'd say there's even less options. Clothing wise, I will have friends who will say, I go to the states for that for larger sizes, because it's very European in Canada, so you do have smaller sizes, so it's an issue here too. It's really no different. I lived in the States for a number of years. I'm American by birth, but I've lived in the States, and really it's not different. What I found different was when my husband and I sometimes with my daughter when we've traveled like to the Caribbean, there, the women are much larger. They're voluptuous, they're confident. They're out there in their bikinis with it all hanging beautifully out. And they are not at all self conscious. They're not wrapping up in their sarongs and stuff to hide it. They are just out there. And so there is a big cultural difference between North America and other countries.

Alesia Galati: 21:04

Yeah, I haven't been but I'm just thinking about the ah, Cunningham books where I know she is Latin x, but somewhere Caribbean and all of her characters are big and bodacious and just like, by vague, like, all these words that are just like, yeah, juicy. I love it. Yeah,

Leigh Carron: 21:31

juicy, exactly. And that's how it was like in Jamaica. These women were just big and beautiful. And just it made me feel so confident when I was out there, when I came out, pulling my thing together. But hey, what? Why am I doing that? Why am I trying to fight my body? Yeah, yes,

Alesia Galati: 21:48

oh, I love that. Yeah. I can think, man, I have such a love hate relationship with the beach because of that. Either there, I can never find a bathing suit that really fits me. I want to wear a bikini, but it doesn't hang like it used to.

Leigh Carron: 22:06

That's sad, right? That's sad that we hurry about that. Because why can't you go and enjoy the beach in your bikini, whether it's hanging, whether it's tight, wherever it is, just going do your thing. And I remember when I was on this sort of yo yo dieting thing, where I would always okay when I get to this weight, that's when I'll do this. There was so much in my life that was spent when that happens, when I get then I'll then be able to really live. That's what it came down to, right? Always waiting for that perfect, that ideal body size that was going to allow me to live instead of living in the here and now with how I am, because bodies change all the time. I've been thin, I've been fat, I've been all kinds of shapes and sizes, but it's always mattered to me, up until years ago, about that, that I always wanted to be that thin person, and I didn't. I went on my first diet when I was 13. I can't think 13 that I looked at myself and I didn't like what I saw, and I stopped eating for 30 days. I drank apple juice and orange juice, but for 30 days, and as I'm going through that, of course, you're losing weight. There's no food, you're gonna lose weight. But what was so sad to me now, when I in hindsight, was that people would say, Oh, my God, you look great. And even my family, and we've talked about the sort of healed through this, but even my family was like, you know, like my child was not eating for 30 days. That would not be okay with me, but they were thinking, well, she does want to get thin, and you don't, but we think that would be good if she got thin. And no one stopped me from doing that, and so I did, and the message that I received from that is that it's more important to be thin, the health doesn't matter. Nothing matters. But that end goal of getting thin, and that just lived with me for so long. So that's a really hard thing, refrain in your mind when you've had that, and I think it's not everyone may have had that particular journey, but how many women go through that yo yo dieting, just always in search of the perfect body.

Alesia Galati: 24:24

I cannot imagine my kids doing that and me being okay with it like at all. I'm so sorry that you experienced that, and it definitely, I think, is a testament to the time, because I can remember similar conversations with friends who were on the heavier side and were put on diets in their early teens in the name of health. Yes, exactly, and I don't, yeah, I don't know that it was actually. Be the right thing to do at all. Like, no,

Leigh Carron: 25:03

it wasn't, I can tell you it wasn't, and I know my family loves me dearly. So this is, this is not a Oh, but people did this out of to be abused. Some people do that, but that wasn't the case here. It was just through sheer ignorance and a belief that somehow Finn will solve all the hurt. Will solve all the problems. So it's better. Don't eat for 30 days, because at the end of it, you're going to come out better, healthier, happier, all of that, which was just bullshit, because it did. That's not what happened at all. It just led to a lifetime of constantly chasing that thinness that became certain that's been the ideal. Yeah. So I would say anybody who was a teenager and was told they should be on a diet or put on a diet, no, that's not okay. That's not okay for that, it's saying you're not good enough, and nobody should be made to feel that they're not good enough.

