Life Starts Now

Maria Lawson

Description

Maria Lawson rose to fame on the hit TV show The X Factor in 2005 but had already enjoyed some success as a singer/songwriter prior to this, having secured a recording and publishing contract through her own efforts and determination to break into the music industry. Life Starts Now follows Maria's journey from hopeful unknown, through the audition process and beyond to her appearance on a major national television show, taking the reader behind the scenes to find out what really goes on inside the hit show. This fascinating autobiography documents Maria's early life and explains how this ambitious young girl from a humble background fulfilled her dream of TV stardom and recording success. In this honest and heart warming account, Maria explains how she coped with the transition from obscurity to a life in the limelight only to come close to losing everything she worked so hard to achieve. More recently, Maria has emerged stronger than ever, having overcome past setbacks to release an exciting second album Emotional Rollercoaster and has secured a record deal with a new label. The birth of her son has meant that she now has to fit her busy schedule around her most important role as a mother. This book is not only an inspirational story, proving that it is possible for anyone to achieve their dreams, it is also a practical self help guide offering pregnancy and life skills advice based on Maria's own experiences as an artist, businesswoman and new mum.

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 21 juin 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781907792342
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page





LIFE STARTS NOW





Maria Lawson

Publisher Information

First published in 2008, reprinted and updated in 2009 by
Apex Publishing Ltd
PO Box 7086, Clacton on Sea, Essex, CO15 5WN
www.apexpublishing.co.uk

Digital Edition converted and distributed in 2011 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com

Copyright © 2008-2009 by Maria Lawson
The author has asserted her moral rights

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition, that no part of this book is to be reproduced, in any shape or form. Or by way of trade, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser, without prior permission of the copyright holder.

Production Manager: Chris Cowlin
Cover Design: Siobhan Smith


Publishers Note:
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Apex Publishing Ltd

Copyright:
Every attempt has been made to contact the relevant copyright holders, Apex Publishing Ltd would be grateful if the appropriate people contact us on:
01255 428500 or [e-mail]




Dedication



This book is dedicated to my beautiful son
Brandon Josiah Garry.
You are a true gift from God.
Your smile is the sunshine that brightens up my day.




Acknowledgments

To my wonderful husband Lawrence Garry, thank you for your unconditional love. I watch you and our beautiful baby sleeping beside me and I thank God for sending you both to me.
To my mum, thank you for inspiring me in every way with your strength and all the compassion and love you have given me, making me the person I am today.
To the Lawson family, thank you for your constant love and support.
To Granny back home in the West Indies, thank you for always keeping me in your prayers.
Thank you to my extended family, the Garrys, for the kindness and love you have shown me.
I would like to thank Chris Cowlin, Jackie Bright, Kim Kimber and Siobhan Smith and everyone at Apex Publishing for helping to bring this book to life. Writing this book has been such a wonderful experience. It was always a dream to write my autobiography one day and now it has come true.
Thank you to all my beautiful friends and everyone who has helped and inspired me in my life and been with me along my musical journey.
Thank you to everyone at Pebble Beach Music and my press, TV marketing, national and regional PR team and everyone that helps to make it all happen.
To all my fans, thank you for your love and your continued support and I hope you enjoy my book as much as I enjoyed writing it. It’s a pleasure having the opportunity to share my heart with you.




Introduction

I had arrived at a crucial point in my life. It was a time of self discovery and finding my true self. The moment at which my life really began.
I never felt that I had really lived before that. Throughout my life I was always terribly insecure and so preoccupied with trying to establish my career, making others happy and focusing on the wrong things, that I didn’t take time to enjoy everything that was happening to me.
It was April 2005 when I came to the realisation that if I didn’t let go of all my inhibitions and fears and go for everything I wanted in life, I would be forever wondering what if…?
I have always had this overwhelming desire to be noticed, to stand out, to be somebody, to feel special. But then, doesn’t everybody?
Something just clicked inside and I asked myself why I was living my life in the shadows, holding back my inner most desires, my passion and my dreams, not being me. What matters most is that you are happy.
I had a burning desire inside to change my life for the better, to let go and be free to liberate myself in every way possible. I told myself, ‘don’t wait for tomorrow’. Life starts now.



