A kindred spirit

Those of you who know me also know that I have weight issues.  When you see me infrequently, you can be greeted by almost any sort of body type .. thin, heavy or any of the stages in between.  I'm a regular Oprah in that manner, but without the expensive wardrobe.  Or the personal chef.  Damn, I need me a good personal chef.

I'm going to blame the genes that my mother passed to me along with the ones for curly hair and facial structure. (I'm not sure who gave me the short arms, but I'd really like to have a word with them about that.) Mom, however, had the luxury of being 5' 10" so her weight probably sat a bit more well distributed on the larger frame.  Be that as it may, I'm currently in a 'heavy' phase and am plagued by all the insecurities that go along with it.  I also know that I could easily turn this into a litany, but that's tedious and if you've been around any dieter or pre-dieter, you've heard them before, ad nauseam.

I tell you this only as a way of introducing you to an author new to me.  On the footer of this page, you'll see that I'm reading Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente.  The book was recommended to me by my fake French Montreal friend Eric and since we have a great deal in common, I thought I'd give the book a whirl.

I admit it's tough sledding for me.  The first few chapters have left me more than a bit confused with their shifting perspectives, yet I'm determined to get through because I trust Eric.  I'm starting to see the unifying thread that will drop all of the various stories into focus.  I think.  Time and more chapters will tell, but at least the thread that runs through the book is starting to pull at me as well.

I was somewhere on the 'net the other day and ran into a link to her website, which I followed because I wanted to see more about this author that Eric had recommended.  I was surprised .. often, author's sites are run impersonally by their publication companies or have been designed by a firm that allows little to no interaction with the author.  When authors do post, they are often very closed and private or simply regurgitate the information you can find on the back flap of any of their books; all of which discourages getting to know them.

The site is well designed and if you follow my pages, you'll know that I'm attracted by the steampunk genre.  Her site design spoke to that bit of geekery in me.

Catherynne M. Valente ... Cat ... is eloquent and blogs about day-to-day things in an open manner that manages to convey who she is, as a person and at the same time, excites me to read more of her works.  She paints the everyday on her page in strokes of interesting phrases.  She posted her views on dieting that forever linked us through the BS of dealing with all the crap that goes along with weight issues and the hyperlink I'm sharing with you now.

I hope you enjoy her blog as much as I do.

Here's the link for A Frivolous Post About A Girl, Her Thesaurus and Her Diet
Here's the main site link:  Catherynne M. Valente  or you can simply click on her site header above.

Eric, I owe you one introduction to an author you'll love but have never read.  Since your library is larger than mine, I'm not sure how I'll accomplish that.  The fun will be in trying.  :D