The debut single by Britain's first real girl band, Plus, is finally available for download.

For anyone who's just woken up, Plus was formed as a way of tackling the music industry's discrimination against ordinary-sized performers.

Despite the fact that the majority of women in Britain are at least a size 16, singers any more than a size 12 are generally considered unmarketable.

Stacey-Lee Cuddy, Rachel Faulkner, Shirley Slaymaker, Kate Newnes and Hannah Lee beat off over 300 contestants for a place in Plus, a five girl group made up of singers who are all at least a size 16.

During the selection of Plus audition judges included myself, soul legend Ruby Turner, Darren Bazzoni, who has produced for the Sugababes, business mogul and journalist Barbara Campbell, fashion designer Tracey Carr, and Big Girls Paradise director Linda Koch .

Our friends at online magazine, Just As Beautiful, say they were swamped by enquiries from female singers eager for a chance to prove that big can be beautiful as well as commercially successful.

Plus's single, Big Fun, is available for download via online music stores such as i-Tunes and Napster right now. If we can sell 10,000 copies we will make a Summer number one. If you download the track, please let me know what you think and I'll pass your comment onto the girls.

We recently launched a new girl band called Plus. The band is made up of beautiful girls who are at least a size 16. Our way of telling the music industry that its got it all wrong about what 'real' women look like. The band's had an incredible public response. They've appeared on the the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/new...
ITV,
The Sun newspaper: http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2...

The band has even made news on Good Morning America (here's the link: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3... ) If, for some reason, the link doesn't work, just copy and paste the address into your browser.



Plus is in the studio from the second week of August. Watch this space...

The news that I had joined the ranks of ‘The Published’ came as much as a surprise to me as it did to everyone else.
As a former journalist of some 13 years having a work appear in print had long ago become a matter of routine. But having a book published is something completely different and new . There’s an old saying that there’s a good book in each of us - and I he believe that’s true.
What we may want to write about varies from person-to-person. But the motivation is the same. The same impulse that drives a rock star to appear on a stage in front of 30,000 people is the same reason we pick up a pen: we want people to know that we’re here, then we’ve had an idea , that we have something to share.
But once you’ve decided to produce a masterpiece, what then? I’m always surprised at the number of people I come across who tell me that they are the in the process of writing a book but have yet to actually ‘start.’ And some people have already written the first couple of paragraphs and are waiting for something to happen to free them to complete the rest of their grand epic. So, what’s the secret? I have recently completed my first book, Heavens Fire. It went on a sale last month and, I am told, has shifted nearly 3000 copies. Most of this, I might add to, was from word-of-mouth recommendation.
During the writing process I discovered – and often learnt the hard way – that there are a few absolute rules necessary to produce a finished book.
The first of these is planning your book from beginning to end. I know we’ve all read about authors who claim and that they just start writing a story and the plot develops page by page. The sad truth is that these are very rare and gifted people. For most of us mere mortals a far more pedestrian and less romantic approach is often necessary. Before you even start to write the first chapter of your book, plan every single chapter, every single plot twist, revelation and surprise in advance. Do this on paper or on your PC . You can probably find some software out there that will help. For Heaven’s Fire, a story with more twists and turns than a spaghetti Junction, I used a handy and invaluable piece of kit called Inspiration. As the name suggests it’s a piece of software that organises your inspirational gems in a graphic form.
This allows you to literally visualise each chapter using icons and other images. It’s amazing how, once you lay your book out as a series of interconnected images, its relatively simple to keep track of who’s doing what to whom, where and when.
Next, you have to face up to the fact that you’re never going to find time to write. We are all busy people with competing demands for our time. You have to make time to write. Even if you work 8-10 hours a day, dedicate at least an hour and a half to writing. Find a place that you will use to write in. This can be either a study, a comfortable arm- chair or even just a deck chair in your garden. Every time you go to that place your mind will tell you that you’re going to write. Try it. It really does work.
Read as diversely as you can making a mental note of the rhythm of a book. Study how good authors carry the reader along with the flow and pace of their book. Sometimes reading a great book can motivate you to knuckle down and start producing your own little masterpiece.
Once you’ve written a chapter don’t be afraid to re-read it and rewrite it if necessary. Be wary of asking friends and relatives their opinion of your work. Those who are jealous that you’ve actually managed to write something will never give you positive feedback while those who are proud of your achievement will never tell you the truth. Your best bet is to find somebody that you don’t know too well who is prepared to set aside some time to proof-read your work and give you some honest feedback.
If you get stuck in a certain chapter, don’t beat yourself up about it. Skip ov