{"id":4890,"date":"2012-12-07T17:10:07","date_gmt":"2012-12-08T01:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/?p=4890"},"modified":"2012-12-15T13:03:39","modified_gmt":"2012-12-15T21:03:39","slug":"when-all-my-dreams-came-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/when-all-my-dreams-came-true\/","title":{"rendered":"When All My Dreams Came True"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>I\u2019ve always been a writer, ever since I was a little girl and used to write stories and staple the pages together to make my very own book.\u00a0 I loved reading and everything that went with being a budding author, but quite strangely it took me until the age of 20 to realise that this is what I wanted to be.\u00a0 Until then I thought I wanted to be an actress, and it wasn\u2019t until I realised that I loved writing the application letters far more than I liked the auditions, that I realised that perhaps my future lay in writing, not the performing arts.<\/p>\n

By the time I realised what I wanted \u2013 or needed \u2013 to be, I was working in an office, doing a job I hated.\u00a0 Unbelievably, I was there for seventeen years because I didn\u2019t want to just leave to go into another office job; I wanted to leave to become a writer.\u00a0 Some of my colleagues were supportive of my dreams while others, I have to say quite openly, laughed at my plans and told me I\u2019d never leave.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll be here until the company shuts down,\u201d was something I heard on a very regular basis.<\/p>\n

Still I persevered, and in 1995 I had the great fortune to have a small book published professionally.\u00a0 Strangely, even this was met by scorn from some of the people I worked with.\u00a0 One read an interview I\u2019d given to a newspaper and said, \u201cThis makes it look as though you\u2019re a writer, when really you\u2019re just an office assistant\u2026\u201d\u00a0 While another criticised my grammar whilst reading the Acknowledgements chapter, (most likely because he was annoyed I hadn\u2019t thanked him.)\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, there were a few people who were very supportive and happy that I\u2019d had a book published, but there were many more that poured scorn over my dreams and made it clear that this was purely a one-off episode, never to be repeated.<\/p>\n

For a time it looked as though they were right.\u00a0 I wrote a few novels and one of them was picked up by an agent \u2013 only to be put down again after six months when she left the agency.\u00a0 Then an editor said she liked it and wanted to publish it, which thrilled me to no end.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Bridget Jones\u2019 Diary suddenly appeared on the bestseller lists and the publisher\u2019s marketing department decided that the books were too much alike, and they had to let me go.<\/p>\n

I had many episodes like this during the 1990s when I believed so much that something great was about to happen, only to have it crashing down around me over and over again.\u00a0 I felt heart-broken but knew that I could never give up.\u00a0 What else could I possibly do?\u00a0 I was a writer and nothing I could do would ever change that.<\/p>\n

Finally in 2003, I became pregnant with my daughter and my entire world changed.\u00a0 During my maternity leave I did a yoga teaching course and then, as if by magic, a yoga magazine started asking me to write articles for them.\u00a0 I combined the two, and from the money I made teaching yoga to children and writing articles, I was finally able to bid the day job good bye and go on my way.<\/p>\n

During the next eight years I helped raise my daughter and taught yoga to hundreds of children around my town.\u00a0 This paid my bills and in my spare time I still wrote.\u00a0 I was lucky enough to have a biography published in 2007 entitled, Marilyn Monroe: Private And Undisclosed<\/a>; then I was offered a weekly column in my local newspaper, talking about my life and my occasional moans and groans.\u00a0 Things looked as though they were finally taking off and the good part was that I was now my own boss, which suited me down to the ground.<\/p>\n

But in 2011 disaster struck when several writing projects I had been working on suddenly collapsed for various reasons, and the government cut the school budgets so that I lost 95 per cent of my yoga classes in one day.\u00a0 I was absolutely devastated and had no idea how I would ever get through.\u00a0 I still had my newspaper column and the odd article but it wasn\u2019t enough; either I needed a miracle or I\u2019d have to go and find another day job.\u00a0 I prayed for the miracle\u2026<\/p>\n

