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| Sheila Hageman, Author BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE STRIPPING DOWN: A MEMOIR |
Sheila Hageman
describes her newest novel BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE as a contemporary romance
because it confronts issues today’s young women “go through when searching for
love and self….like balancing love and career.” She cites interesting
characters, humor, believability, and setting as important elements in a
compelling romance—and, yes, maybe even some heroes and villains.
Hageman started
out as a stripper and nude model and moved on to become college valedictorian
and eventually earning an MFA in creative writing. Today she is a wife and the
mother of three children, an author, a yoga instructor, writing teacher, and
Body Image Expert. In addition to novels, she writes poetry and non-fiction.
She is just finishing a draft of her next novel.
Q: You’ve
described BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE as contemporary romance. What makes it “contemporary?”
Sheila Hageman:
I
think of BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE as contemporary because the story takes place
very much in our present time and deals with issues I believe many young women
go through when searching for love and self. This is a great novel for readers
who like to really relate to the protagonist and understand the same types of
modern-day issues like balancing love and career.
Q: What are the
most important traits to readers of a compelling romance? How helpful is
setting to developing a romance?
Sheila Hageman:
I
go off of what I’ve discovered I enjoy myself as a reader. A compelling romance
for me needs to have interesting characters that are believable, but are at the
same time experiencing something unique and story-worthy. I like to be able to
relate to certain ideas or themes in a romance, but I also feel the desire to
stretch my imagination in some areas. Setting plays such an important role in
romance because lush, sensory descriptions can make or break a story. Since I
like understanding my setting on a personal level, I think I may need to go on
some exotic trips in my near future!
Q: Why will
readers care about your protagonist, Lizbeth? Is she someone we can all relate
to? What makes her unique? Or is she an “every-person” character?
Sheila Hageman:
Lizbeth is
your “every-woman” for many young women. She deals with issues that so many
modern American women face—body image, self-esteem and desire for a loving
partnership. A lot of us strive for so much and want to have it all, and
Lizbeth experiences these drives along with confusion on how to achieve all she
desires. Lizbeth faces these issues even as a thirty-year-old, which I think is
an age many women are facing a reevaluation of their lives. She is unique in
that she is divorced and still trying to chase a dream of stardom at an age
after which many people have already settled into their “adult” lives.
Q: How helpful
is the use of humor to tell your story? Do you believe humor is an important
part of a romance?
Sheila Hageman:
Humor
is so important to me in life and love that it is no surprise to me that I
wanted to incorporate it into my first romance novel. Life is funny and I most
definitely wanted my heroine to be able to laugh at herself and the situations
she finds herself in. I believe that’s even a part of her evolution in the book—Lizbeth
becomes more able to laugh at herself and the world. Not all romances need
humor, of course, but I find many contemporary romances incorporate some level
of humor to reflect its importance in modern life.
Q: Are there
heroes and villains in BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE? If so, what are the attributes
of an effective villain?
Sheila Hageman:
I
believe the ultimate hero in BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE is Lizbeth herself
because she goes through the most growth in so many dimensions of herself and
her viewpoints on important issues. Her best friend Janet also goes through a series
of realizations about self and life, which I believe paint her as a hero of her
own life. Lizbeth’s love interest Chip definitely has some villain-ish
tendencies, such as blaming others for his flaws, at the beginning of the
story, but evolves into his own hero. The one true villain that Lizbeth has to
grapple with is a manipulating film director who truly does not change or grow
in the story, but rather remains treacherous and pompous.
Q: You have
published poems along with non-fiction and your current novel BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE. When is poetry suitable to express your topic versus
novel-writing? How is writing fiction different from writing non-fiction?
Sheila Hageman:
Great
question. I find that I go through phases when I need to express very strong
emotions in a short amount of time and that is when I tend toward poetry. I
like writing poems to capture a fleeting feeling or a moment in time that I
know is so delicate if I don’t grab it in some way, I may never have another
opportunity to. Writing novels seems like a good way to dive into a theme or an
idea that I want to spend a significant time with.
Writing
fiction and non-fiction feel so different to me. When I write memoir or
personal essays, I tend to do a lot more mental brooding and less quick
writing. At the beginning of an idea that feels like it needs to be explored
through the personal, I will write quickly, but the connection-making and
theme-building can come slowly.
