Sunday 11 May 2014

News, News, News

Wow I cannot believe I haven't updated my blog since November!  Yikes, I am sorry for being so lax!  However, here I am now and I have some great news to share.....

  1. The Thelma Todd book is going very well.  I am more than half-way through the writing, and it is all on schedule to be finished by the deadline in September.  I must say that I am having such a lovely time working on the book.  I'll admit that on the days when I'm working on the death section, it is fairly draining due to trying to figure out solutions to a case that is almost 80 years old.  But I do feel as though I am getting somewhere with it, and dispelling some of the myths that have sprung up over the years.  The rest of the book - Thelma's life and career, is going fabulously too, and I love every minute of working on it.  She was a terrific woman and writing about her life certainly cheers me up.  It will be published by Chicago Review Press, in Autumn/Winter 2015.
  2. I am really pleased to tell you that 'Marilyn's Blue Book Years' now has a publisher and can be pre-ordered on Amazon!  We are really excited about it, and Astrid and I are working hard on obtaining information that is rare and previously unknown.  I am working on the text while Astrid works on the photos, and we are on schedule to meet our deadline of February 2015.  The book will be published by The History Press in August 2015.
  3. Astrid and I are trying to find the estates of the following photographers, so that we can contact them about our book: Lawrence Kronquist, Leo Caloia, Bob Earle (aka Photography By Earle), H Maier Studios, Ed Cronenworth, Laszlo Willinger, and Potter Heuth.   If anyone can share any information, or if you’d like to help try to find them, we’d absolutely love it.  Please let us know if you can help, and thanks so much in advance!!
  4. I am proud, pleased and excited to announce that I have just been commissioned to write an illustrated book about Madonna.  Since I have been a fan from the age of 14, this project is a dream come true, and involves me choosing 220 photos, and writing extended captions to go with each one.  The book will be published by Constable/Little, Brown in Spring 2015, and to say I am pleased would be an understatement.  It really is a wonderful project and gives me a great excuse to watch Madonna interviews and videos on a very regular basis!  Anyone who knows me will tell you that I simply adore Madonna, and it seems really fitting that on the 30th anniversary of me discovering her (whilst she was on Top of the Pops singing Like A Virgin) I am now working on this book.  I will look forward to sharing it with you all next year.
  5. Finally, the secret project I was working on late last year is still progressing.  I need to make a few adjustments, and then it will be sent off to the interested party...  I can't tell you any more than that at this moment, but let's just say that if it all goes ahead, this will be the biggest thing I have ever worked on in my life.  I'll keep you up-to-date as things develop.
  6. The Carole Lombard project is currently on-hold while I work through the projects I've mentioned above.  However, I am working on a proposal for the book, which I will give to my agent in due course, and hopefully I will be able to obtain a publisher who will give her the attention she deserves, before long.
I think we've caught up on everything now.  I promise not to be so long in sharing news with you in future, and I hope you are all having a great spring!

Best
Michelle