Emily Clarkson - Can I Speak to Someone in Charge?

I want to dedicate this book to the lovely readers of Pretty Normal Me. Im well aware that without your unwavering support I would be nothing and this book would not exist. I love you all so much.

I also need to thank my incredible boyfriend who has supported me down this path even though the destination has at times looked dubious. My dad, who inspires me to work harder and be a better writer. My friends, who never let me give up. And mostly, my wonderful mum whose love and support means more to me than she will ever know.

Hello! Oh lordy, youve bought my book. I cannot believe it. Thank you. This means a lot to me. This is my first time, so Im a little nervous; be gentle with me. Its so nice to have you here and Ive honestly found myself a bit lost for words (just what you dont want to see written on the first page of a book, eh?).

Welcome to Can I Speak To Someone In Charge? I never normally read the preface of a book, but just in case youre a better person than I am, with more patience, let me tell you a little bit more about me, the blog and this book. The first thing Id like you to know is that I consider myself to be a very normal girl. As I write this Im lying on a sofa in my house with my feet in a suitcase (because I havent yet unpacked from a trip I got back from a week ago and the house is a mess) with no make-up on and my double chin out in force. Im in my early twenties and I struggle, as lots of girls do, with the pressures of everyday life. Despite that, I am inherently very happy. I love life, although I dont claim to understand it; the idea of space and time and nature and breathing and science and love confuse and terrify me in equal measure. I consider my life to be a true blessing and I therefore wanted to do something great with it. So I started my blog, Pretty Normal Me.

Pretty Normal Me began first as a hobby in November 2014, as I began to notice that the world around me somehow wasnt quite right. We were living in virtual realities that we didnt really understand (social media); we were all different sizes but still being encouraged to dress like clones of one another, and a lot of us were actually quite unhappy but we werent sure why. The catalyst for me was an online shopping attempt, when I noticed there were lots of companies not stocking clothes bigger than a size 12. Once my eyes were opened to the problem I couldnt then close them again. From that point on I started seeing problems everywhere, not just in the fashion industry but in everything we did, from school to sport to parenting to washing our hair.

So I created a space where I hoped women would be able to come and celebrate themselves. Where they could be a bit squishy and be cool with it; where they could read something they were genuinely interested in and absolutely not have to feel guilty in any way, shape or form about the share box of doughnuts theyd just eaten; where they could be reminded that their lives were for living and that it was much too short to be spent counting calories, crying in Topshop or screaming at the scales.

I realised that being a normal girl had become a near-impossible task, so I wanted to create a space that would inject a bit of normality back into the world. I wanted to remind my readers that it is OK not to be OK all the time. Its OK to have fun, to snort when you laugh, to wobble when you walk, wobble when you talk; its OK to name your second chin, to get spots, to be fat, to be thin, to be sad, and its OK to be weird.

As the blog grew I also wanted it to be a place where women could support one another and be supported in return, and Im very excited as I think this is beginning to happen. There is a LOT of pressure on women right now and this was starting to worry me. I realised all of us were so much stronger when we stood together and I thought I would try to create a platform from which we would be able to do that. Well, ta-daa three years later, here we are.

Just imagine if we, the normal girls, stood united as an enormous, hysterical and proud army, we would be unstoppable! This was the very first thing I wrote on Pretty Normal Me.

So now Ive written a book, and I honestly cannot believe it. When I say I started Pretty Normal Me as a hobby, I really mean it; it was never supposed to be anything more than a passion project, a labour of love. And for a long time that is exactly what it was. I did it in my free time for no money with no one but my dog for company. But then I got really, really lucky and some lovely readers found me and supported me until, one day in June 2015, a lady called Abbie, an editor at Simon & Schuster, sent me an email (which I for sure thought was a prank) asking me if I had ever considered writing a book. (I had, by the way, in distant, far-off dreams Id had as a child, which I never, ever, ever thought in a million years would come true.) Unsurprisingly I said yes and, with her help, and more recently, after her departure from S&S, the help of lovely Nicki, I have written one. (When I say I cant believe it Im not exaggerating.) Thanks also to my amazing, hard-working agent Becky and the rest of the fabulous team at S&S, Jess, Justine and Rich!

And now youve bought it (or stolen it) and youre reading it, and that makes me happier than I can tell you. Thank you so much. So what can you expect? Well, if the front cover didnt give it away, Ill explain: this book is a collection of open letters. Although the blog was started initially as a reaction to the fashion industry, there are, as I said, lots of issues affecting women today and, to be honest, I thought it was high time that someone called bullshit on them. So here I am, screaming bullshit at the top of my lungs. At times I get a little ranty, at times you might lose me in a train of thought (I have a tendency to both speak and write exactly what is on my mind at any given time), but I hope you will get the gist of it.

But more than that, I hope this book helps you. I hope you read it and have moments of Oh, thank fuck for that, when you realise that you are not on your own in ripping garments of clothing in shop changing rooms and farting in the gym, because I cant be the only one that lives for those reassurances. I hope you read it and laugh, whether thats at me or with me, because laughter is the best medicine. And I hope more than anything that you are able to take something from it, whether thats something you can draw on when youre feeling low, or something that inspires you to speak up and fight for what you believe in, whatever that may be.

Despite the fact that we live online now and are never further than a charged phone away from the outside world, I know Im not alone in feeling lonely from time to time. Im grateful to my wonderful friends and family but there are some things I cant talk to them about, simply because I havent got the words with which to do it. And so I hope in some way this book helps you feel less alone. Less vulnerable and embarrassed and less like the only one in the world, because youre not. I hope this book helps you to remember that in some capacity. I also hope it opens your eyes to some of the injustices women are facing right now, and some of the areas in which the world is going wrong, so that when the time comes to stand up and fight, well be ready to do it, together.

Now, rather counterintuitively, I am actually writing this letter last and, true to form, am running late with it, so I have to go. Not least because today is deadline day and the whole thing is becoming very real and I think I might need a minute to myself to go and freak the fuck out. So Im going to leave you now leave you to the passionate opinions of someone who is so, so grateful to have you here. Who doesnt know you, but who adores you. Of someone who thinks that you are absolutely wonderful and perfect and great and who doesnt think you should ever, ever change, ever.