The Break-Up Diet.

One of the perks of being, well, ME is that authors occasionally send me books to read and review on this blog.

(Another perk is great hair. Clearly.)

Anyhoodle.

When Women on Writing contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in being one of the blog tour stops for Annette Fix and her memoir The Break-Up Diet, I jumped at the chance.



The Break-Up Diet is an honest, engaging, and hilarious look into a heartbreaking end to a relationship and the hopeful beginning of a new life.

Annette is real and charming, and she writes with no-holds-barred. She was the sole support of her son for 15 years. She has now been married for 5 years and is adjusting to an empty nest. Annette is a freelance editor, a publishing industry and single parenting speaker, and the Senior Editor of WOW! Women on Writing. She can be emailed directly at annette(at)annettefix(dot)com.


I asked her a few questions about being published and putting it all out there in her memoir, and here's what she had to say:

ME: How did you come up with the central concept of "the diet," and when you began to write, did you know that the recipes would be the theme of the book?

AF: The concept of “The Break-Up Diet”—a spontaneous weight-loss phenomenon that happens when a woman gets dumped by a man she loves more than life and chocolate—was what happened to me after my ex left. I lost a ton of weight even though I spent weeks eating hot fudge topping right out of the jar!

The recipe idea came from a male filmmaker friend. He was giving me notes on the first draft of my manuscript. One of his notes: “Where’s the diet?” He said that if my book was about a diet (leave it to a guy to take the title literally), then I should include low-calorie recipes for the readers.

I didn’t want to make it about food—that’s been done so many times in food memoirs, and it isn’t what The Break-Up Diet is about. I wanted to find a way to show how women’s emotions are so powerful that they can affect everything in a woman’s life—including her weight loss or weight gain.

I came up with the idea to create emotional “recipes” like: Crisis Pilaf, Guilt Stew, Doubt Cake, and Love Me S’mores. There are 15 recipes scattered randomly throughout the book, following the particular journal entries that inspired each of them.

ME: The relationship you have with your son is really amazing. In the book, you mention the night he found out you weren't just bartending. How did that affect your relationship?

AF: It’s funny. I get this question often. But there isn’t a juicy answer behind it. I was a single mom for 15 years (sole support and care), so my son and I have always been and still are extremely close. The revelation of my job as a dancer didn't faze him. He knows me as Mom—the person who has always been there for him, the ONLY person who has ever been there for him.

In another interview, I was asked how my son felt about the book. When I asked him, he said, "I lived it, so I don't need to read it. I trust what you wrote in there. Being in your book makes me feel like I'm having my 10 seconds of fame. And since most of my friends have read it, it allows them to know me better."

ME: Even as just a reader, you can really FEEL the pain the breakup caused you, and you are so honest about your feelings. Do you feel as though writing the book was cathartic for you? If so, how?

AF: I wrote the book as the real-time story unfolded and I wanted to be completely candid about the experience. I’ve never read a book that portrayed the uncensored emotions and thoughts a woman has when she goes through a tough relationship break-up. Although the telling of my story moves from quirky humor (my painkiller of choice) to visceral heartbreak, I wrote about things most women don’t ever reveal.

I don’t know if it was necessarily cathartic—except maybe that it helped me focus on creating something instead of dwelling on what had been destroyed, which seems like a total contradiction since I was re-living the break-up every day on the page. But, once I entered the dating phase, I wondered how my life would unfold and what interesting things would happen to write about next.

ME: Dating definitely provides good stories, that's for sure. What advice can you give someone suffering through a bad breakup? Something that helped you through the worst times?

AF: Eat a lot of chocolate! I sure did. Chocolate (especially dark chocolate) increases serotonin levels in your brain and releases endorphins that make you feel better. But just short of eating your body weight in chocolate… There is no magic salve. Focus on doing things you love to do. Spend time with positive people who lift your spirits. And give it time. Time will give you the perspective to analyze why the relationship didn’t work. Understand there is a reason that person wasn’t right for you. People who are supposed to be together don’t break up.

When you are ready to jump back into the dating pool, make a list of everything you want in a mate and never settle for less. Expect from your prospective mate exactly what you have to offer. No more. No less.

ME: I totally agree. How did everyone characterized in the memoir feel about being included?

AF: One of my “characters” was completely tickled about being included and said, “OMG! I can’t believe you wrote the book exactly like it really happened!” Then she bought several copies to give as gifts to her friends. Another old girlfriend threatened to sue me. So, you never can tell. I think when you write a memoir, there won’t be anyone involved who is neutral about it. Either the people in your life will love it or hate it.

ME: And that could potentially make for a great sequel, right? =) Has "Kevin" (The Ex) read the book?

AF: I have no idea. But if “Kevin” ever becomes curious about what’s going on in my life and runs my name through Google (if he hasn’t already), he’ll definitely find out! He wasn’t a bad guy and I don’t think I portrayed him in a bad light, but I’d be curious to hear what he has to say after reading it. Mostly because I don’t think he had any idea how our break-up affected me—at least not beyond his friends trying to convince him I was a psycho bunny-boiler! (laughs)

ME: Haha! I think we've all been in that position a time or two. (No? Just Annette and me? Okay then.) What advice can you give someone chasing the publishing dream? Any tips?

AF: Boy, where to start. There are so many! First, don’t ever give up. Often, the only difference between a published author and an unpublished writer is persistence. Believe in yourself; believe in your work. Find the universal theme in your manuscript—what universal truth in your story will connect you to readers? Study the craft; never stop learning. Discover your authentic voice and always be true to it. Join a critique group and workshop your material; other perspectives will give great insights. Do your homework before you approach an agent; make sure she signs and sells authors/books in your genre and make sure your manuscript is the best it can be.

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Because Annette is super awesome, she is NOT ONLY giving a signed copy of her book away to one of my darling freaders, but she is ALSO offering free digital copies of her memoir for the length of her book tour. Please email promo(at)thebreak-updiet(dot)com and put "Clever Girl" in the subject line.

To be eligible for the drawing for the signed copy of Annette's book, please leave a comment on THIS POST. Only one comment per person will be counted. You have until next Saturday (March 7th) at midnight to enter! Good luck!

Thanks again, Annette! I really enjoyed your book.