Fiction
has felt more free-flowing and less directed for me. I tend to be able to write
quicker and with less stress when I have that space between my reality and my
characters.
Q: Did you
write BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE solely to entertain readers or did you embed a
message or two as well?
Sheila Hageman:
I
definitely embedded my messages! The writing of a romance began as a writerly
challenge between my writing friend and me. We wanted a break from the
sometimes heaviness of memoir to write something lighter. As soon as I began,
my main character quickly revealed to me that she was struggling with similar
issues I have struggled with and have written about in memoir form. It seems
like my deepest concerns for people and the world often emerge in my writing.
Q: How
important is credibility or believability in telling your stories? How did you
make your protagonist and her story credible?
Sheila Hageman:
Believability
is very important for me as a writer. I want to create characters and story
that although they may be nothing close to a reader’s experience, they still
ring true emotionally. I trusted my own experiences in life to create a
believable heroine with real-life struggles and experiences. Although some of
what Lizbeth goes through might seem exotic to someone who has never
experienced city-life, I hope that readers will be able to envision themselves
in similar situations.
Q: What’s next? Will you write another
novel?
Sheila Hageman:
I’m
happy to say I am just finishing a rough draft of another novel, which would be
best described as a crazy mix of humor, sci-fi, romance and erotica. I just
went full-on write-what-makes-me-happy for this one.
I’m
also working on a few potential next memoirs.
Q: Tell us about Sheila Hageman. What do
you do when you’re not writing? What do you like to do to relax and have fun?
Sheila Hageman:
I
have three young children, a husband and a full-time job, so I am never not
busy. It’s an exercise in madness that I can get any writing done at all. I
love yoga; I’m actually also a certified yoga teacher. Right now, I work at
Berkeley College in White Plains, NY, as an Academic Mentor, which means I get
to spend a lot of time coaching and inspiring students. I also love teaching
writing and work with clients one-on-one on their memoirs-in-progress.
About Sheila
Hageman
Sheila
is the ultimate survivor and risk taker—she’s a former stripper and nude model
who became her college valedictorian, a yoga instructor, a writing teacher, an
author, a mother and a Body Image Expert. She lives with her husband, three
children and three cats in CT. She is an Academic Mentor for Berkeley College.
She has taught writing at University of Bridgeport and Housatonic Community
College.
She has a novel, BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE, out June 24, 2016, from 48Fourteen. Her memoir, STRIPPING DOWN, is a meditation
on womanhood and body image. Her Decision-Making Guide and Self-Discovery
Journal, The Pole Position: Is Stripping for You? (And How to Stay Healthy
Doing It), Every Day Create, December 2011, helps women to further value their
own identities through their quest to understand their motivations for
stripping.
She
received her MFA in Creative Writing from Hunter College, CUNY, where she also
graduated as valedictorian with her BA in English. She blogs about her stripper
past, motherhood, body image and other women’s issues at StrippingDown.com or
you can visit her website SheilaHageman.com. Sheila has appeared on numerous TV
shows including Today Show, ABC News, NBC News, and as an expert on Bill
Cunningham and Anderson Cooper. She has been featured on Salon, Yahoo,
Mamalode, Mom Babble, Say It With A Bang, She Knows, Role Reboot and The
Huffington Post.
About BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE
BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE is a contemporary romance with smarts and humor.
Lizbeth,
an outwardly-confident but overly self-conscious thirty-year-old, is spurred on
by her New Age friend, Janet, to trust the Universe and ask for what she wants
in life—to land a starring role, lose five pounds and find herself naked with a
man. The stars seem to be aligning for her, but not exactly in the way she
meant.
A
chance encounter with a film director at Grand Central Station may be her lucky
break, but the New York City actress is blindsided when she is fired from her
bill-paying waitress job, and she must decide where her true values lie. Should
she take a position as a “pretend secretary” for a handsome, but
holier-than-thou chiropractor and healer with questionable morals to pay her
rent?
While
Chip Duncan woos a potential investor for his new healing center, he fights his
romantic urges for Lizbeth. She finds herself falling in love with Chip’s
caring, healing heart, but she’s equally frustrated by his greed and
dishonesty.
