Updates and more!

It has been nine months since I updated my blog, but what a nine months it has been! I can hardly believe all the things that have happened but I will do my best to remember them all! Here we go...

• First of all, you can keep in touch with me through my social media accounts: Facebook - The Official Michelle Morgan Author Page; Twitter - @MMWriterGirl and Instagram - @MMWriterGirl. I hope to see you there!
• I have recently completed a screenplay I wrote about Marilyn Monroe's life. It is called 'M...' and I am very, very proud of it. I am teaming up with Prospect House Entertainment and we hope to gain funding and make the movie in the next few years. I will keep you up-to-date here when I get more news.
• I now have a publisher for my Carole Lombard book! I am just finishing the manuscript as we speak, and my deadline is 1st December. The book will be published by The History Press in September 2016. I have had a great time writing the book and finding out more about Carole's life and career. I will share a cover with you when I see one, early next year.
• My Madonna book was published in April, and I am really, really pleased with how it came out. My publisher said that it looked so posh it should be on display somewhere! I agree - the photos came out wonderfully. It was such a joy for me to write about Madonna.
• 'Before Marilyn' (the book I wrote with Astrid Franse about Marilyn's modelling career) was published in July in the UK and will be published next week in the USA. It has had a tremendous reception and many UK newspapers and magazines picked up the story and showed many of the photos from the book. We have had some fabulous reviews on Amazon so far, and I'm looking forward to hearing what USA fans think too!
• 'The Ice Cream Blonde,' my biography about Thelma Todd, was published last week in the USA. I spent a long, long, long time writing this book and I spent much of this year working on the edits, answering questions etc. I am incredibly glad I did, because the response from readers and fans has been fabulous so far. I'm really pleased to have such a reaction, and I certainly did my best and wrote her story from the heart.
• If you're in the UK, you can read a short interview I did with The Lady magazine, in their 14th November issue. Then in January, Vintage Life will be publishing an article I wrote about old-time magazine articles. I had fun doing that!

I think that is all the writing news I have to share with you so far, but I hope to have more very soon. Until then, I'd like to share some news about Paulist Productions. If you do not know, Paulist Productions is a film company that occupied the site of Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Café for many years, and only just moved out a few months ago. When I was writing my book, I corresponded quite regularly with several members of the Paulist team, and I really, really enjoyed sharing the little snippets of information that I found out about their building. It was fantastic to be able to share these stories with people who were actually sitting in the building at the time!

I think we fans of old-time Hollywood and Thelma Todd, owe the staff a big thank you, for keeping Thelma's building so beautifully maintained for many, many years. It was almost untouched by time, with many original features still intact, which is a rare occurrence indeed. To say the staff were excellent caretakers of this landmark would be an understatement and I can only hope that the new owners give it as much care and attention in the future.

This week sees the release of Paulist Productions' new Christmas movie, 'Miracle Maker.' For anyone who likes programmes such as Little House on the Prairie, as well as feel-good, inspirational movies, you are sure to love it! Here is a trailer for the movie. I hope you enjoy it.

Madonna, Marilyn and Me!

Well it has been a busy few weeks I must say. First of all, I would like to thank everyone who enrolled on the Releasing Your Creativity course. More courses are planned very soon, so please keep going to www.WritersStudy.blogspot.com for more details.

Next, I would like to share the cover of the new Marilyn book, and I'm sure you'll agree that it is a beauty! I think The History Press have done an amazing job, and I can't wait to see what they do with the inside. Here is the cover. I hope you like it!!

 

You can pre-order the book here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Marilyn-Blue-Modelling-Years/dp/0750961171/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423576635&sr=8-1&keywords=before+marilyn

 

I am excited to tell you that the Madonna book has arrived at my house! It came on Saturday and to say I was bouncing off the walls would be an understatement. My goodness, it is better than anything I could have imagined. The design thanks to my publisher, Constable & Robinson/Little, Brown is just beautiful and the photos are all reproduced on glossy (and very nice smelling!) paper. The book itself will be out in April in the UK and May in the USA. It is already doing very well and has been number one on the Madonna Amazon chart for the past few days, as well as being number one on the Hot New Releases chart in the USA. Added to that, Amazon also tells me that people who buy Madonna's new album, are also buying my book, so I am thrilled. Thanks to everyone who has pre-ordered so far.

 

Here are the links:

 

USA: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0762456213/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d7_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-2&pf_rd_r=0X6AJE9ZEDFEBEE4EB0V&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1970567562&pf_rd_i=desktop

 

 

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1472118863/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d21_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0R91WW6GFN1SQPCYPBV1&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=455333147&pf_rd_i=468294

And talking of Madonna, check out this interview I did with the good folks at Madonna Underground:

http://madonnaunderground.com/MUreloaded/exclusive-interview-with-michelle-morgan/

It was lovely to talk about the book and why I am so excited about it. I will be doing many more interviews in the weeks and months ahead so stay tuned!!

 

 

Finally, look at this gorgeous meme that my friend Fraser Penney made for me. It includes a quote that I gave to Madonna Underground, and a lovely photo of Marilyn. It is the first meme I have ever appeared on as far as I'm aware, so I'm feeling rather special!

