author of
Once Upon Another Time | Adam & Evelyn | ASAP Nanny | Dangerous Love | The Best Man | Abigail’s Revenge | A Worthy Heir | His Brother’s Child | Nobody’s Perfect | Wanted: One Groom | Dangerous Curves Ahead: Short Stories | 10 Steps to Loving Your Body (No Matter What Size You Are) | Something to Think About
Pat Ballard writes romance novels and short stories with Big Beautiful Heroines to show that plus-size women are just as sexy, romantic, and exciting as their slim sisters.
“For as long as I can remember,” she says, “I loved ‘making up’ my own stories. And being the oldest of six children, and next to the oldest of 25 grandchildren, I had a lot of practice spinning my yarns ‘on request.’
“I learned to love romance novels after discovering author Emilie Loring. I collected and read every book I could find by her. I knew that this was the type of book I wanted to write.
“My wonderful sisters, Ellen and Jerri, became weary of hearing me say I was going to ‘write a book,’ so one day they approached me with a pen and spiral notebook and said, ‘do it.’
“So thanks to them, I wrote my first novella. And in doing so, I proved to myself that I could.
“After I decided to stop the self-destructive fad diets that I had lived on since the age of eleven, and accept myself as who I was born to be, I set about to write romance novels with Big Beautiful Heroines.
“But the books aren’t just for plus-size women. The message is for all women to love ourselves as we are and stop trying to be something we were never meant to be.”
Pat lives and writes in Nashville, TN.
What fans have to say about Pat’s books & articles
“Thanks for the bravery of being yourself. I, too, have spent years looking for
the thin person inside. Now at this ripe age of fifty-something, it dawns on me that
I am what I am, so enjoy!! You and I have the same dream, only you have succeeded where I am just beginning.”
Mary
“Thank God, someone has the strength to be sane, and let a woman ‘just be.’ Someone can look the societal ideal in the eye and say ‘no thanks, I’m valuable as I am.’ Women are tired and overstressed from doing it all. The lengths we go to in order to ‘fit the ideal body image’ are undervalued. We need a collective ‘enough already,’ and to send out the message that who we are as individuals is worth enough. Thanks.”
Jena Leonardo
“Your books….left me feeling proud to be a large size woman who can appreciate the greatness inside of me.”
Jennifer Thaniel
“I am thrilled every time I see a ‘big’ gal step forward and take her place—it’s about time!! I have stopped feeling ‘bad’ about my size—I’ve learned that it has absolutely nothing to do with self worth, with intelligence, with ability, and that I can be just as sexy at my size as a size 4—damn the torpedoes!”
Linda
“I am a full-sized woman, too….I want to accept me as I am NOW and I am sick and tired of dieting. I am a wonderful cook and I can do lots of things. I am a great dancer, I am a grandmother of 15, and I do NOT look my age. I am a attractive woman, but I have a fat body. My husband does not like me fat, and that has bothered me for years. DAMN—he can go to hell (ha ha ha ha). I want to be ME and create and sew again and paint again and go to parties again with or without him. I am so bored and unhappy WAITING TO BE SKINNY, TRYING TO BE SKINNY. I am tired of dieting and going through the nights with my tummy growling…Now is the time to live. TODAY…happy, exercising, doing the things I love, like dancing and skating—oh, I love to skate—and riding my bike—I will get a seat that fits my round, lovely rump, heh-heh. I love to swim, also…Thank you for your inspiration!!!!”
Beverly