Former Rita finalist Gail
Barrett is the author of thirteen books for Harlequin Romantic Suspense.
Her books have won numerous awards, including the National Readers’ Choice
Award, the Book Buyers Best, the Holt Medallion and Romance Writers of America’s
prestigious Golden Heart. For more about Gail and her books, visit her
website. –
AP
Ever since time began, people
have done bizarre things in their quest for beauty. And I do mean bizarre:
Leech face lifts. Setting
their faces afire. Drinking pig
placenta (popular in Japan). Using
facials consisting of everything from song bird feces, bee venom, and caviar to
gold. The ancient Romans even gargled
with imported Portuguese urine to whiten their teeth and kill bad breath.
People have modified their
bodies for beauty, too -- and not just with piercings and tattoos. The Sudanese and Ethiopians began using
lip plates in 8,700 B. C. The
Kayan women of Thailand have used metal coils to elongate their necks for a
thousand years. At one time or
another, various cultures have engaged in cranial binding, scarification, and
breast ironing (!), all in the pursuit of beauty. And let’s not forget Chinese foot binding to create those “beautiful”
lotus feet.
And then, of course, comes the
big gun in the beauty arsenal -- plastic surgery. The first recorded nose job was in 600 B.C. By the first century B.C. Romans were not
only operating on noses, but doing breast reductions in men. They also removed scars, especially those
on their backs (a terrible stigma, implying that a person had turned his back in
battle, or worse, been whipped like a slave.)
But plastic surgery isn’t
always about beauty. There’s
another side to it, the healing side, restoring features disfigured by accidents,
violence or disease. This corrective
side predates its use for beauty, with written records of it going back over four
thousand years.
This is the side of plastic
surgery I focused on when I created the heroine of the final book in my Buried Secrets trilogy, Seduced by His Target. Nadine Seymour is a plastic surgeon who
specializes in doing reconstructive work on battered women. Thanks to her own abusive upbringing,
she understands the value plastic surgery can have, not just in making women
beautiful, but in helping them regain their dignity and self-esteem.
I was inspired to create
this character after losing the tip of my nose to skin cancer some years ago. Several operations (including the Mohs
procedure and two skin grafts) left me very depressed about my appearance,
especially after several doctors assured me that there was nothing more they
could do.
Then I found a plastic surgeon
willing to try. It took several
operations -- scar revision surgery, microdermabrasion, and finally rhinoplasty
-- to get my nose somewhat back to normal, or at least to the point where I
didn’t feel self-conscious in public anymore. But that ordeal taught me the real value of plastic
surgery. I began to see past the
fillers and face lifts to how liberating it could be, how it could restore
confidence, elevate self-esteem, and rehabilitate shattered lives.
It also made me rethink my
attitude toward beauty treatments in general. And while I doubt I’ll ever drink pig placenta or set my
face on fire, I do own an impressive collection of retinoid and antioxidant
containing products that I hope will repair my sun-damaged skin and prevent the
need for future surgeries. So no
matter how bizarre they are, I never snicker at beauty treatments. Because who knows -- that snail mucous
cream just might improve someone’s life.
The
Buried Secrets Trilogy: Three murder witnesses, one deadly conspiracy
Book
one - Fatal Exposure, June 2013
Book
two - A Kiss to Die For, August 2013
Book
three - Seduced by His Target, December 2013
Fatal Exposure
Cold-case
detective Parker McCall has spent fifteen years trying to solve his brother’s
murder. Now a chance photo of the killer in the newspaper sets him hard
on the woman’s trail. A former teenaged runaway, reclusive, award-winning
photojournalist B.K. Elliot chronicles the harsh reality of life on the streets
-- until a photo in the paper reveals her identity, blowing the lid off her
secret past. With a powerful murderer now dogging her heels, and her
police officer step-father determined to silence her permanently, the last
person she can afford to trust is a cop. So why does sexy police
detective Parker McCall tempt her to break her silence and resurrect ideals she’d
lost years ago? As danger closes in, and with more than her own life at
stake, Brynn must decide if the duty-bound cop will betray her...or heal her
battered heart.
