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About Mo Van

Model, nationally recognized artist, marathon runner, breast cancer survivor and all after 40. No, make that 50! Who says there's no "second act!"

Certainly not Monica Lee, known as Mo Van in the art world. For the millions of aging Baby Boomers who question if there is life after fifty, her inspirational book is right on time.

Powerful, uplifting and motivational, Mo Van's riveting new book puts an exciting spin on aging. It inspires, it encourages and it teaches that, with faith and the will to overcome, middle age is not a pitfall to achieving goals but an exciting sequel to the first act.

"We need not be afraid of doing, but of not doing," says the 57 year-old author of Singing Off Key. Gutsy and unafraid of leaping into life, Mo Van married at 18, had four children by the time she was 23, divorced her husband and became a single parent raising her family alone.

Because "I liked the feeling of a paint brush in my hand," says Mo Van, "I became an artist just after three lessons." She then opened her own gallery in Laguna Beach.

Still single at 45, she ran her first marathon and posed as a model! A year after turning 50, Mo Van took center stage as a breast cancer victim undergoing debilitating chemotherapy. However, her spiritual convictions and inner strength helped her survive and conquer the illness.

"It's about overcoming and not being afraid," she says. "It's about faith in God, living the truth, learning and being loyal to yourself as well as being able to forgive your own failings. It's about journeying on a highway with no speed limits and no red lights even if a few speed bumps appear along the way."

"I believe in miracles," Mo Van says, "and I awaken every morning, thankful I'm blessed to witness another sunrise. I know God loves me as I struggle to get it right."

In Singing Off Key, the author discredits the myth that middle age is a season of epilogues. Instead, she honors the power of positive thinking and refuses to allow a ticking clock to drown the voice of a woman over 50 with a lot of living to do.

Mo Van is an international artist, model, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, friend, former clothing designer and businesswoman who learns from and enjoys the company of the elderly. She is a self-proclaimed "one hundred percent natural woman."