Vlog Post with Ken Baker ~ JeanBookNerd

Photo Content from Ken Baker

Ken Baker is the E! News/E! Online Senior Correspondent and Breaking News Editor, an acclaimed author, producer, public speaker and former pro hockey player.

Ken reports breaking news, conducts celebrity interviews, delivers investigative reports and hosts a range of news segments for E! News, E! Online, E! International, E! News specials and the network’s live events.

Baker has published six books. His newest work is a novel due out in April 2014 titled “How I Got Skinny, Famous and Fell Madly in Love,” a story about an obese teen who is pressured by her family to go on a reality show to lose weight and, in so doing, learns the real meaning of freedom.

His debut novel, “Fangirl” (Running Press, 2012), told the story of a pop star who falls in love with a fan amid a sensational tabloid drama. Ken is adapting “Fangirl” into a movie in collaboration with Converge Media.

Ken is currently at work on a series of Hollywood-themed thrillers set for release in 2015.

TEN THINGS YOU WOULD CHANGE ABOUT YOUR HIGH SCHOOL YEARS IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME.

I would lose my mullet.
I wouldn’t be so hard on myself.
I would read more and watch TV less.
I would not eat right before going to bed.
I would have told my dad I loved him more.
I would have gone to more dances and parties rather than been a hermit.
I would study harder.
I would take an SAT class.
I would have smiled more while playing hockey.
I would have started writing novels.

MY CREATIVE SPACE GUST POST WITH KEN BAKER

I am not yet a bestselling author who lives in a mansion with a special writing wing, nor do I have the space for a cute guest house where I can write in Emersonian bliss. I also don’t live alone in quietude. That means, I often must leave the house to write, and that’s why you can usually find me within a few miles of my house at a coffee shop, typing away on my laptop. The combination of caffeine with being invisible in public is a creative formula that works for me.

I also tend to write best with earphones stuck in my head. I am normally not even listening to music, though I have written some decent material while jamming out to my playlists. I think the earphones (you know, the white buds that come with iPhones) act to close me off from the world just enough so that I can focus on my story and not the lady next to me gossiping with her girlfriend (though I have gotten some great material by eavesdropping on conversations!).

I find that I write better with a baseball cap on. I think it is because it reminds me of my hockey playing days in which I would don a mask and helmet, which would focus me on my battle. Writing, after all, is the most excruciating battle I have ever endured. I can use all the protection I can muster.

But quite possibly the most productive place for me to write is on airplanes. Especially in first class. Especially with no turbulence. Especially when it’s not a red-eye. But even writing on a plane, which used to be a blissful place of isolation with few distractions, is now fraught with the challenge of satellite TV, movies and Wi-Fi. One of these days, I might just have to rent a hyperbaric chamber to get away from all the external stimulation that keeps me from writing!

“Thick. Heavy. Big boned. Plump. Full figured. Chunky. Womanly. Large. Curvy. Plus-size. Hefty.” To sixteen-year-old Emery Jackson, these are all just euphemisms for the big “F” word—”fat.” Living on a Southern California beach with her workout fiend dad, underwear model sister, and former model mother, it is impossible for Emery not to be aware of her weight.

Emery is okay with how things are. That is, until her “momager” signs her up for Fifty Pounds to Freedom, a reality show in which Emery will have to lose fifty pounds in fifty days in order to win the million dollars that will solve her family’s financial woes. Emery is skeptical of the process, but when the pounds start to come off and the ratings skyrocket, she finds it hard to resist the adoration of her new figure and the world of fame. Emery knows that things have changed. But is it for the better?

The obesity epidemic in the world today is very noticeable. This is very true for Southern California native Emery Jackson. She can be described with just about anything that is the synonym of fat. It’s not like she can just ignore the fact. Her mother is a former model and her dad is a workout monster. Oh yeah, her sister is also an underwear model. But when financial weights come down on the Jacksons, her mother signs Emery for a reality show. If she can lose fifty pounds in fifty days, she will win a million dollars. When the pounds start to shed, Emery finds confident and glees over her new found fame. Things have certainly changed for Emery.

Ken Baker’s How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly in Love tells a very captivating story that goes deep inside the soul of your typical teenage girl. It’s truly amazing how Emery’s voice is captured and displayed on the pages. There are times she didn’t even seem like a fictional character, but a real life teenager living in our society where being skinny is shown as the acceptable norm. Emery displayed so many emotions. She’s smart, funny, and will stand up for what she believes in. She does have her share of flaws and is not afraid to show her bitchy side. She felt very real and this is an attribute that many readers will take a liking because of how much she is relatable.

Baker’s writing decorum allowed readers to fully understand and appreciate where Emery is coming from. He approached a lot of today’s issues and prejudice in a very riveting and intelligent method. He never shied away from the truth and wittingly delivered them that at times were brutally honest. This is something that a lot of books are missing these days. I appreciate that Baker took a stack of truthfulness and slams it in front of the readers.

How I Got Skinny is a highly entertaining story about a girl trying to find her place in this world. As the plot progresses, twists and turns are expected and will have readers guessing what the end will have in store for Emery. She has definitely become a stronger person with the experience she’s had. The ending comes to a halting surprise that will sucker punch you out of nowhere. Bravo Ken! When a book is able to blindside you with a massive twist, it certainly has the marks for greatness.

You can pre-order How I Got Skinny at the following Retailer: