1--What is the title of your latest release?
BECAUSE FAT GIRL, a queer contemporary romcom that’s for anyone who’s ever felt too big, too weird, too loud, or just plain too much.
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
I once had a dream that The Rock wanted to date me – and I turned him down. I couldn’t be the fat queer girl dating The Rock; even if we were in love, the press would be too much. I woke up from that dream and thought “hmm, that would make a great story.” And turns out, it does.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Hollywood as a concept is this big giant nebulous thing that feels otherworldly and impossible to reach, even when you’re in Los Angeles. I gave up on my dream of making movies precisely because it felt like this place I could never get into.
Then I worked adjacent to Hollywood, meeting some of the biggest stars in the world, and as cliché as it sounds, they’re just like us. It made me feel like maybe I should take everyone off a pedestal and onto equal footing.
So, that’s what I did in BECAUSE FAT GIRL, I humanized the biggest and brightest stars while elevating the salesclerks and assistants around them. That started with locations first and foremost. Where do people come together and mingle from all walks of life? Stores. Charity events. Restaurants. Amusement parks. Parties.
The book starts with a strata at events, a delineation between those who have “made it” and those who haven’t. Through food, laughter, and human connection, those lines blur and in the end our characters find themselves sitting in a circle, all working together towards the common goal of telling their stories.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I’m biased because my lead, Diana, is very much based on me. I asked myself what if I kept almost everything else about my life the same – from my grief and insecurities to my friendships and love of fashion – but I had pursued movies instead of novels when I graduated film school. Then I wrote a character based on that. So, since she’s basically me, I don’t have much of a choice but to say yes!
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
fashionable, hopeful, human
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I founded my company, SchoolForWriters.com, on the principle of collaboration over competition, and yet I all too often forget to turn to my community for support.
I titled my book tour “We’re All in This Together” and it’s been true since the start. As you’ll see in the acknowledgements – which were so hard to get down to only 4 pages – it took a team to get this story out into the world.
Every step of the process I had to relearn that I cannot, and should not, do this alone.
This is not just my book, it’s our book – my community, my friends, and even the strangers I’ll never meet who are inspired by it. Society often tries to make us feel like we have to be independent and do it all ourselves. But I wasn’t alone, my readers aren’t alone, and you aren’t alone. We’re all in this together.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I’m all about the crappy first draft. Let me get it out of my head and onto the paper before I know what I’m going to do with it.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Fries with cheese. Which is why it’s a major character in my book!
9--Describe your writing space/office!
As a drink coaster I have says, “my housekeeping style is best described as ‘there seems to have been a struggle’”.
10--Who is an author you admire?
My first reaction was to give you a list of the 100+ authors in my life that have lifted me up over the years. I’m all about collaboration over competition, and I’ve built an amazing community of friends that way. But if you’re talking career-wise, I love the way Elizabeth Gilbert has been able to successfully write in multiple genres and styles while still retaining the same essence in her books, and bringing her readers along with her. My goal is to have my readers be able to pick up my book from any genre and love it because they see themselves in it, and I think Elizabeth Gilbert does that well.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Lurlene McDaniel writes books about kids with life threatening diseases, and they saved me as a kid. My dad got cancer when I was 12 and left us for months to get treatment in L.A. far away from our small farming town. I was so scared and none of my friends were experiencing anything like what I was. Lurlene McDaniel books made me feel less alone. I remember a bookseller shaming me for buying one, and I quit reading for years after that. It’s why I’m so proudly for celebrating whatever genre people love to read.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I think we like to think of one moment as the defining moment in our careers, but instead of “the call” I got hundreds of emails, texts, and calls that led me to the moment of having this book published. I say that, because I feel like I waited too long for “the call” that I had “finally made it” and didn’t celebrate each step that got me closer to my goal. Now, I celebrate every little step forward. It sounds cheesy, but it took me 20 years in the industry to get here and I’m going to savor every moment while it lasts.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I am an avid reader and devour everything but horror. I’m sorry horror writers, I wish I could read you, but my active imagination makes me unable to sleep at night when I do!
