"Ask Bug" and Call for Original Work

If you have any questions or want to comment, feel free to comment below (or after the post in which you have a question or comment) or email "Ask Bug" here.

Why the nom de plume "Bug"?

My childhood nickname was Bugzita, and even that was shortened to "Bug" or "Bugs," so I have become rather attached to it, even in my older age.

But I'm not hiding behind my Bug alias. Just so my real-life identity is clear:

My real name is Jennifer Semple Siegel. I am a retired college instructor and a Fulbright Scholar alum (Macedonia, 2009-2010).

More important, I have had extensive experience with serial dieting and now believe I have the right tools to take the weight off and keep it off!

I started this blog to help me stay focused and on track with my own progress, but if I can help others do the same, then that's great!

Also, if you would like to write a diet-related article, personal essay, short story, short, or poem for this blog, just paste your text into the body of your email. If your text has been published or posted anywhere else, include the publication info and/or URL so that I can give credit to the original source.

If you could include a photograph or two, that would be a bonus! I can post photos as-is or make them artistic. For true-life stories, I would be inclined to use photographs as-is, perhaps with some minor cropping and other simple enhancements.

Don't worry if you're not the best writer or photographer in the world. I will take care of any editing issues.

Here's the kind of original work that I would like to consider for posting:

--Happy and life-affirming pieces.

--Obstacle pieces that include a happy ending, for example, struggles with bulimia or anorexia nervosa.

--In-progress obstacle pieces that include a potential happy ending.

--Sensible diet tips that don't include extreme dieting.

--Got 0? pieces

Sample Got 0? piece.

--Original healthy recipes (or others' recipes with permission from their creators).

--General food articles.

--Exercise tips that don't include extreme exercise.

--Your Weight Watchers (TM) success story OR in-progress WW story, on the way to success.

--Your diet success story (Hey, success is success, no matter how you got there, right?) OR in-progress story, on the way to success.

Just be sure that you hold the rights to any work (including photographs).

Humor is okay, as long as it doesn't belittle or berate anyone, including our slender friends.

What I DON'T want for this blog:

--X-rated works or anything you wouldn't want your children to stumble upon.

--Pieces that extol extreme dieting as a virtue.

--Pieces with unduly dark themes; if dark themes are part of your story, the ending must hold out some promise of hope.

--Pieces that poke fun of overweight people (or anyone else, for that matter).

--Anything that promotes hate of other groups.

If your work is selected for the Thought for the Day blog, you will receive full credit for your work and retain all rights to it for future publication.

Happy writing, my cyber writers!