Victoria Moran on LIFEChanges With Filippo

 

Victoria Moran is the author of ten books...



...I've been writing for publication since I was a teenager. I wanted to meet the Beatles so I got a $1 press card from a teen magazine. It worked: I got into my first Beatles' press conference at fourteen, my second at fifteen, and when I was seventeen, Paul McCartney bought me a drink. That's when I knew that even though I was just an ordinary girl from Kansas City with a recurrent weight problem and bad skin, I really did live a charmed life.



A motivational speaker specializing in inspiration, wellness, and personal growth



...I've also been speaking since I was a kid - first for school assemblies and Rotary Clubs, and on from there. I'm fortunate in that I have only one gift: words, spoken and written. People who have a wide variety of talents have more trouble figuring out which one to pursue...



...and a certified life coach specializing in spiritual-life coaching...



...coaching is my way to have an ongoing relationship with individuals who are serious about changing their lives. Because most coaching is done by phone, I have clients from around the country.



Victoria's latest book is Living A Charmed Life...



...this is the 10th anniversary sequel to my classic, Creating a Charmed Life. The new book is a testament to living a charmed life now, even in difficult circumstances.



Also new this year is the fully revised and updated version of The Love-Powered Diet...



The subtitle says it all: Eating for Freedom, Health, and Joy. I've been free of compulsive overeating (and an extra sixty pounds) for over twenty years as a result of a spiritual turnaround and loving food choices. How you can do it, too, is in this book.



Her other titles includes Fat, Broke, & Lonely No More...



A terrific book on making peace with food, money, and other people. It's my editor's title and I've never quite warmed to it (I spent a lot of years 'fat' and I don't like the word), but if you look inside the book, I think you'll be glad you did.



Younger By The Day...



For looking, feeling and living well all your life.



Fit From Within...



...I was overweight for 30 years and for the past 20-plus I haven't been. How you can get free from food troubles, too, is in Fit from Within.



Lit from Within...



...This one is about discovering and bringing out your inner beauty, the beauty that's truly yours and that truly lasts.



Shelter for the Spirit...



...This book grew out of my experience as a single mom, trying to create a truly nurturing home for my daughter, myself and our animals. Once I knew I'd done it, I wrote a book about it.



Creating a Charmed Life...



...Which has been translated into twenty-seven languages and is quoted on Celestial Seasonings' tea boxes.



Creating a Charmed Life is one of my favorite books. It's subtitle is: Sensible, Spiritual Secrets Every Busy Woman Should Know. I wrote it when my daughter was fourteen, I'd just remarried and inherited three lively stepchildren, then five, nine, and ten years of age. There was so much on my plate - I'm sure you're relating; that seems to be the nature of life these days - and yet there was so much joy. I drew on my background in comparative religions - I am fascinated by the many ways people find meaning in life - and eclectic spirituality, and on simply being a woman and a mom, blessed with many inspiring friends who taught me even more about making a charmed life out of whatever life you've got...



Moran's articles have appeared in publications including Ladies' Home Journal, Woman's Day, Body & Soul, Weight Watchers Magazine, Natural Health, and Yoga Journal. She has been a guest on TV and radio programs including two appearances on Oprah!



...And of course I'm praying for a third: Oprah is every bit as wonderful and amazing as I'd hoped she would be. She's funny and confident and she went out of her way to say nice things about my books and about me. I admire her a great deal.



Moran's work has been noted in publications including USA Today, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, as well in magazines such as Glamour, Fitness, Elle, Allure, Health, Self, Cosmo, Family Circle, Woman's World, and O, the Oprah Magazine.



...The piece in O was when filmmaker Michael Moore was the celebrity book reviewer. I was amazed that, along with the various political books that you'd expect Michael Moore to have as favorites, there was my book, Fit from Within. You can imagine how thrilled I was to open up the magazine, not knowing my book was in there, and find his truly lovely review. Some of the best things in my life seem to come from out of the proverbial blue...



Among Victoria's past speaking clients are Hallmark Cards, Toyota Women's Conferences, the New York Athletic Club, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and Speaking of Women's Health. Victoria also speaks for churches around the country...



...Speaking is so much fun. Writing is, too, when it flows, but writing can also be a lot of hard work. Speaking, for me anyway, is a gift. It's like stepping into another mode. I don't "give speeches" - the very phrase is boring - I do something more like a one-person show. Some people have even called it "performance art", although I've never been quite sure what performance art is. I just know I love doing it and people seem to love experiencing it. Please check my Calendar to see if I'll be speaking near where you live. And if your company or association or church hires speakers, please refer them to the my Speaking page or print it for them. I'd love to have the opportunity to do a presentation there.



A native of Kansas City, Missouri...



...Kansas City will always be my town. That was where I learned to love urban life, and I'm so proud of hailing from a place that hosted, for long or short periods, luminaries like Walt Disney, Harry Truman, Satchel Paige, Ernest Hemingway, Count Basie, Jean Harlow, Charlie "Bird" Parker, and Thomas Hart Benton...



...and an adopted New Yorker...



...I am nuts about New York City. I moved here seven years ago and I am still so in love with this city that every morning when I go out in it, I can hardly believe I'm here. The energy is infectious and every wonderful thing somehow seems possible.



Victoria is married to an attorney and writer...



I married William Melton in 1997. (My first husband, Patrick Moran, died ten years earlier.) William is a wonderful, sweet man who loves me like the dickens. Sometimes I just stare at him and am amazed at how lucky I am. He wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Harmonica coauthored with Randy Weinstein, which I'm sure needs no editorial commentary. He is now pursuing another dream: becoming a screenwriter.



...Her daughter Adair is an actor in New York City...



...If you read Shelter for the Spirit or Creating a Charmed Life, you know that I wrote about a daughter named Rachael. At age 14, "Rachael" decided that she was really "Adair," her middle name. Adair is the little village in northern Missouri where her dad's ancestors settled when they came from Ireland. She is, by any name, the light of my life, and being a mom is the grandest adventure I know of. It's hard to believe that she's in her twenties and married. Her husband, Nicholas Moran (yes, he took her name), is also an actor. They share theater, a love of animals, and their hobby of making beer, "Actor Ale," as a gift for agents and casting directors. (It was Mama Rose in Gypsy, I believe, who said, "Ya gotta have a gimmick if you're gonna get ahead.")



My stepdaughter Siân is twenty-three and has trained to be a makeup artist for fashion magazines and runway shows. She spent a year with us in New York and is now back in Toronto where her mom lives. My stepson Erik, nineteen and also in Toronto, trained in sound engineering and is working in his field - he's also a mean bass player.



After a short illness, James, my other stepson, left us to be with the angels on September 12, 2007, at age sixteen. He was an amazing kid, funny and bright, and with tremendous compassion. I don't pretend to understand how life works and why things happen the way they do. I do believe with all my heart that there is a reason for everything, a reason that will one day make sense. My commitment to everyone I love, both those in this world and the ones on the other side of life, is to live fully, cherish each day, experience joy, and use whatever gifts I have to make a difference.



Pictures



You are welcome to visit my pictures page and view some more pictures of me and my loved ones.