Alesia Galati: 25:57

Yeah, oh my goodness, I can think of I was in my early 20s, so it would have been like before I had my kid. So I had my kid at 21 so I might have been 19 or 20, and I was doing Jillian Michaels. I would, but this is ridiculous. I'd eat whatever, like food we had, right? But working out really hard drinking way too much alcohol. But I would also mix shots of vodka with Baja Blast mountain, like, liter of this stuff, and I'd be like two shots of that, eating terribly. And I remember my mom, who was a registered nurse. She was like, Alesia, breathe in my face again. What I was just talking to you. What do you mean? Just no, let me smell your breath. And I was like, does it smell like what are you doing? And she was like, do it? Just do it. And so I did. And she goes, Your breath smells like flowers. I think you're malnourished. And I was like, What do you mean? I'm eating and I'm working out and I'm getting fit. And she was like, I don't think you're eating enough. You need to eat more. I was like, How dare you? I'm her own person. I can do what I want, but I think to have that reflected back now looking back, I'm like, Hey, dummy, you were not eating well, yeah,

Leigh Carron: 27:22

but good job, Ma, good job. Yes, I know, but I

Alesia Galati: 27:27

think that to that point, what I think that romances like yours can do for us is to show that diversity of being fat, that we can be fat and also do other things. A friend of the mindset of this so beautifully the other day, and I think I wrote it down. I hope I did, because it was so good. We weren't talking about being fat. I think she was talking about being queer. She said being queer is the least interesting thing about me, and I was like, Damn, that's good. And I was like, you could put that anywhere. I could put that anywhere. Being fat is the least interesting thing about me. Get to know me as so much more than just that one identity, because I am so multifaceted. And so I think that what romance like yours do, and similar ones, what they do is they allow us to see ourselves in these books, to heal parts of ourselves. And so I'm curious if you've had any readers reach out to you and be like You saved me.

Leigh Carron: 28:40

Like that I have often, and this is the best part of what I do. When a reader reaches out and says, I feel seen or I have this was one of my favorite experiences. I was doing a book club, and so I did a reading from fat girl time, and then we had some open discussion about it. And so this one woman talked about the fact that when she was younger, her mother had told her she had fat knees, okay, and so she was obsessed with her knees, with not showing her knees. She was so self conscious about her knees that she wore bowling long dresses, pants, what have you never any shorts. And we all shared our own similar experiences, but made each other feel like you're beautiful. There's nothing wrong with your knees. Show me those knees. Girl. And so she was showing her knees. And so about a week later, she emails me a picture of herself where she's out with her short skirt, showing her knees. And I know it's not magic, right? Like I know these discussions, and I know my books, and people who are writing books like mine, there's no magic potion. I wish there there was, but it's not like that. But if it can, at least just make you challenge some of your thoughts, some of the things that you've heard that was negative tape. Sometimes play in our head that tell us we're not good enough, our knees are too fat, our thighs are too fat, or butts too big, whatever. If we can stop and say, But wait a minute, where does that come from? And what's that based on? And in fact, girl, actually, I make beauty when she starts to do therapy, that's what she starts to look at, where does this come from? And can I reframe it? So if I have a thought that says my thighs are too big, because that was one of her things, my thighs are too fat. Is there another way to look at it? The opposite is not to say, Oh no, my thighs are thin. That's not what it said. That is, my thighs are strong. It's just reframing it so that you start to think of yourself in positive ways, and that's what I hope my book will at least give you pause, let you think about it, challenge it, and maybe that helps you to start towards feeling better about yourself. Even feeling neutral is good, like we don't all have to get to self love, right? That's a lovely goal to get to, but that's not the reality for people. But if we can just at least stop the loathing, stop the negative talk and all of that, and come to a more neutral place. That's immense progress right there. Yes,

Alesia Galati: 31:10

I have eyes.

Leigh Carron: 31:14

Lucky me, I can walk because with these thighs and lights that I have.