At the beginning of 2012 I got my prayers answered when I saw a job advertised for a part-time publicist for an independent publisher, BearManor Media.\u00a0 I knew I could do it \u2013 I\u2019m passionate about books, I\u2019m passionate about old cinema (which they publish books on) and what\u2019s more, I had spent the past five years marketing my Marilyn Monroe book, so I had the experience.\u00a0 I applied and, thank goodness for me, the boss loved my enthusiasm and offered me the job.\u00a0 This not only cured my financial worries but also enabled me to work at home for most of the week, spending my time writing and working for BearManor, with only a couple of hours outside the house, doing the few yoga classes I had left.<\/p>\n

Getting my job with BearManor was a real turning point for me.\u00a0 Not only did it help me regain the confidence I had lost over recent years, but surrounding myself with other authors was totally inspiring and encouraging.\u00a0 I started to believe in myself and my abilities once again and about a month after I started my publicity work, I approached the manager of BearManor with a book idea I had \u2013 a biography of Carole Lombard.\u00a0 Unbelievably, he snapped it up and within thirty minutes of presenting him with the idea, I finally had a publisher!<\/p>\n

Then just two days later, I was minding my own business when an email popped in from my UK Marilyn Monroe publisher.\u00a0 I had sent them an idea for a Hollywood Scandals book several months before, and they were writing to say they loved the idea and wanted me to write it for them.\u00a0 Not only that, but they had already arranged for someone to publish it in the United States too.\u00a0 I was gob-smacked!<\/p>\n

So within the space of just a few days I suddenly had two books commissioned, but this wasn\u2019t the end of my good luck.\u00a0 The same day I found out about Hollywood Scandals, I also heard that the paperback rights to my Marilyn Monroe book had sold to Bulgaria.\u00a0 By this point, I don\u2019t mind telling you, my head was spinning and I could barely function because of the excitement.<\/p>\n

In May 2012 the revised paperback edition of Marilyn Monroe: Private And Undisclosed was published in the UK and USA.\u00a0 I was excited of course, but you could have knocked me down with a feather when one of my friends posted a photograph on my Facebook\u2019s wall.\u00a0\u00a0 The picture showed my book at number 17 in the W H Smith Bestseller charts.\u00a0 I was in shock and thought it must be a joke, but no \u2013 a quick trip into town showed me that this was no laughing matter.\u00a0 There was my book right in front of me, sitting at number 17 and looking extremely pleased with itself.\u00a0 Of course that sent my husband, my daughter and me into complete hysteria, and I\u2019m sure the shop assistants wondered what on earth was going on as we jumped around in the aisles, screaming and taking photographs.\u00a0 It\u2019s a wonder we weren\u2019t arrested!<\/p>\n

To see my book in the charts, and to be able to finally call myself a bestselling author, was beyond anything I had ever dreamed of in my life.\u00a0 It was an amazing feeling and not one that I want to forget in a hurry.\u00a0 Since then, events have been moving so quickly that I have hardly had time to think: I\u2019ve filmed a part in a forthcoming Marilyn Monroe documentary; I\u2019ve done many book signings; I\u2019ve appeared on numerous radio shows; written magazine articles and been featured in interviews; and to cap it all, I\u2019ve also appeared on the Alan Titchmarsh show \u2013 a daytime chat show here in the UK.\u00a0 It really has been extraordinary.<\/p>\n

But perhaps the most amazing thing to happen was when I was asked to do a lecture at the National Portrait Gallery in London in October 2012.\u00a0 I was talking about Marilyn Monroe and, after travelling down with my parents, I had the time of my life.\u00a0 Not only was the talk so full, they were turning people away, but afterwards I did a book signing which saw me selling so many books, I lost count.\u00a0 One reader even rushed over to tell me she was from New Zealand and I was her favourite author \u2013 now that is something I thought would never happen in my lifetime, but oh my goodness, I\u2019m certainly glad it did.<\/p>\n

