Dogs are more fun!
I am a recovering Type A perfectionist and insomniac who is addicted to lattes, loves flavorful food (think anchovies, hoppy beer, and olives), and is a sucker for the underdog, including the one pictured with me here. When he was 8 months old, he was abandoned by his owners. Someone found him in the rain, tied to a utility pole. When I first laid eyes on him, he was filthy. He hung his head and tucked his tail. He flinched if I moved quickly, as if he was expecting me to smack him.
I fell in love with him, and he took that love and used it to become a healthy 60 pound lap dog who ate all of our tissues and toilet paper, composted anything remotely edible that he could find in the trash can (and probably some things that were not), and kept us from ever getting bored. Adopt a dog. There are plenty of unwanted ones to go around.
Now that I’ve gotten that public service announcement out of the way, let’s talk about me, which is why you clicked onto this page in the first place. If you have a lot of time on your hands, you are welcome to read this 5 part story of my life. It’s about 5,000 words long and takes you on a journey from Fourth Grade, when I wanted to be President of the United States, until the summer of 2009, when this blog was 11 months old. Part 5 is a collection of my best life, writing and blogging advice.
Or, you might just want the short version, which is what follows. I started this site because I once regularly fantasized about my husband dropping dead. I spent so much time thinking and hoping for that car accident or heart attack that I had his entire funeral planned out—down to the food and beer I would serve the mourners.
I knew my Mr. Strong and Silent would frustrate me if we tried marital counseling, so I instead started a project, one that involved reading every marital improvement book I could find. During the next year, I changed, and so did he. He did more around the house. He paid more attention to our daughter. He asked me about me, and he actually seemed interested as I answered. I fell back in love, and so did he.
That was just the most recent of many projects, though. I started my first project during my early 20s. At the time, I was stuck in a dead end relationship and an unfulfilling job as a reporter at a major metro newspaper. When someone was murdered or killed, I was the person who knocked on the door of a loved one, asking for a quote and a photo. I suffered panic attacks. I was extremely shy, and overwhelmingly depressed, so I turned to books. I read about Taoism, Buddhism, self-confidence, assertiveness, meditation, self-hypnosis, dream interpretation, you name it, and, eventually I became a stronger, happier person. I ditched the boyfriend and started reading the want ads.
I applied for and landed a job as an on-staff writer of self-help books! I wrote about confidence. I wrote about sex. I wrote about relationships. I wrote about herbs, and I wrote about diets. I wrote tips and more tips and still more tips. I became a walking advice library. Later, I worked at a national consumer magazine, this time writing and editing stories about fitness and nutrition. After that, I went freelance, writing both books and magazine articles, but the theme has always been the same—self-improvement.
Happily ever after
Now I’m a freelance writer an editor of books and magazine articles. As a ghostwriter and collaborator, I’ve written more than 17 diet books and many more health, nutrition, and skincare books. Sometimes I got a “by line,” other times a “with line,” and many times a “no line.” (Nearly all of the authors were at least kind enough to thank me in the acknowledgments.) As a ghostwriter, I’ve penned 6 New York Times bestsellers. Indeed, the books I’ve written have collectively sold well over a two million copies. Chances are, if you’ve ever been on a diet, I had something to do with the foods you did or did not eat. You can learn more about my book projects at my professional site www.alisabowman.com.
I started Project Happily Ever After to help others. It’s my hope that my advice and stories on this site can provide you with a sense of hope that happiness is not only your right, but that it’s also within your grasp.
