Creating Myself

On the surface, Mia Tyler led a seemingly perfect life. She was a world-renowned plus-size model and the daughter of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and seventies It girl Cyrinda Foxe. But growing up under the shadow of celebrity wasn't as glamorous as it's cracked up to be. From a poverty-stricken childhood in New Hampshire to running with troubled rich kids on Manhattan's Upper East Side, she has an incredible story to tell. In Creating Myself, Mia shares scintillating details about her rock-and-roll family, as well as battling her own personal demons: dumping her mother's cocaine vial down the toilet at just eight years old, running around backstage at her father's concerts (including the one where she first met her sister, Liv), and attempting to distract herself from her pain through drug addiction and self-mutilation. Yet this memoir is ultimately a tale of redemption. Mia learns that in order to truly grow up, she must forgive both herself and those who hurt her, give up the quest for perfection, and acknowledge that she is still a work in progress. Creating Myself is raw and inspirational, the tale of a hell-and-back journey from the depths of depression and addiction to triumphant self-discovery.

Mia Tyler was born on December 22, 1978, in Hanover, New Hampshire. She grew up in New Hampshire, raised by her mother Cyrinda Foxe-Tyler. Mia's father, Steven Tyler, lead singer for the iconic rock band Aerosmith, was separated from Cyrinda, and the two would later divorce in 1987. Mia is one of the most successful plus sized models ever and she has appeared on shows such as Celebrity Fit Club, Mo'Nique's Fat Chance, and Tyra.

Prologue: The End 1 Part One One Liner Notes 9 Two A New York Doll 14 Three Walk This Way 18 Four What Do You Do with a Baby 21 Five There Is No Santa 27 Six Night Terrors 33 Seven Naked Nuns and the Bad Seed 39 Eight The Facts of Life 45 Nine The Problem with Cars 50 Ten Sisters 54 Eleven The Day the Roof Caved In 63 A Good Place Inside Me 67 Part Two Twelve The Urban Symphony 73 Thirteen Fat Camp 79 Fourteen Learning My Part 86 Fifteen This Is the Life 90 Sixteen Damn, Still Here 97 Seventeen What Drugs Do You Have? 103 Eighteen Sweet 16 109 Nineteen A Scary Sight 116 Twenty Dream On 121 Don't Want the Pain 127 Part Three Twenty-one Red Marks 133 Twenty-two City Ass 139 Twenty-three Help, I'm Going Crazy 147 Twenty-four Promises 152 Twenty-five V-Girl 159 Twenty-six I'm Not a Model 164 Twenty-seven Plus-sized 169 Twenty-eight My Time in the Sun 176 Twenty-nine Fan Mail 185 MySpace 191 Part Four Thirty A New Boyfriend 197 Thirty-one Cancer 205 Thirty-two Amends 213 Thirty-three Matching Stars 219 Thirty-four Just Kissing 225 Thirty-five Lesson Learned 231 Thirty-six The M-Word 238 Thirty-seven I Do, I Do, I Think I Do 244 Thirty-eight Careful What You Wish For 250 Thirty-nine Going Solo 257 A Reason, a Season, or a Lifetime 261 Part Five Forty Starting Over 265 Forty-one A Premonition 273 Forty-two Good Looking Out 280 Acknowledgments 287