The Chris Voss Show - The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Moonlight Monsters by Heather Millard

Episode Date: July 20, 2025

Moonlight Monsters by Heather Millard https://www.amazon.com/Moonlight-Monsters-Heather-Millard/dp/1665543523 This story is about a boy who is around 8 years old and sees scary shadows on his wall which frighten him so much that he believes the shadows to be monsters. The shadows are called, Jangles, Mozzarella, Daisy and Ritzi. They have come from the office of shadows with the job of helping children find out how brave they can be. Alexander decides to give them his chocolate chip cookie and even though he is so scared he confronts them and tells them to share it. Alexander then discovers that he can be brave even when he is afraid. Children have vivid imaginations and can create fearful situations where perhaps none exist. They need to know that in spite of the feelings of being frightened they can rise above it and find out that they can choose their thoughts and choose what they wish to think. My hopes are that this story will give a child the realization that they can experience a happy thought at the same time as being scared. So when Ritzi suggests this to alexander it becomes an idea that he can use. So that alexanders actions provide him with a discovery that he can even be brave enough to confront his fear.

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illustrious career where he became a, I don't know, ultra rich and she's like, well, you should have married Bobby, but get your, uh, get your step mom on your side or whatever it is. Go to Goodreads, tell your family and friends to go to Goodreads.com. Forch says Chris Voss, LinkedIn.com. Forch says Chris Voss. Chris Voss, one of the TikTokity and Chris Voss Facebook. Opinions expressed by guests on the podcast are solely their own and do not necessarily

reflect the opinions of the host or the Chris Voss show. Some guests to the show may be advertising on the podcast, but it is not an endorsement or review of any kind. Today's featured author comes to us from bookstolifemarketing.co.uk. With expert publishing to strategic marketing, they help authors reach their audience and maximize their book's success. Today we have an amazing lady on the show with us, Heather Millar joins us on the show. Her book is for children that came out January 4th, 2022 called Moonlight Monsters. We're gonna get into some of the projects and other things that she's working on, on top of finding out how she writes books and who she writes for and kind of her journey as an author as well.

So we're getting into her and her experience and her background. Welcome to the show, Heather. How are you? I'm fine. Thank you for having me on. Thank you for coming. We really appreciate it. Give us a, your.com.

Well, is there any place in the social media or any place you want people to look you up and find out more about you? Uh, well, if they buy the book and Amazon at the very back is a whole story about me cause I'm 97 and I was 12 when world war two broke out. Oh wow. Went to Australia and the ship that I was going to go on was torpedoed and I was lucky because I was in a different ship at the last minute. Also going to San Francisco harbour from after Pearl Harbour had happened, I left Sydney with my mother and we went on a ship with gunners on the top deck.

And then when we got to San Francisco Harbor, a plane swooped down and the ship swerved because apparently San Francisco Harbor was mined and we were heading on the HMS, well not HMS, the President Coolidge ship straight for a mine in San Francisco Harbor. And so then we got on a troop ship to get back to England and all of this is in the back of moonlight monsters. I think there's as much biography as there is story. Yeah. I mean, I, it sounds like you might have a different, a whole another book there if you're a biologist.

That's quite harrowing. I mean, I was just blessed. And you just barely missed the ship that was Torpedo. That's wild. Yes, well, we got to Liverpool. I was born in England and my father's family came from Australia. And that happened because in World War I, Australian soldiers came to England and my

grandmother invited them to their home. And they fell in love with my dad's two sisters and the whole family moved to Australia. So when World War II happened, they said, I should be sent out to Australia. So we got on this train in an air raid and got to Liverpool and got on the ship called the Arundora Star. And about an hour or two later, we were told we were going to be taken off that ship and put on a ship called Samaria. And so halfway across the Atlantic, the captain of the ship told us the Arundora star had been sunk and there were 11 survivors.

