Photos Courtesy of Michael Willard
Writing the novel The Book of Farleigh, a Hollywood Tale only scrapes the surface of the accomplishments of our April artist, Michael Willard. A Lake Nona resident, Willard has penned 18 books in total over his lifetime while maintaining a career in journalism and international marketing. Get to know him more in the interview below.
Nonahood News: Tell me about your latest novel, The Book of Fairleigh, a Hollywood Tale.
Michael Willard: Fairleigh sounds like the name of a well-aged whiskey. It’s not. The Book of Fairleigh, a Hollywood Tale is about a four-year-old child who was kidnapped from Orlando’s Mall at Millenia and what became of her. The setting is Central Florida, a stone’s toss from Disney World and also a bar in Charleston, West Virginia. Toss in Tinsel Town, and the wondrously weird journey that brought Natalie Courant (aka Fairleigh) to stardom, and a reunion with her father, a former reporter for the Orlando Sentinel. He had written a novel about what he felt his daughter’s life would be like. The manuscript was put into a storage rental after his daughter was kidnapped. It was discovered by a fellow who sold off-brand Disney merchandise who put his name on it as author, changed the title, and published it as his own. A well-established Hollywood agent discovered it in a $2 discount book bend and decided to bankroll a movie based on it, utilizing his newly discovered talent, Natalie Courant.
NHN: What brought you to the Lake Nona area?
MW: After 22 years of living in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Moscow, Russia, it was time to – as the saying goes – “come in from the cold.” It was after Ukraine’s second revolution, which my wife, Olga, and I participated in. Also, I wanted my girls to have a high school education in the U.S. One, Valya, was enrolled in Trinity Prep in Winter Park and the other, Mia, went to Holy Trinity in Melbourne.
NHN: Which of your projects has been your favorite? Which has been the most challenging?
MW: I’ve written eight novels, which were published either in the U.S. or in Kyiv. My favorite one probably was “Urainia, A Fable,” written on the eve of the 2014 revolution. Sales of that book went to provide medical supplies for people injured in the revolution. Every book is a challenge when you put the first couple of lines down. I have written 12 non-fiction books, several autobiographical and others on marketing. Last year, Headline Books published my biography of three lead singers of The Platters, The Drifters and The Temptations.
NHM: Besides writing, what other passions do you have? What serves as your inspiration?
MW: I enjoy oil painting and have had three one-man exhibitions in Ukraine. I have more than 300 canvases in our apartment in Kyiv, our home in Side, Turkey, and in Lake Nona. I slowly have been bringing them back to the U.S. It really depends on the war with Russia whether I will be able to retrieve the bulk of them. Finally, I enjoy songwriting and playing my guitar. I’ve written several hundred songs over the years, but to date, the only one to record them is my son, Rob, who is in the entertainment business in LA.
NHN: I noticed you’ve been based in many different places around the world. So, out of curiosity, where has been your favorite place to live?
MW: I have never not liked a place I have lived – even once living on my cabin cruiser in Southwest Washington, D.C., on the Potomac River. Lake Nona is a very pleasant place to live, and Olga and I like the climate after living so long in Eastern Europe. However, I am especially close to Kyiv, where I am registered as a permanent resident. I’ve raised children there. I have been involved in revolutions there, and I have built ad and PR businesses there as well as in Moscow and Istanbul.
NHN: Any future projects/plans?
MW: Olga and I wrapped up several international development marketing and general consulting projects last year, and we are looking for other opportunities in this area. I also am in the process of a commissioned book for a Washington, D.C., personality and am about at the halfway mark on another novel. This one is based at our Southern Turkey home near the Mediterranean.
NHN: You have a very personal experience with the current conflict occurring in Ukraine, with your family having strong ties there and your two daughters in Kyiv right now, correct?
MW: I have two daughters in Kyiv, Masha (Maria), 31, and Mia, 23. Mia has been active giving reports to NBC News while Masha has been busy with the task of surviving in a city under siege. I talk by FaceTime or text with my daughters everyday, urging them to evacuate at least to our home in Turkey, which is about a three-hour flight. We have managed to evacuate my in-laws to our Turkey home. The girls, however, won’t leave without their mother, who refuses to evacuate. Mia graduated from Holy Trinity three years ago and takes online courses from UCF.