Early Days

I grew up wanting to perform. I watched Top of the Pops , Fame and Mini Pops and wished I could sing and dance like the people on TV. They were beautiful, successful and happy.
To me they represented what I thought happiness was and a way to live out your dream to the fullest.
I was born in Park Royal, London. I am the youngest of five children with three older brothers and one sister. Charles is two years older than me then there’s Brenda, Godfrey and Leon.
We have always been a musical family. Brenda is a singer, Charlie has a great voice and Leon is an amazing musician. Godfrey has more academic talents but he loves music too. I grew up with Brenda and Charles. We didn’t live with Godfrey or Leon but they would visit as often as they could.
My mum came over to London from the West Indies in the 1950s. She was 18 years old and pregnant with her first son, Leon. Her partner was back in Jamaica so she came alone with hopes of building a career, saving some money and eventually going back. It was a very hard time for foreigners to set up life in the UK because of the cultural differences and racial barriers. Mum couldn’t find a suitable home in England and shortly after she gave birth to Leon she decided to have him fostered for a while to offer him a better life until she was able to set up a stable home and secure future for him. She eventually found a job in nursing at a hospital in Croydon and was renting a room from a family but they didn’t want any kids living there.
Leon was a beautiful baby. My mum is half Chinese and half West Indian and her first partner was also Chinese so Leon had strong Chinese features. In those days they both stood out for their unique looks. It took a few years for my mother to get comfortable in England. She was so young and all alone in a foreign country. She found things very difficult and struggled for many years. As a result Leon stayed in foster care much longer than was initially planned and was eventually taken into full time care.
My brother Charles, who is a year and a few months older than me but acts like my younger brother, was the attention seeker in the family. Despite the hard time, we had a lot of fun growing up. We were always up to mischief. I know he cares and loves me in his weird way which is likewise, he has a really strange way of showing it.
Charles has always been charming and charismatic which meant growing up he would get his own way. He could get away with anything and my mum would always blame his bad behaviour on the influence of his friends but I think my brother was a bad influence on them. He has always been such a troubled soul, wrapped up in every kind of problem and drama. He’s the kind of person who likes to have too much fun and one who loves excess. He doesn’t know when to stop and, at times, his life has gone way out of control.
My brother isn’t like me at all; we are so different, both in personality and looks. Charles resembles my father who has a Cuban heritage with dark good looks and piercing eyes. I am a mixture of both parents but don’t really favour either. People say I look a little bit like my sister Brenda and we have a beauty spot in exactly the same place on our left cheek, which is quite unusual. My mum father’s name was Chung, which still makes me curious now when I hear it. I would like to find out more about my cultural background. In the West Indies everyone is of mixed heritage and it is quite a melting pot but that’s what makes the people so interesting, beautiful and so different. The food, the culture, the music and the fashion - it’s all so fascinating.
My dad grew up in Jamaica but his parents were from Cuba. We have quite an eclectic mix in our family and I suppose that is what made us so different. A lot of people always ask me if I am from Somalia or somewhere in northern Africa which is interesting.
Godfree is quite the academic in the family with over 9 A-levels, he has a very high IQ. He loves learning and he is always studying in some shape or form. When he was young he suffered from a stammer that hindered his progress into piloting.
My sister Brenda is a singer/songwriter. She used to be in a reggae band in the 1980s called Ruff Cutt. I remember being very young and following her to the recording studio where she used to rehearse and record all her records. Ruff Cutt were a live band of musicians which consisted of a bass player, drummer, keyboard player and guitarist. They used to rehearse in a small studio on the ground floor of Donovan Court council flats in an area called Stonebridge in north west London. They reminded me of Bob Marley and the Wailers, except Brenda was the female equivalent to Bob. A few of the members were Rastafarian and they had a revival reggae-based sound. Brenda got so deeply wrapped up in the culture at the time that she wanted to become a Rastafarian but my mum wouldn’t allow it. All the local talent used to go Donovan Court to practice their instruments, rehearse and make music for the community. It was an amazing place for developing talent and great music.
I used to admire my sister a lot as she was a talented, beautiful, friendly and bubbly person. She had a slim build and long, wavy hair and a lot of people said she resembled Sade; she looked like the perfect 80s’ pop star. When she used to go to the studio she would often wear stretch skinny jeans and a jumper that said ‘star