And an extraordinary thing happened because years and years later, as an adult and living in America, in Miami, I was meeting a friend and she said to me, when you go to England, would you get in touch with a friend of mine? And I said, of course. So when I got there, I called up the friend and we had lunch and she said, what happened to you during the war? World War II. And I told her, she said, my father was one of the 11 survivors who was pushed

off by a British officer, pushed off into the Atlantic and survived. Wow. I know. What a small world, huh? What a small world, exactly. This is a book I think you need to There's like people that were you know, we're supposed to be in the building on 9-eleven or on the planes I think famous Hollywood guys who wrote you're right. So I was animated funny shows

He was supposed to be on one of the planes and he missed his flight. There's all sorts of instances like that. But what an interesting twist in terms of fate. Yes, do you believe in fate? I don't, I don't. I'm an atheist, so I believe that, it's just luck.

Sometimes you do need luck in this life, but you know, everyone can believe what they want to believe. Let's get into your book, Moonlight Monsters. Who's this targeted to, what age group? And give us an overview. What's inside? Right, I will. It's directed perhaps to seven-year-olds, eight-year-olds, who were scared to go to bed. So what happens is there are four shadows sent from the Office of Shadows, whose aim is to help children find out how brave they can be. So the names of the shadows are Jango's who's wearing a uniform and lots of

medals and he walks up and down with the medals jangling and then there's Mozzarella who's wearing a yellow striped tart cotton suit and he fried, well, I'll tell you later. And then there's Daisy who's got a feather in her hat which tickles Mozzarella's nose. And then there's Ritzy who needs the job desperately and is late because she

can't find her left shoe. So all these shadows are told they're going to have to fly up to Alexander's room and Ritchie said when I got this job they never told me there was going to be a necessity for me to fly up to his room. Jan will said when he ignores what she says he says when I count to seven, you'll all start flying. So he counts to seven, they all fly up and where do they land? On Alexander, this little boy in bed who's scared, so scared to go to bed at night because he sees monsters.

They all four land on his wall. And he sees Alexander humped under the bed, trying to get to the end of the bed, and she's very, very upset. So she says to him, Alexander, think of something funny or something happy, like the monkeys at the zoo. And he's amazed that he hears her talking to him. And Django said, rule number one is we only come in the moonlight and rule number two is we never, never, never, never, never talk to the children. So he's broken rule number two. And then because she does it,

mozzarella decides to tell Alexander that he frightened George Washington when he was a boy. And look what happened to him. He grew up very brave. And Alexander has a painting on his wall of George Washington crossing the Delaware. Oh wow. So anyway, the wind, there's a big tree outside Alexander's window and the wind blows the tree branches so that the shadows, which he thinks of as monsters, they bang against the window and he thinks he's going to be smothered. So he rushes downstairs and his mother has just taken out some chocolate chip cookies from the oven. So he says, can I have one? And then he blurt out, four, I need four of these cookies. So he wants to, she says he can only have one and to

brush his teeth afterwards. And then he goes up the stairs and he wants so much to bite into this cookie, but he says to himself, I mustn't. And he went into the room. He knew that the shadows, which he believes are monsters, would be waiting for him. And they are indeed sitting there on the wall and he says, here is a chocolate chip cookie and you four will have to share it. And he can't believe that he's been able to do that. And oh dear.

And Django says to him, well, brave boys shouldn't have to share their cookies. So he hugs that thought to himself and he gets into bed and he goes to sleep and the next morning, what's waiting for him on the bookcase but the chocolate chip cookie. And then on the path below, Jangle says to Ritzy, you know you were not meant to talk to him. And she says, well, you told him he was a brave boy. And he said, yes. And he said, you know, his voice is softening from this grumbling voice at her. And oh, she says says to him I don't think I want this job. I don't want to be in a job where I'm scaring these children and he says you're just what we need. We just need you. Look how you have helped him. And they all agree that maybe Alexander will never be scared to go to bed again. So that's the story and it's really that you can be scared but somehow you can find a way

either by changing your thoughts to something happy or thinking well, I'm still must be brave even though I'm scared and I can do it somehow Ah, what a great message for kids because sometimes they get overwhelmed by the world They're not really prepared to take on some of the things that the world throws with them You know, it's a bit it's a bit much coming at them. You know, you're just kind of like whoa I'm just a kid man Hang on and I remember being afraid of the monsters under the bed. That was my thing as a kid Oh, yes under the bed. Oh, that's scary Yeah, I always I always was afraid, you know, as soon as you put your feet down they grab you

So you stay in the bed. Oh, you poor thing. Oh, you poor thing. How old are you? That was my thing as a kid. I still think there's monsters on the bed, but it's just my divorce attorneys. No, I'm just kidding. It's a marriage.

