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

The Charmed Monday Minute, May 14

Hi, everybody, and welcome to subscribers from Indiana, North Dakota and everywhere else -

I hope that the mothers and daughters (and sons) reading this had a good Mother's Day. We went to my favorite restaurant, Caravan of Dreams. It's a vegan restaurant in the East Village that reminds me of what it must have been like in Berkeley in the 60s. I love the ambiance, the neighborhood, the food---and last night, of course, the company.

My trip to the Midwest was great - the First Lady's Health Summit in Fargo and Speaking of Women's Health in Merrillville. In Fargo, I noticed that the North Dakota license plates have the motto, "Discover the Spirit." I borrowed that for my presentation, discovering the spirit within each of us.

As the pub date for Fat, Broke & Lonely No More gets closer and closer, I feel this lovely peace that, even though I'm doing everything I can to help get media attention, exposure, speaking gigs, and the rest, I'm not in charge of how this book is going to find its way to the people it's supposed to help. It's nice to remember that even in the thick of things, I don't have to feel responsible for what is beyond my control.

I have also been in a decidedly uplifted frame of mind since I've been reading The Science of Getting Rich, written in 1910 by Wallace Wattles. That's the book that inspired Rhonda Byrne to write The Secret and Barnes & Noble has republished Wattles's nearly 100-year-old book. It's tiny but powerful, and despite the title, it's about so much more than money. He says that all life wants more life, that that's why we want to grow and learn and prosper. And that the more life we have, the more we can give. I haven't been this moved (nor have I done this much underlining) in a book in a long time.

This week's Minute is kind of packed (quite a bit more than a Minute, I'm afraid). The Minutes will stay weekly through May and go to every other week through the summer. With my tour and all, it will be too much to keep up with doing a weekly.

Stay happy, stay healthy, enjoy the spring -

Victoria

Happy Freedom from Self-Improvement Day! This fun idea comes from my friend, author Jennifer Louden, who has declared May 15th "Freedom from Self-Improvement Day." She hopes to make it an annual event to spread the word of self-kindness and take a break from our constant attempts at perfection. Check out the website at freedomfromselfimprovement.com.

Photo of the Week: Reader Heather Burtner from Orlando sent in this lovely picture of herself, her daughter Brooke, and Victoria at the Deltona Unity Church in January, 2006.

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! Book of the Week: Evan Drake Howard, author and pastor of the Community Church of Providence, RI, has a wonderful new book coming out entitled The Lost Epistle of Jesus. It's an epic love story set in first century Jerusalem that explores Christ and Christianity in revolutionary new ways. The story revolves around a miraculous epistle that Jesus wrote to help people in all generations through the storms of falling in love and loving. Here's what I said about it in my endorsement: Entrancing, chanting, and one gripping read. The Lost Epistle of Jesus and its characters, both historical and fictional, bring the era to life. The ending left me in tears, but Howard's storytelling had me on page one. Check it out today!

Workshop of the Week: Gina Ogden will be teaching a workshop called "The Heart and Soul of Sex: Making the ISIS Connection" on September 21-23, 2007 at the Kripalu Center in Stockbridge, MA. This innovative weekend merges the latest research with women's stories, sacred ceremony, and shamanic journeying. For more info, check out her website at ginaogden.com.

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 ...18 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.)

Happy week, all!

My very best,

Victoria Moran

The Charmed Monday Minute, May 7

Dear readers and friends -

Joya is sending out the Minute from home this week since I'm on the road, in Fargo, ND. I haven't been here since Adair was twelve and went to Chinese Camp in nearby Morehead, Minnesota. I stayed in Fargo for the week. It was during the O.J. Simpson debacle. I watched the notorious car chase in my room at the Holiday Inn.

I'm devoting the month of May to my spiritual and physical health, in that order. I'm still working, of course, and I have this week on the road (speaking both in Fargo and, on Thursday, in Merrillville, Indiana). And later in the month I'll get some media training (for TV, you're supposed to talk in these short sound bites. I am a word person. Short sound bites are not my forte). But for the most part, this month is about self-care, meditation, and letting go. Kate Moeller, Dr. Christiane Northrup's daughter, is coming over to do a feng shui touch-up on our apartment. I'll be working less and trusting more. Eating more fresh food and drinking fresh juice (thank goodness for warm weather when I actually want this kind of thing!), doing more yoga, and going to more meetings and classes where people are focused on the inner side of life. I've been so wound up around the book launch, I need to take these 31 days to slow down, breathe, and let go. I need to do what is mine to do, but the truth is, short of holding the vision of success, I am powerless over the fate of Fat, Broke & Lonely No More. I've worked hard. Now it's time to let the publicist do his job and, most importantly, let the Higher Power do the rest.

Releasing a book---that word "release" is interesting here---is sort of like sending an adult child out into the world. It's bittersweet, but without letting go, there's no way a young book or a young person can fly free.

May you be free and full of life this merry month of May.

-- Victoria

Question of the week: I heard you speak and you quoted a poem from Wordsworth about 'trailing clouds of glory'. What's that poem. - R.L., Illinois Thanks for asking. It's one of my favorite poems, "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood." It is very, very long, and I quoted the Section V which goes: "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar: Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God, who is our home: Heaven lies about us in our infancy! Shades of the prison-house begin to close Upon the growing Boy, But He beholds the light, and when it flows, He sees it in his joy; The Youth, who daily farther from the east Must travel, still is Nature's Priest, And by the vision splendid Is on his way attended; At length the Man perceives it die away, And fade into the light of common day." The rest of the poem is about growing back from the "common day" way of being to the state of Light we came with. Its last two lines are often quoted: "To me the meanest flower that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." If you like this kind of poetry, I recommend a luscious collection called The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. New venues and changes for where I'll be: I'll kick off the Fat, Broke & Lonely No More tour here in NYC on Monday, June 4, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 66th & Broadway. Please come if you're a New Yorker, and tell your NYC friends if you're not. I'll be joined by incredible Broadway singer Sherry Boone (she's also my "action partner" - you'll read about Sherry and action-partnering in the new book). My talk/signing at 23rd Avenue Books in Portland, OR, has a change of day: it's now happening Sunday afternoon, June 10. Also in Portland, an event has been added. I'll be joining with Jennifer Louden (www.comfortqueen.com) for a workshop called "Creating a Charmed and Comfortable Life" at New Renaissance Books on Monday evening, June 11. A new California Learning Annex venue has been added - I've told you about the San Francisco Learning Annex on June 18; now I'm also doing Los Angeles, June 21. Another CA venue addition is the Marin Vegetarian Education Group: 6 p.m., Sunday June 17. For more info on that one, see www.marinveg.org. www.marinveg.org And looking ahead, do think about Bermuda in October: The Girls Getaway Weekend. I'll keep letting you know where I'll be as engagements develop

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 ...25 days! If you'd like to pre-order online, here are links to the big guys: 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.)

Happy week, all!

My very best,

Victoria Moran