 



Releasing Your Creativity

Are you a writer who feels creatively blocked or unmotivated? If so, my first course with The Writers' Study might be the perfect solution for you. It is a four week course, designed to get you inspired and motivated for future or current writing projects.

I am really excited about starting the course on 9th February, and hope you can join us.

Find out more here: www.WritersStudy.blogspot.com.

Follow me!

I have Twitter and Instagram accounts if you'd like to give me a follow. My name is MMWriterGirl on both. I also have FaceBook at The Official Michelle Morgan Author Page.

Hope to see you there!

Well, well, well!

My goodness I am so embarrassed that I haven't updated my blog for so long. But I do have a good excuse - I was busy, busy, busy writing three books and setting up other aspects of my business. So let me share the news with you now....

 

The Mammoth Book of Madonna is out in the UK in April, and the USA in May. To say I am excited would be an understatement, and I absolutely love the cover. I haven't seen the physical book yet but I have seen the layouts and it is really lovely. I am a  huge Madonna fan as you know, so to have written a celebration of her life and work has been a dream-come-true for me. I can't wait to see what it looks like, and I'm very anxious to see it published. Oh and also my publisher is busy looking into selling overseas rights as we speak, so watch this space for further news as I get it.

You can order the UK version of the book here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Madonna-Michelle-Morgan/dp/1472118863/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421757896&sr=8-1&keywords=madonna+michelle+morgan

And the USA version of the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/Mammoth-Book-Madonna-Michelle-Morgan/dp/0762456213/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421758014&sr=8-1&keywords=madonna+michelle+morgan

***

Before Marilyn: The Blue Book Modelling Years by myself and Astrid Franse, will be out in the UK in July. As we speak, the publisher is just putting the finishing touches to the cover design, and as soon as I have a green light, I will share it here. I must say that the cover as I have seen it, is bright, colourful and very, very beautiful. I'm sure it won't disappoint!

The book itself was finished at the end of October and sent to the publisher in November. Astrid and I worked very hard to make sure that the text and photos were delivered to the publisher on time, and now we are waiting for the edits and layouts to arrive. I for one cannot wait to see what the publisher does with the materials. The book was hard work due to the volume of materials involved, and a lot of time was spent organising everything. But this book is one-of-a-kind and I am so pleased to have been asked to provide the text for it. The story of Marilyn's association with the Blue Book Agency has never been fully told until now, and it is a story that will take the reader on a voyage of different emotions, from hopeful to happy, to sad and heart-breaking. It made me smile and shed the odd tear, and I am sure when I see what the book finally looks like, I will shed many more.

The UK will see the release in early July. As yet there are no dates for the rest of the world,(but watch this space for further details). It is - of course - available to order from all the usual online sources around the world, including Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Marilyn-Blue-Modelling-Years/dp/0750961171/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421758134&sr=1-1&keywords=before+Marilyn

***

My Thelma Todd book has been renamed The Ice Cream Blonde and will be published by Chicago Review Press in the USA in October. The book was finished in September and the publisher is in the process of organising the line edits as we speak. I don't mind telling you that I'm kind of dreading the edits coming in, because this was a huge story with many twists and turns, especially towards the end. I'm sure there will be many questions to answer, but I know that by the end of the process, there will be a book that is concise, informative and worthwhile. I think it is one of the most rewarding books I have ever worked on, and I'm very, very proud that I was able to tackle it with the respect that Thelma deserves. I grew to love her so much during the research and writing of the book and I know that I will adore and collect items related to her, for the rest of my life.

The publisher is working on the cover at the moment and I will share it as soon as I am able to. I can tell you that from the sample I've been sent, it is one of the best covers I have ever seen in my entire life. I can't wait to share it with you all.

The book is not on Amazon just yet, but I will be sure to post the links as soon as it is.

***

The Carole Lombard book is with my agent, and doing the rounds with publishers as we speak. I will let you know when I have some firm news, but I am very keen to get it finished and out in the next year. Watch this space!!

***



 

I have written an article for Vintage Life magazine recently, which deals with old magazine adverts and the often crazy and funny things they tried to sell us 'back in the day.' I am told it will be in a future edition of the magazine - I'm thinking probably April time - but I will let you know when I hear more.

 

***

 

As I look to the future, I am very excited and happy to announce that I have added another branch to my career. Inspired by the many questions and emails I have had over the years, I have created The Writers' Study, a series of courses and workshops for creative people. These workshops are designed to inspire, motivate and inform people who are interested not only the business of writing, but in using the art to release their own creativity.

 

I have created a special blog especially for The Writers' Study and it can be viewed here:

 

http://www.writersstudy.blogspot.co.uk/

 

The first course will be announced very soon, so check it out!

 

***

 

I think that's about all I can share with you right now. I have lots of plans and projects that are quietly bubbling away, and I will be happy to share those when I can. Until then, Happy New Year and I hope that 2015 is a good one for all of us.

 

Warmly

 

Michelle