Charmed Monday Minute, May 21

Hello, lovely readers and friends -

Today is a sad anniversary for me. Twenty years ago today, my first husband died suddenly and tragically. It took me a long time to recover. Now, two decades later, I have a more wonderful life than I could have ever imagined. Our daughter is grown-up and amazing (here's her actor website). Experiences like that kind of loss are always in a life, in the wings, and yet it is possible to grow through them and into so much beauty and joy. I hope that starting off in such a personal way this week was indeed for a reason and did speak in a special way to someone who's reading.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 22, is the sell-by date for my new and exciting book, Fat, Broke & Lonely No More: Your Personal Solution to Overeating, Overspending, and Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places. That means May 22 is the date that the online booksellers will ship copies, and bricks-and-mortar stores can start to sell it. The June 1 date we've been counting down to is "pub date," when the publisher estimates that every bookstore in America will have its copies out, but if you want to read the book, this would be a great day to buy a copy---or get one for yourself and another for a friend so the two of you can action-partner yourselves into the lives of your dreams. Here are links to the Fat, Broke & Lonely No More pages on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Thanks so much for your support. I know this is my best book ever, and I can't wait for it to start changing people's lives for the absolutely-better. If you read it and like it, I would very much appreciate your writing a review for Amazon and/or BN.com. Thank you!

Podcast: Thanks to the genius wizardry of the awesome Deni Bonet, the first of two FREE special Two Chicks and a Podcast shows, hosted by Gracie-award-winning humorist Sharon Glassman and violin rocker Deni Bonet (who's played in Cyndi Lauper's band and regularly tours with her own) and starring... well, gosh, me -- are now up. Listeners can hear the show and learn more about Fat, Broke & Lonely No More and reap some groovy tips on charmed living in two great ways: 1) Download the show for free from the podcast section of iTunes Store. It's easy! * Go to the store's podcast section * Search for "Two Chicks and a Podcast" * Select subscribe. * Select "Get Show #24...A Charmed Life" The 24-minute podcast will download onto your computer in seconds. You can listen to it/put it on your iPod from there! 2) Link to the show from Deni's blog. The next one (another interview I did with the Two Chicks) will be uploaded next Monday.

Feng shui: On Thursday, Kate Moller, a lovely young woman and one of the daughters of Dr. Christiane Northrup, came over to feng shui our apartment. I had misjudged which area was really "fame and reputation," so I now have my work cut out to outfit our kitchen and William's bathroom with red towels (and maybe walls!). Playing with feng shui is a lot of fun and I have had a lot of positive experience with it. Kate's website if you'd like to read more is www.aproposlife.com. Her teacher, Terah Kathryn Collins, author of The Western Guide to Feng Shui, also has a site: www.wsfs.com. Fete and recipe: On Friday, I attended the 50th anniversary dinner for Friends of Animals at the Hilton here in New York. I was a guest of my former agent and current friend, Patti Breitman. Every attendee got a copy of a really wonderful cookbook put out by Friends of Animals- Dining With Friends: The Art of North American Vegan Cuisine. Here's a sample: Tempeh London Broil Serves 8 ½ cup virgin olive oil ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice ½ cup tamari soy sauce 2 cup white wine Sea salt Ground pepper Four 8-oz packages of Organic Garden Veggie Tempeh (LightLife brand) cut into 1-ich cubes 1 large Vidalia or white onion, chopped 2 medium zucchini squash, sliced In a bowl, prepare marinade by combining the olive oil, lemon juice, tamari, wine, and salt and pepper to taste. Add tempeh. (If you're unfamiliar with tempeh, it's a fermented soy product that originated in Indonesia. It is very meaty in texture, high in protein, fiber, B-vitamins, and the phytochemicals soy is famous for. You can find it in the refrigerated section of any natural food store and many supermarkets.) Cover and place in fridge to marinate overnight; the tempeh will puff up as it absorbs the marinade. Drain tempeh, reserving marinade. Heat frying pan over medium to low heat. Add tempeh and small amount of the marinade to pan and cook for about 10 minutes, until it begins to brown. Add onion an zucchini. Gradually stir in the rest of marinade. Continue cooking until tempeh is golden brown. Service with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and a green salad.

