Megan Rivers
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Allyssa Brooke

3/19/2017

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While cleaning out some boxes at my mother's house, I came across this fictional biographical paper I wrote back in high school (circa 2001) and wanted to share it with you.

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Allyssa Brooke. Eight weeks ago that name meant something, it was the name that stood out in neon lights all over the world. It was the name any agent would die to get a hold of. Eight weeks ago she was the darling of Hollywood. Every girl wanted to be her and every guy wanted to get with her. Eight weeks ago...

Allyssa Brooke, daughter of Mirian and Michael Brooke, was born into the world on May 16th, 1983 in Wrightwood, California. After Mirian and Michael's divorce in 1985, Mirian moved to Los Angeles and re-married producer Bryan Matthews with Allyssa in her arms.

Allyssa started acting at age three in her step-father's movies, including her big debut, Gem (1988) where she played a young girl who knew secrets of the world and only her grandfather could teach her how to hone her skills.

She grew up in the life of Shirley Temple, being Hollywood's cherubic, adolescent, angel.

As she entered her pre-teen years, she landed a spot on the popular daytime soap opera, Stormy Village, playing the secret love child between the mischievious and decieving Blanch Rueban & muli-millionaire Cornelius Andrews. Soon after she drifted to a spot on the hit TV show, Morgan & Meadow. She and Christine Rosko played twin sisters who were sent to live with their aunt in a small mysterious town. There they stumble upon a world of fantasy, horror, and wishes come true.

In her teenage years, her mother, Mirian, pushed her to be the next Judy Garland, living her life through her daughters'. Allyssa didn't mind, though. In an interview with UR TV last October she stated, "I cannot complain about anything [in my life]. Some people are better off than me, and I'm better off than some people. I mean I can wake up tomorrow and it could all be gone."

This sweet wholesome girl of Hollywood passed each day with a grin and brought sweet innocence to Hollywood. She made everyone smile and put a skip in their stride, especially to her beau of four years, teenage heartthrob, Taylor Clarke. At the young age of thirteen the two started a serious relationship after Clarke made numerous appearances on Morgan & Meadow, playing Christine Rosko's character's boyfriend.

Soon after her seventeenth birthday, Michael Brooke demanded custody of his one and only daughter, claiming Mirian never let him be a part of his daughter's life. He was granted custody and Allyssa was ripped away from the only life she ever knew. Michael brought Allyssa back to her hometown of Wrightwood where she was to play the hardest role in her career:  a real life teenager. 
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No One

3/10/2017

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No one tipped their hat to the rising sun
or applauded the purple clouds.

No one answered when the raindrops tapped on shoulders
or soothed the thunder's cries.

No one stood when the wind asked to dance
and the breezes swayed in solitude.

No one thanked the moon for taking the graveyard shift
or winked back at the stars.

No one sang along with the early birds or
raced with the tumbling leaves on the wind.

No waved waved back at the ocean or
said hello to the line of ants on their morning commute.

No one congratulated the sunset on its brilliant use of color
or smiled at the autumn fashion line.

No one asked the owl for an encore
or praised its soothing lullaby

But we all want to curtsy
and take credit for
the beauty Earth provides.

And, being a mother,
​she selflessly complies.
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A Seventeen Year Old Song

3/9/2017

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Since today is the day the second book in the Song for You series, "A Song of Life," is being release today, I thought I'd give a little background on the story that has been with me for seventeen+ years.
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Do you remember being fifteen? I loved that age. Though I was still too young to drink, drive a car, or even leave my parent's house without permission, I remember fifteen being a year where I had a lot of fun and spent a lot of time with friends... especially going to concerts.

At that age my best friend lived on the other side of the country. I was visiting her that summer. I spent two weeks with her and dreaded having to say good bye.

As we sat in LAX waiting for my plane to board I swore I saw someone famous walk by us hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. "What if he's on your plane?" my best friend asked. 

That question hung in my mind, beginning to spin webs of possibilities as I said a teary-eyed goodbye to my bestie. Drying my eyes with a tissue, I took my seat by the window and began thinking about sitting next to a celebrity. I pulled out my notebook and spent the remainder of the flight writing what would (much, much, MUCH) later become the first book in my "Song for You" series.

The main characters, Christie and Galvin, grew up with me. No matter what writing project I was working on, they always crept up to the foreground.

I spent much of my adolescence writing stories, poems, letters, ANYTHING I could come up with. I wanted to be a writer. Not a teacher. Not an office worker. Not a nurse or doctor. A WRITER. 

During those formative years in college, I changed my major five times, but kept coming back to writing. Christie and Galvin wanted their story told. They were relentless. That's when Book 2 happened. Many writing assignments revolved around those two characters, and the bones of the second book were born.

Then life happened. Having a degree in creative writing did not make me a desirable candidate for any job. It wasn't a stable career. It wasn't lucrative. It offered no money. 

Writing became a struggle; it got harder and harder to fit it into my life. I went into teaching, which meant I had ZERO free time to dedicate to writing. Then came graduate school and more teaching... and marriage. Passion and zest escaped me. 

It's funny. Sometimes things happen in life that seem so horrible, but end up being a blessing in disguise. 

My placement as a gifted teacher was being dissolved. My marriage had fallen apart. My family needed help and I was preparing to uproot myself move across the country to be with them. I was drowning in the bland and monotone sea of life during a churning, wind-howling storm.

So I turned to writing.

I wrote like a fiend. Galvin and Christie offered me their hands and they pulled me out of the gray. I wrote during my lunch break, typed away on the computer as my students took their tests. I carried a notebook with me when I took my dog for a walk and shakily added to Christie and Galvin's story as my pup tugged on the leash. Every free moment I had, I was recording their story. 

Then, one night in the spring of 2016, there was nothing left to tell. Christie and Galvin had finished their story. My fingers hovered over the keyboard momentarily. I closed the notebook hesitantly, wanting to leave the door open a crack in case they forgot something before their departure... but they were done. They left like family after a holiday meal: with a smile and a short wave, thanking me for the time we had together.

Seventeen years it took. Now I want to share their story with you.


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Bottled Memories

3/4/2017

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Have you ever been in the car, on the couch, or just living your life when suddenly you catch the scent of a memory? You close your eyes take the deepest breath you can because you know the next time you breathe in it will be gone. You savor that moment and let it roll around your tongue and be absorbed my your tastebuds.

And during that breath memories you forgot you had shoot past you. You try to grab onto them like they were photographs in a hurricane. Soon the moment will be over and how horrible it will be to forget! So you quickly try to bottle those memories up and store them away.

​That's what happened. A whiff of new car and morning air--that's how I bottled it--and memories of him I forgotten I had pummeled me like a hailstorm.
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