Today I’m happy to welcome Erin Dionne to my blog, to tell answer a few questions about her recently released debut novel Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies.

I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy of this book a few months ago. Here’s what I said over on Goodreads:

This was a very fun and fast-paced book. Celeste is a main character I can most definitely sympathize with, as she deals with her own self-image and how the world sees her. I really felt that this book captured the goofiness, the heartaches, and the fun of being a middle-school girl.

About Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies
Thirteen-year-old Celeste Harris is no string bean, but comfy sweatpants and a daily chocolate cookie suit her just fine. Her under-the-radar lifestyle could have continued too, if her aunt hadn’t entered her in the HuskyPeach Modeling Challenge. To get out of it, she’s forced to launch Operation Skinny Celeste—because, after all, a thin girl can’t be a fat model! What Celeste never imagined was that losing weight would help her gain a backbone . . . or that all she needed to shine was a spotlight.

About Erin Dionne
Erin Dionne has lived on two coasts and in four states. Her debut novel, MODELS DON’T EAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES, was inspired by events that occurred in seventh grade, when she wore a scary peach bridesmaid dress in her cousin’s wedding and threw up on her gym teacher’s shoes (not at the same event). Although humiliating at the time, these experiences are working for her now.

Erin lives outside of Boston with her husband and daughter, and a very insistent dog named Grafton. She roots for the Red Sox, teaches English at an art college, and sometimes eats chocolate cookies.

Q: Tell us about a scene or character from your novel that was especially
easy (or especially difficult) to write.
A: The whole “puking in gym class” scene was both easy AND hard to write. Easy because I lived through it, hard because I had to re-live it! UGH!

Q: What is your favorite (or one of your favorite) myths or fairy-tales, and why?
A: “Little Red Riding Hood” was always one of my favorite fairy tales. It has everything: the gore of the grandma getting eaten, a great villain, plucky heroine, and happy ending! Yay!

Q: What has been the most exciting part of selling your book(s) and getting published so far?
A: Every stage has been exciting, because I’ve been one step closer to seeing the book come to life. And I know I’ll never have this debut experience again, so I’m trying to take it all in and celebrate each moment.

You can visit Erin at her website. Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies is available now! I encourage you to shop at your local independant bookseller.