Weiner's marriage-and-motherhood novel, 'Little Earthquakes' came out in 2004, a year after daughter Lucy was born to Weiner and husband Adam Bonin - and about three years after Jay Leno made fun of their New York Times wedding announcement. '(Maggie) comes out good in the end - just like me,' says Molly Weiner, 34, an actress based in Los Angeles. As a plus-size woman herself, Weiner says it's important for them to be portrayed realistically - not just the stereotypical Miss Lonelyhearts or, in the best-case scenario, 'the sassy best friend.' But luckily the similarities don't extend to the central event in the book: Cannie's boyfriend publishes an article about their sex life titled 'Loving a Larger Woman.'įull-figured females, though, are a staple in Weiner's novels. Yes, Weiner has acknowledged the similarities between her own life and that of protagonist Cannie Shapiro. In between profiles of people as disparate as Wendy the Snapple Lady and magazine maven Helen Gurley Brown, Weiner worked on what became her debut novel, 'Good in Bed.' Published in 2001, it's about the love life of a wisecracking, Generation X, plus-sized reporter for a Philadelphia newspaper. She was hired as a features writer at The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1995. She started at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa., before moving to the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader along the way, she wrote a Generation X column for Knight Ridder newspapers. Weiner won the school's Academy of American Poets prize in 1990.Īfter graduating the following year, Weiner went into journalism. Beginning in 1987, she studied the subject at Princeton University - 'That looked like an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog, too' - with award-winning authors such as Toni Morrison, John McPhee and Joyce Carol Oates. Sitting in the comfy living room of her Philadelphia row house, Weiner says she has always wanted to write. She has a no-muss-no-fuss presence that makes it easy to see how an interview could quickly turn into a heart-to-heart. Weiner's engaging personality and disarming candor do have a way of putting strangers at ease. It's a rare author who can have readers, I think, really feel like she's their friend.' people come up to her afterward and share their secrets with her.

Weiner is so genuine, open and accessible that 'she really connects with people,' Hendricks said. Greer Hendricks, vice president and senior editor at Atria Books, said that Weiner is a natural when it comes to interacting with the public.

In her shoes novel