Fortunately she grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where few people were aware of the stigma of being a fire horse - at least until Meg became a teenager, when she flunked freshman Algebra twice, then decided to cut her own bangs.

Meg Cabot was born on February 1, 1967, during the Chinese astrological year of the Fire Horse, a notoriously unlucky sign. Librarian note: AKA Jenny Carroll (1-800-Where-R-You series), AKA Patricia Cabot (historical romance novels). And if she doesn't watch her step, Heather will soon be singing her swan song! But the murder trail is leading the average-sized amateur investigator into a shadowy world. who owns the brownstone where she lives-it's all good.

If it gets her mind off her personal problems-and teams her up again with the gorgeous P.I. Surrounded by hysterical students-with her ex-con father on her doorstep and her ex-love bombarding her with unwanted phone calls-Heather welcomes the opportunity to play detective. (Actually, her head is accounted for-it's her torso that's AWOL.) But she's definitely having a hard time dealing with the situation in the dormitory kitchen-where a cheerleader has lost her head on the first day of the semester. She can even cope (sort of) with her rocker ex-boyfriend's upcoming nuptials, which the press has dubbed The Celebrity Wedding of the Decade. Former pop star Heather Wells has settled nicely into her new life as assistant dorm director at New York College-a career that does not require her to drape her size 12 body in embarrassingly skimpy outfits.

Size 14 is not fat either