Alesia Galati: 31:20

Yeah, it's so true. One thing I always like to remind myself, especially having grown up the way I did, and I get these gut reaction first thoughts that are not always my own. And I have to stop myself and be like, where did that come from? For example, I had a friend say, Hey, do you want to do yoga with me? And I was like, yoga satanic? Wait a minute. Yeah, I didn't say it out loud, because that's what you learned. Yes. I was like, whose thought is that that's do I know that yoga is satanic? I don't know that. I don't have proof. Let's try some yoga. And so one thing I've had to learn is I'm not responsible for my first thought. And that's also helped a lot with my autistic kid, who his first thought tends to be spiral, or everybody's gonna die, right? It's very extreme, very quickly. And I have to say, All right, then we pause. We say, is that actually true? No, okay, then what do we do with this information now that we've stopped and paused, and so I think to your point having these ways to see some of our inner stuff reflected back to us. And that's one thing that I love about romance, is I have learned more from reading romance than I ever did reading self development. Also, it's very difficult to get through self development books for me, but I have learned so much more about myself and the world that I live in through romance than any other type of book. And so I love that we're able to use this as a tool to Yes, listen or read a delicious love story, but also learn to love ourselves as well in different and deeper ways. It's so beautiful. I love it.

Leigh Carron: 33:16

Yeah, I feel that way too. And I just released my new book and a perfect truth, which was exciting for me, because that was my first Fat Man, chubby and tattooed and bearded, and he's just sexy and wonderful. And then I loved writing that too. And first listening, I was thinking, will people be okay? Because she's not. She's slender, very tall, willowy body, which is a valid body, too, nothing. It's not like, I'm only fat positive. It's like body positive, right? Every body is valuable. So the focus is on him, but he's confident in himself. He had his time and his teens, as most of us do, but he's a confident man, and I don't make the story about that, so I think there's maybe one or two references to it in the entire book, because the point for me is, and maybe it goes back to your friend's point. That's the least interesting part you know about him. There's so much more to him, so much more to her as well. And so they're not about their bodies, and I just love telling the story. And Chaz is, he's just, he's an amazing character, and I loved writing him. And he has this big, beautiful body to go with his big, beautiful heart. And so yeah, it was a great Yes.

Alesia Galati: 34:33

Everybody needs to go check out the character art, because he's just delicious. He

Unknown: 34:40

really is

Alesia Galati: 34:43

I love it. What is next for you? You literally just released the books. I know you might have some time. I don't think it's gonna be seven more years, but

Leigh Carron: 34:52

now I've been writing a little bit more regularly. Yes, so there's a spin off now, because that series perfectly imperfect is. Is over with those books. So with Dee and her friends, Jordan and Lexi, that wraps up that series. But I saw an opportunity. I didn't go in there thinking this, but I saw an opportunity to actually do a spin off, because Chaz and Lexi are in this small town, and he owns this coffee shop, and it's a big part of the story, but the town became a character of its own, and Chaz has a group of friends. And so these friends, I started to tell their story, and now I need to finish their story, and Jazz's sister's story. So the spin off is coming. The first one will be, I'm not sure when, I'm not going to commit to any date yet, but the first one will be his ride or die the bestie dice, and another friend of theirs, she is something, Charlotte, but you don't dare call her that. She only goes by lot and check out the art on her. She's, yeah, she's something so she is my fat. ADHD, girly, who is just, she's a player. She's sure of herself. She's a black cat. She has no time for anybody, including dice, who thinks he's all that. And so it's going to be fun to write the sort of frenemies to lovers that's going to be set in a bar. So I'm literally looking forward to that, to come more, to come on up. Yay.

Alesia Galati: 36:17

All right. So if people are like, No, I need to know more about all of that, and I need dates. Where can people find you? Get to know you buy and deliciously eat all of your lovely books. The best

Leigh Carron: 36:31

place to find me probably is on Instagram. I'm not really on anything else. I can hardly manage myself on Instagram. So that's where I am at Lee Caron, author, and you can check out my books at my website, which is the caron.com so that's where I am, where I'm at. And I promise if you DM me, if you write Denise, I answer every message. There's no reader that would go ignore it. I love hearing from people, and so I always make a point to connect. That's my favorite part about being an author, is connecting with with readers. And I think people would say that I'm very accessible that way. I want to be

Alesia Galati: 37:10

Oh, that's so good. And we'll make sure we have links for all of that in the show notes and the description for anyone doing other things, or they're like, Wait, spell that we got you. It's okay. It's all right. The All the links will be in the show notes, as well as all of these books that we mentioned here. Lee, thank you so much. This has been so much fun. It's wonderful.

Leigh Carron: 37:31

Yeah, it was a great experience. I appreciate you having me on.

Unknown: 37:41

You.