The Cinderella Monologues
First Edition
The Cinderella Monologues shares a collection of true stories from real-life “Cinderellas” to inspire, energize, encourage and empower those who have had similar experiences. Most women have a version of a Cinderella tale to tell. Once these stories are told, the healing begins, along with the opportunity to help others.
Becoming a lawyer after age forty, enduring abusive family members, finding one’s passion, surviving cancer, escaping Vietnam as one of the many boat people . . . These powerful stories will surprise you, shock you, and inspire you to not let anything stop you from becoming the person you are meant to be.
The Cinderella Monologues
Second Edition
The 2nd edition features a woman who rescues buffaloes, an expert who helps women and children speak out, a rock music historian, a goddess in the kitchen, a well-known journalist, an angel whisperer, and many more. All these stories are of women who came through adversity and struggled to find success in their lives and inspire others. Touching, humorous, and revealing, these stories pull back the curtain into the courageous lives of women brave enough to search for their true purpose.
A signed copy of the book will arrive soon after ordering.
Includes Free Shipping.
Books by Mila Johansen
From Cowgirl to Congress -
Journey of a Suffragist on the Front Lines
From Cowgirl to Congress is the eyewitness account of Jessie Haver Butler, a suffragist on the front lines of the women’s movement. Jessie escaped a childhood of unthinkable tragedies on a Colorado cattle ranch to attend Smith College, which propelled her into the center of the fight for the rights of women. This timely memoir takes us back to the suffrage movement and beyond, and includes unpublished letters from historical figures, as well as unseen photographs.
Learn more about From Cowgirl to Congress below.
She Speaks Up!
The Jessie Butler Women’s Poetry Contest Anthology
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment on August 18, 2020. A collection of poems submitted to the first annual Jessie Butler Women’s Poetry contest, featuring the writings of a diverse group of women from all over the U.S. These talented women represent many cultures, age groups, gender identities and view points. Celebrate the voices of women and learn about these gifted poets.
101 Surprising Tips to Promote Your Book - When & How to Build Hype
A “short book” packed with tips on promoting your writing projects. Simple to read and heavy on content. Mila Johansen shares the many tips she’s learned throughout her publishing journey.
The best time to start building hype was a year ago. The next best time is today!
A Dog’s Best Friend: Dog Training for Real Dogs & Their People
Welcome to the secret world of dogs — our best friends, family members, and companions. This is dog training for dogs and their people, from puppy to adulthood. Learn surprising tricks and tips to improve your ability to communicate and understand your canine companion. Teaching your dog to beg at the table, walk on a leash without a collar and understand basic vocabulary might just save your beloved canine’s life someday. Tons of unique ideas and concepts about how to really train your dog to be happy, social and well-adjusted, in our sometimes chaotic world. You are your dog’s best friend!
101 Theatre Games
101 Theatre Games - A Teaching Manual for Directors, Teachers, Parents, Homeschoolers & more. Perfect for these times of teaching at home. Once you play a game you never forget! So easy - you just open a page and you will be teaching a fun, engaging game within five minutes. You might also be interested in the companion book "50 Scenes To Go".
A must-have for every classroom teacher (or homeschooling parent)!
50 Scenes to Go & 20 Monologues for Show
For Drama Teachers, Classroom Teachers, Parents and Students. Wonderful for homeschooling! Different length scenes from the classics: Tom Sawyer, The Jungle Book, The Wizard of Oz, Shakespeare, Gilbert and Sullivan. Great material for a recital. You may also be interested in the companion book 101 Theatre Games.
A must-have for every classroom teacher (or homeschooling parent)!
From Cowgirl to Congress
Journey of A Suffragist on the Front Lines
In celebration of the 100th anniversary when women won the right to vote, August 18, 2020, I have completed a fascinating book, From Cowgirl to Congress, about my grandmother, Jessie Haver Butler, the first official woman lobbyist in Washington, D.C.
Jessie wrote a first-hand account of the early years of the women’s rights movement in Washington D.C., and beyond. She shares many never before told stories of that tumultuous period, which immerse the reader in the experience.
Jessie worked side by side with Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt. She was quite progressive, innovative and ahead of her time.
Against all odds, Jessie escaped a home life in Pueblo, Colorado riddled with tragedies and dangers to attend Smith College, which propelled her into the center of the suffrage movement. Jessie helped raised me and is one of the main reasons I have become the woman I am today: a teacher, writer, historian, activist and speaker. She encouraged me to write about her when I was young and busy in college. All of her archives were transported to me in the late 1980s, but remained in two file cabinets, while I was busy teaching, raising a child and writing over 22 plays and books.
Recently, I discovered a packet of letters (19 from Lady Nancy Astor ~ perhaps largest collection in the world) written between Jessie and Lady Astor.
I didn’t realize that Nancy Astor, an American from Virginia, became the first woman to sit in Parliament in England! Nancy Astor proved to be a major voice for women, children and laborers. After participating on the front lines of the women’s right to vote in 1920, Jessie went to London to lecture several times beside George Bernard Shaw. That is where she met and struck up her lasting friendship with Lady Astor. The two women wrote back and forth for two decades.
Later, back in the U.S., Eleanor Roosevelt endorsed and spoke at Jessie’s many speech classes in D.C., where she taught over 500 women to take the lecture podium.
In 1945, Jessie wrote the book, Time To Speak Up, which became the woman’s textbook for public speaking. Lady Astor wrote the Foreword and First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, wrote a testimonial for the cover. A letter featured in the book is from George Bernard Shaw about the book. I also found in Jessie’s archives, letters to her from Carrie Chapman Catt, who was handed the baton from Susan B. Anthony. Jessie spoke on the same platform with Mrs. Catt when they toured the western U.S. together right before Mrs. Catt founded the League of Women Voters.
I have peppered the book with letters and rare pictures to go along with excerpts from Jessie’s unpublished autobiography, to set the scene for events in the women’s movement and beyond. There are many entertaining stories, never before heard, about Jessie’s personal encounters with Alice Paul, Emmeline Pankhurst, Queen Mary, Sir J. M. Barrie, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Bernard Shaw and significant others.
Jessie was instrumental in putting together the Pulitzer School of Journalism & also helped to set the first minimum wage in the U.S.
On the verge of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment--August 18, 2020, I believe this book to be timely, important, and of great interest to women and men alike. I have conducted extensive research on every person mentioned in the book and the timelines.
I am deeply touched and in awe as I read through these never before seen, eyewitness accounts. I followed Jessie around in later years when, at age 92, she shared the podium several times with Gloria Steinem, Marlo Thomas and Jane Fonda. Included are some rare, unpublished photos - one of Jessie lecturing with Gloria Steinem in Hollywood.