Can
Lizbeth resolve her body image issues and find a clear path to satisfaction in
career and relationship? And will Chip realize in time that Lizbeth is the
woman for him before he blows off her love?
Excerpt from
BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE
“DO
YOU HAVE A MISSION statement for your life?” Janet asked as she pushed a
frazzled bunch of red curly hair from her face.
“A
what?” Lizbeth grimaced slightly before biting into her gooey tuna melt on
wheat bread.
“You
know—a statement that sums up what you want from your life, or like, a guiding
sentence to propel you forward.” Janet nibbled her egg white Western omelet and
stabbed at her buttered wheat toast with a fork. “Hmm, I guess he forgot I
wanted dry toast.”
Lizbeth
knew her friend was into new-age stuff, but she hated it when Janet assumed
everyone was into it.
“Um,
why would I need a, a what? A life statement?”
“Lizzie,
I think creating a greater life purpose could move you out of this slump you
seem to be in.”
Ugh,
here she goes, Lizbeth thought. Ever since her friend met a psychic healer,
everything had to be about auras and chakras and now…life missions.
“Excuse
me? Excuse me?” Janet tried once again to get the waiter’s attention. Marnick’s
was short-staffed—only two waiters for the entire restaurant on a Friday
afternoon.
“Oh!
Did no one bring your toast yet? I’m so sorry; one of the waitresses had to put
her dog down today, and well, you know how women are about their pets.”
Lizbeth
wasn’t sure if he was being snarky or sensitive or…
“That’s
all right. I’m fine. You know what? Don’t worry about it—a little butter is
good for you.” Janet smiled in her sweet, all-knowing way. Lizbeth silently
prayed that Janet wouldn’t mention her friend who claims to talk to dead
animals.
As
the waiter retreated, Janet took a gerbil-sized munch of the lightly buttered
toast. “Hmm, maybe I should call Bill, the pet psychic, to see if he can pick
up any messages for the waitress.”
“Janet,
please, can we stick to our original subject? I can only take so much spacey
stuff a day, you know? I imagine you already have one of those life mission
thingies all typed-out and framed somewhere.” Lizbeth tossed a pickle chip into
her mouth. She’d asked for extra, but only three came on her plate; she
certainly wasn’t about to ask for more pickles now.
“Well,
yes, but not typed. I wrote it in calligraphy and hung it next to my bathroom
mirror so I see it every morning. It helps me stay focused.”
Lizbeth
thought there might be some inherent good in being focused. In having personal
goals. But she liked living by the seat of her pants, following her emotions
and living in the moment. Lizbeth caught herself. Who’s the new-agey one now?
“I
don’t know what my life mission is. How does one figure something like that out
anyway? Wait…what’s yours?”
“I
could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Janet whispered and laughed,
her eyes crinkling at the corners.
About Stripping Down: A Memoir
At
twelve years old, everything changed for me with the discovery of my estranged
father’s porn collection. Found locked away in a corner of the basement, the
glossy images ignited in me an unrelenting desire for attention and adoration.
I lost sight of my dream of being a writer and became obsessed with exercise,
working out every day for hours and barely eating. I became that which I
thought men adored—a stripper and a nude model.
Many
years later when I discovered my mother had breast cancer, I was faced with who
I had become and what I had used my body for. I quit stripping and returned to
college to graduate as valedictorian; I also became a yoga teacher through
which I learned how to take good care of my body and not be obsessive in my
looks. I began writing again and then went to graduate school for my MFA in
Creative Writing. At that time, reflections on my past as a stripper permeated
my thoughts as I took on the new roles of mother, caregiver and wife. While
helping my baby daughter take her first steps, I nursed my mother through the
final stages of breast cancer and truly faced who I had become and who I had
been.
Links
Amazon
for BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE
Goodreads
for BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING ELSE
Amazon
for STRIPPING DOWN: A MEMOIR
Goodreads
for STRIPPING DOWN: A MEMOIR
A
few of Sheila Hageman TV Appearances:
NBC
CT News, April 2012, Interview on Stripping Down
CT
Style on ABC CT News, May 2012, Author Interview
Twitter: @SheilaMHageman
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