Valerie Byron

NO ORDINARY WOMAN is the story of my life - starting with my birth in 1942 in the North of England. It takes the reader on a roller coaster ride from the war-torn English countryside to the glamour of Beverly Hills. Readers who lived in England during those post-war days will surely relate to my childhood abandonment at a Dickensian-style boarding school at the age of seven.

We emigrated to America in 1954 where I was thrust into a quite different and more glamorous world. Watching me transform, through the magic of plastic surgery in my mid-teens, will resonate with my contemporaries who grew up in Beverly Hills in the 1950's. I am sure many will empathize with my unhappiness at the prestigious Beverly Hills High School, as I attempted to join the cliques and was always rejected.

Leaving California for England in 1959, at a time when everything was changing in the Arts and television, was fortuitous for me. I eventually claimed a coveted job at Granada Television in 1965, when every actor worth his salt was showing up to be in one drama or another. I worked for Johnny Hamp, Head of Light Entertainment, who put the Beatles and the Rolling Stones on television for the first time. I was able to mingle with newcomers from America who later made their mark at Granada, such as Sonny and Cher, Paul Anka, Donald Sutherland, Oliver Reed, etc., and dated soon-to-be famous actors, such as John Thaw (Inspector Morse), Anthony Ainley (Dr. Who) and Ray Lonnen.

"Coronation Street" - the longest-running soap opera in British history - was in its infancy, and I could often be seen mingling with its stars at parties, or working for the writers or producers of the show.

I lived a life of innocent sexual promiscuity - it was the norm in those days. I suffered rape by a black man in Moss Side with nobody knowing, and underwent two abortions in my twenties. I finally returned to Los Angeles in 1969, continuing a career in show business. I worked for a top Hollywood talent agent, who represented the hottest stars of the 1970's, including Raquel Welch, Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty and Samantha Eggar. Those interested in the history of Hollywood will find my account of working in a talent agency quite telling. I later worked for motion picture producer, Peter Bart, now head of DAILY VARIETY.

And then there was marriage, children, managing my actor son.....and finally betrayal. For those women who have been dumped in their later years....my story will ring true. How does a woman of almost sixty start again? By picking herself up, regaining her attractiveness, and looking for love on the Internet. I not only did it, but I also found the man of my dreams, who is twenty-five years my junior.

I also started writing seriously at the age of 67, winning numerous short story and poetry contests in one year. I believe my book will appeal to readers of all ages. Those who believe in romance and finding love later on in life; and those who enjoy reading about a woman who has overcome the negativity life has thrown at her. British readers who were around in the 1960's will enjoy my "tales out of school" of the actors I met at Granada, and American readers will relate to what it was like working in the movie industry in the 1970's. Those more romantically inclined will surely rejoice knowing a much older woman can, indeed, find love

Copies of NO ORDINARY WOMAN may be purchased at: www.austinmacauley.com or www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.uk

I live near the ocean in Torrance, California.