J.E. Bright was already a fan of gave-fave "America's Next Top Model" when he was hired to write a book based on the reality show. It took him about five months to put the heavily illustrated how-to-look-beautiful manual together (which comes out April 7), and most of it involved watching old episodes and perusing other sources. He's gay, too – so that helped.
The book, "America's Next Top Model: Fierce Guide to Life," is obviously geared toward females. But how do you think that gay men can use this book?
Well, first of all, any fan of the show will love it because it's just completely full of pictures and moments from the show. So I know 'America's Next Top Model' has a great gay following, mostly because the drama of it. So it's a great fan book. For the tips themselves, a lot of them are applicable to humans in general, not just women. And there's the basic the health side of it, which goes into detail on all the beauty steps that don't necessarily involve make-up, the types of clothes to wear, accessories, styling – the rules are pretty applicable to either side of the gender divide.
Even the make-up part, right?
Maybe not smoky eyes so much. (Laughs)
A lot of folks might see the book as shallow. What would you say to that?
I think we're all interested in looking our best, certainly there's nothing wrong with that. And the book itself, there's some about 'America's Next Top Model' and there's some about how to be a model but, really, it's a beauty and style book, so the information is for looking your best and doing the best with what you have, and only secondarily about modeling. We really made a conscious effort to make it a one-stop guide for how to maintain your personal glow.
What are some of the more neglected parts of beauty?
Gay guys pretty much have diet and exercise down (laughs). But things like sleep are not always paid attention to. We think we can get along on five hours a night, but it's usually not true.
What do you think is most important about becoming a healthy person or model?
Self-confidence, without a doubt. If you feel like you look good, you can carry off anything. There's no question about it: when you're in a great mood, you're certainly more attractive.