The Fat, Broke & Lonely No More Store is Open for Business! We just created a whole bunch of t-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, and other great gear featuring the cover art from the new book! They're available at our very own CafePress.com store. Here's the link. Enjoy, and tell your friends! Meeting You When I'm on the Road: Here's my tour schedule to date. If you're in New York, Portland (Oregon), Seattle, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Marin County, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Columbia (Missouri), Topeka, Nashville, or Memphis, I'm heading your way and we're booking more stops all the time. Also, if you know people in any of these places, please get this information to them. Thank you! June 4 - New York City - Talk and signing: Barnes & Noble, 66th & Broadway, 7 pm (includes premier of new song from Broadway's Sherry Boone). 1972 Broadway, 212-595-6859, www.barnesandnoble.com June 10 - Lake Oswego, OR - Sunday service and signing, 11am. Unity World Healing Center, 366 Third Street, (503) 697-9765, www.worldhealing.org June 10 - Portland, OR - Talk and signing, 2:30pm. Twenty-Third Avenue Books, 1015 NW 23rd Avenue, 503-224-5097, www.23rdavebooks.com June 11 - Portland, OR - Seminar with Jennifer Louden, "Creating a Charmed & Comfortable Life," 7 pm. New Renaissance Books, 1338 NW 23rd Ave., 503-224-4929, www.newrenbooks.com June 12 - Seattle, WA - Talk and signing: Barnes & Noble, 7 pm. University Village SC, 2675 NE University Village Street, 206-517-4107, www.barnesandnoble.com June 16 - Corte Madera, CA - Talk and signing, 4pm. Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., (415) 927-0960, www.bookpassage.com June 17 - Palo Alto, CA - Sunday service and signing, 11am. Unity of Palo Alto, 3391 Middlefield Road, 650-494-7222, www.unitypaloalto.org June 18 - San Francisco, CA - Class, "Fat, Broke & Lonely No More!", 6:45-9:30pm. San Francisco Learning Annex (Course 2116SF, Section B), 415-788-5500, 291 Geary St # 510, www.learningannex.com June 19 - Los Angeles, CA - Talk and signing, 7:30pm. Barnes & Noble at The Grove at Farmers Market, 189 Grove Drive Suite K 30, 323-525-0270, www.barnesandnoble.com June 21 - Los Angeles, CA - Class, "Fat, Broke & Lonely No More!", 7pm. Los Angeles Learning Annex, (310) 478-6677, www.learningannex.com June 24 - Kansas City, MO - Sunday service, 11am. Unity Temple on the Plaza, 707 W. 47th St. (at Jefferson St.), 816-561-4466, x 109 June 25 - Kansas City, MO - Presentation, "Fat Broke & Lonely No More!" Cornerstone Foundation and Rainy Day Books at Unity Temple on the Plaza, 707 W. 47th St. (at Jefferson St.), Ticket information: 816-561-4466, x 109, www.unitytemple.com June 27 - Columbia, MO ¬- Unity of Columbia, 1600 West Broadway, 573-447-0414, www.monroe.nu/unity June 28 - Topeka, KS - Talk and signing, 7 pm. Barnes & Noble, 6130 SW 17th St., 785-273-9600, www.barnesandnoble.com July 1 - New York City - Sunday service, 11am. Unity of New York, Symphony Space, 95th & Broadway, 212.560.0756, www.unityofnewyork.org July 22 - Nashville, TN -- Sunday services, 9 and 11 am. Nashville Center for Spiritual Living, 6705 Charlotte Pike, 615-356-0174, www.rsn.org July 23 - Nashville, TN - Talk & signing, Davis-Kidd Booksellers, The Mall at Green Hills, 2121 Green Hills Village Drive, Suite 281, 615-385-2645, bcallaway@josephbeth.com, www.daviskidd.com July 24 - Memphis, TN - Talk & signing. Davis-Kidd Booksellers, 387 Perkins Road Extended, 901-683-9801, www.daviskidd.com July 27-29 - (Tentative booking) - Johnstown, PA - Vegetarian Summerfest, North American Vegetarian Society, Conference Center at University of PA/Johnstown, 518-568-7970, www.navs-online.org August 17-19 - Neversink, NY (Catskills) - 2 presentations, "Fat, Broke & Lonely No More!" and "Creating a Charmed Life," New Age Health Spa, 7491 State Route 55, 845-985-7600, www.newagehealthspa.com

New website coming: We are about to go live with my revised website. (Hopefully, it will be up before you get your next Monday Minute.) When we do, there will be an up-to-date calendar page with all the places I'll be on this tour and after. I always love to meet people who get the newsletter, so please come if you can and let me know who you are. I'm often able to go for dinner or tea with my special readers like you. It's wonderful to get to know you.

Countdown to the Pub Date... As I said, the book will actually go on sale tomorrow and I'd be sooooo grateful if you'd pick or order a copy then. But since we've been counting down to the official pub date, let's keep going: COUNTDOWN TO VICTORIA'S NEW, 10th, and (we're hearing!) BEST BOOK EVER, Fat, Broke & Lonely No More: Your Personal Solution to Overeating, Overspending, and Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places coming from HarperOne on June 1, 2007 ...11 days! If you'd like to pre-order online, here are links to the big guys (who say they'll ship it early, around May 22nd!): Amazon Barnes & Noble Or, call your favorite independent bookstore to reserve your copy! (To find an independent bookstore in your area, you can search on booksense.com here.) Coming next week: Your Tips for Easing Email Overload

Happy week, all!

My very best,

Victoria Moran