14--What’s your favorite movie?
I went to film school and people always laughed at my responses when they asked me this. They expected me to say some obscure foreign film or something by Scorsese or some other man, but I love a good comfort watch, and my answers haven’t changed: Pretty Woman, Notting Hill, The Santa Clause, Sabrina (the original), and Cinema Paradiso.
15--What is your favorite season?
I used to be a hardcore autumn fan, but then my brother died in that season making it harder for me. I’m just learning to reclaim it, 10 years later, and appreciating being able to answer fall again when I’m asked this question.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Forgive me if I get a little morbid here for a second, but as I watched my brother die, I had this out of body experience where I was floating through the universe. Everything that didn’t matter started fading to darkness. All that petty stuff I was holding onto for decades just went black. What was left were bright shining stars pointing out my life’s purpose. Those stars were all stories. Not just mine, but other people’s that I helped get out in the world.
So every year, I celebrate my birthday by supporting others in telling their stories. That looks like buying books, watching movies, cheering friends on, and offering a big birthday bundle sale at SchoolForWriters.com so people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford my programs can get them.
And I finish the day with a great meal with people I love. Because food and family are also bright stars in my life.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Is it too cliché to tell everyone to listen to my School for Writers podcast? Because I love the interviews we’ve done there, and I think the coaching episodes are so powerful. I love being able to share my experience with others so hopefully the path is shorter for you.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Because I am both lactose and gluten intolerant, you’ll usually see me out eating Vietnamese or Thai, because I can eat almost everything. But I grew up on the border and live there now, so Mexican food will always feel like home.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
It says something about my life these days that this is the hardest question to answer. I’m all about divesting in hustle culture, but running my business SchoolForWriters.com and putting this book out into the world has taken a lot of my time, energy, and focus for the past year. I’m very excited to be at this point in life where my business and book are both booming, and I’m very much looking forward to all the group and private retreats I have planned for 2025.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Times are getting hard for queer people, with a record number of legislative bills set up to take away our right to exist. It’s scary. I want to lean into that fear while also giving hope. I’m excited to explore characters stuck in really hard situations carving out joy and love for themselves. But don’t worry, even in the darkest of times, my books will still have my signature trademark topics of fashion, food, chosen and bio family, body acceptance, and a look at everything through a very queer lens.
For everyone who’s ever felt too big, too weird, too queer—or just too much—comes a happily ever after for the rest of us.
Hollywood isn’t nice to women like Diana Smith, but that hasn’t stopped her from being unabashedly queer, plus-sized, and determined to make award-winning movies that showcase the diversity of her community. She was so close to her goal, appearing at festivals and gaining attention for her short films, when grief came and shattered Diana’s directorial dreams.
Forced to move to the suburbs with her sister and kids, the closest thing Diana gets to the movies these days is dressing the stars of them at her high-end department store job. Until one day, she gets a pity invite to a gala full of Hollywood’s most elite, where she unwittingly attracts the attention of a famous action star.
The unexpected pairing shocks their friends–and the tabloids–forcing Diana to choose between the status quo and the silver screen. For the first time in her life, doors open for Diana and the possibilities seem endless. The chance to create unforgettable films. To shake up the industry. To inspire everyone who’s ever felt like they didn’t belong.
But fame always comes with a cost…and to get her Hollywood ending, Diana’s going to have to go completely off-script.
Romance Comedy | LGBTQ [Entangled: Amara, On Sale: October 22, 2024, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781649376916 / eISBN: 9781649376220]
Lauren Marie Fleming is a writer and coach helping people discover their story and tell it to the world. Her company, School for Writers, helps aspiring authors write their books in a way that harnesses the transformational power of storytelling. In her twenty years as a professional writer, Lauren has written multiple books, been featured in prominent publications including VICE and the Huffington Post, and spoken at prestigious conferences and colleges including Yale and BlogHer. When not writing, coaching or traveling the world, Lauren can be found walking her dog on the beach in San Diego listening to a good audiobook.
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