The day ended with my agent telling me he loved a proposal I\u2019d written for a future book, and he would be sending it out to publishers very soon.\u00a0 All being well, that will be picked up by a publisher next year but I must keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best!<\/p>\n

To say that this year has been one of remarkable good fortune and inspiration would be an understatement.\u00a0 I am now in a position with my writing where I was able to give up the remaining yoga classes I had, so that now I teach only one class \u2013 a brilliant half hour with my daughter and her friends, every Friday morning.\u00a0 That is truly a blissful thirty minutes and one I look forward to every week.\u00a0 In fact, my daughter\u2019s school has just asked me to speak to their assembly \u2013 not about my yoga, but about being a writer and making dreams come true.\u00a0 I\u2019m very happy to do that, and if I can encourage one child to never give up and to go after what it is that makes them happy, then I\u2019ll be a very contented woman.<\/p>\n

I am a big fan of actress Bette Davis and it has always been my claim-to-fame that I was born on her birthday.\u00a0 This year, thanks to everything that has happened, I was finally able to buy something she owned \u2013 a book from her personal library.\u00a0 The seller didn\u2019t say anything to me about there being writing inside, so you can imagine how excited I was when I opened the book and saw not only Bette\u2019s writing, but a profound quotation \u2013 \u201cWe can dream can\u2019t we?\u201d\u00a0 This struck a chord for me, particularly after what has happened recently, and in a way it kind of felt as though it was a sign.\u00a0 I have spent my life dreaming of great things, and you\u2019ll think I\u2019m silly, but to me finding that quote really did mean something very surreal.<\/p>\n

2012 has been a year where my dreams have come true, but of course I have much more I wish to achieve, and I\u2019ll never stop striving and looking for the next goal and the next aspiration.\u00a0 I will be a writer for the rest of my life \u2013 it\u2019s who I am and what I do, part of my DNA which can never be altered no matter what.\u00a0 But in spite of the happiness I have felt this year, and the success I have seen, there will always be a part of me that prays it will last.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen great disappointment \u2013 terrible lows and times where I didn\u2019t know how I was going to get through.\u00a0 These feelings will never leave me, but perhaps that\u2019s okay, because if I\u2019d been handed everything on a silver plate, I\u2019d never be as grateful as I am today; and I truly am grateful and will never take anything for granted.\u00a0 Not a day goes by when I don\u2019t thank God for what is happening to me right now, and I just pray that it continues because I love my job, and don\u2019t ever want it to end.<\/p>\n

My writing may not have made me rich or particularly famous, but it has made me happy, and you never know, maybe one day I\u2019ll succeed in my dream of winning an Oscar for best original screenplay.\u00a0 It\u2019s a huge goal but as Bette Davis wrote in my most cherished book, \u201cWe can dream can\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes we can, and I will never, ever stop.<\/p>\n

Michelle Morgan Bio:<\/h4>\n

Michelle Morgan is a bestselling author, biographer and columnist who lives with her husband and daughter in Northamptonshire, England. She is the author of\u00a0\u2018Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed\u2019\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0which was\u00a0published by Constable in the UK and Skyhorse\u00a0(as ‘Marilyn Monroe: Private and Confidential’) in the USA.\u00a0 Michelle’s next book is entitled ‘Hollywood Scandals’ and will be out in Summer 2013.\u00a0 She is also working on biographies of Carole Lombard and Thelma Todd; both of which will be published in the coming years.\u00a0 You can view her blog at\u00a0www.Michelle-Morgan.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n

You can join my FaceBook page at: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/124973377514850\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve always been a writer, ever since I was a little girl and used to write stories and staple the pages together to make my very own book.\u00a0 I loved reading and everything that went with being a budding author, but quite strangely it took me until the age of 20 to realise that this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,11,22],"tags":[154,121,10],"class_list":["post-4890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration","category-self-realization","category-thriving-2","tag-inspiration","tag-self-realization","tag-thriving"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":4261,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4890\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}