Carla Richards is a lot of things: a weary waitress at Anchorage's premiere dining establishment, Mexico in an Igloo; an aspiring artist who secretly makes erotic dolls for the extra income; a divorcee who can't quite detach from her ex-husband; and a stressed-out single mom trying to support her gifted eight-year-old son Jay-Jay, her pregnant sister Laurel, and her babysitter-turned-resident-teenager Stephanie.

One afternoon, surrounded by bills she can't afford to pay, Carla finds inspiration and hope in the form of the "Oprah Giant" --- an unusually tall woman who directs Oprah's viewers to keep a diary and to commit themselves to paper every single day. "Your thoughts are gold -- hold them up to the light and they shine," she instructs. As Carla begins following the "Oprah Giant's" advice, she soon realizes her life is filled with more potential and possibility than she ever dared to imagine. Her finances, her art career, and even her love life begin to improve. Yes, her sister might still be crazy and the occasional moose might still tear up the yard, but that's okay. Perfection is overrated. And as long as she has her family, friends and her Polish grandmother's traditional recipes, she has everything she needs to be happy.

A hilarious and heartwarming debut novel about a single mom living in Alaska trying to make a life for herself and her young son.

About the Author
Cinthia Ritchie is a news editor at Alaska newspapers. She spent eight years as features writer and columnist at Anchorage Daily News and received her MFA from the University of Alaska Anchorage. DOLLS BEHAVING BADLY is Ritchie's first novel. She lives in Anchorage with her college-aged son.

Reviews
Cinthia Ritchie is a courageous and thoroughly passionate writer. Her unflinching prose will not be denied. - Ronald Spatz, Editor Alaska Quarterly Review

Cinthia Ritchie is a writer of unusual passions and unusual vision. She allows the world to flow through her and onto the page in prose that is breathless, intimate, and brutally, perfectly honest. - Sherry Simpson, The Way Winter Comes

Reader, you hold in your hands a novel so true and heartfelt you'll want to buy it for everyone you know. - Jo-Ann Mapson, author of Bad Girl Creek and Finding Casey

Despite, or perhaps because of, her very human flaws, Carla is a character who is easy to love, and her journal is an engaging read. - Kirkus Reviews

Ritchie's tale of female triumph makes for a fun read. - Publishers Weekly

Girlfriends, guys, ghosts, and G-spots. Cinthia Ritchie's tale . . . left me simultaneously wishing I had been born female and thanking God that I was not. - Rich Chiappone, author of Water of an Undetermined Depth

Alaska is the perfectly wild setting for this story of oddball characters trying to build creative lives around improvised family. The narrator's young son will surely steal your heart. - Nancy Lord, former Alaska Writer Laureate, author of Early Warming



Book Information
ISBN 9780446568135
Author Cinthia Ritchie
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Grand Central Publishing
Publisher Little, Brown & Company
Weight(grams) 296g
Dimensions(mm) 203mm * 135mm * 24mm