You're right. The, you know, but now I have guns. So there's that. Oh, you do? OK. I keep a machete by the bed. And I'm a bandsaw, just in case. Well, you gotta, you gotta, if you kill the monster, if by chance you

win the battle, the monster in the bed, then you gotta cut them up because otherwise the strands will find them. And then the monster in the bed mob comes for you. Monster, the bed cartel. See, we've got a whole nother book you can write right here. Just off the spot line. It's made up. So, well, you're, you, so you're 97 now. I am going to be here. You wrote this book when you're 95 ish.

No, I have written about 10 children's stories actually. One about a dragon that doesn't know that he's got fire. It's one way to find out what kind of fire you got. Oh, he's got to be made angry and nothing that the people in the forest can do to make him angry. He's just a happy-go-lucky dragon. And so that's one story.

Then there's a story about a fairy who was unable to answer a question in fairyland, and so she's ousted and a little girl helps her. Then there's one about a hedgehog, a porcupine in America. I'm going to try and make one book with all of these children's stories that I've written through the years. Yeah. I want one, the happiness jacket, where you put on the jacket and you're happy. One about the time shop where you can go and buy time, which we all need to do.

One about a blob, some creature that everybody's scared of and they don't understand and they won't say good morning to him and he manages to save a child. So after that, everybody says good morning to him. There's another one about, uh, let me see what else. Are these on Amazon? Cause I'm searching.

No, no, because I haven't published them. I I've only published this one book, Moonlight Monsters, and I've got to gather these other stories together and put them in one book. When you were growing up, you read perhaps many stories in one book, right? Children's stories, or you will read two. Were you read two when you were a child? Yep, my mom would read to us in the womb.

Yeah, can you hear me? Yes. My mom would read to us in the womb. the I'm not sure, I don't care what she did because there was... I think that's wonderful. That's wonderful, Chris. Did she play music to you as well? Yes, she did. She played music and stuff. She kind of believed that I could hear and experience all this thing. And I believe you can. I believe also you can experience the calmness of the mother and stuff or anxiety of the mother. So, yeah, yeah. So it was this year, this is your first book you published. And if my math is right in 2022, you would have a 94 or 95. Is that right? Yes. Yes. So folks, here's the message. It's never too late to write your first book. You were inspiring authors now, you know, people like, you know, a lot of people like, uh, I am too old to write a book. Uh, you know, the No, I'm just kidding. Just kidding. Was ours Nick and Lace or what was it?

It's not over till it's over. That's true. That's what that's what my divorce attorneys under the bed. And every day is an opportunity to be positive and look forward to something that you can do that you would enjoy doing. Would you say that's the one of the key things in your life that's given you longevity or you know, was it drinking and hard drugs? No, I used to smoke cigarettes and I had to try three times to give them up. And so I was always scared to ever, ever, ever try anything else other than what I had given up.

So I never, I'm going to die without ever having tried marijuana or anything like that. And my husband was a pathologist. He showed me lungs that were black from smoking cigarettes. So anyway, you know, my reason I think for long life is, I think one that I have been blessed. I also think it's love. I think I've been lucky to have love. And also, I really, I'm happy inside, and I think I'm grateful for everything. And I think the universe is so remarkable. I'm sure you agree. Pete Yeah, it is remarkable. It could be, I mean, it could be an ugly thing, but the most,

the most, the wonderful thing about human beings is our ability to find hope. And I think you find some of that sometimes in gratitude, like you mentioned, right? Absolutely. It's what we have that we have to appreciate, not what we, not even think about what we don't have. Yeah. As, as my friend's wife said, if I had everything, where would I put it? I love that. Cause I hear so many young people today saying, you know, my mom said I could have everything I don't need to settle.

And you're like, yeah, no one can really have everything. And the fact that you would even accept that as a conclusion is completely delusional, but some people love delusional in line to themselves. But yeah, if I had everything, where would I put it? That's a, that's a good analogy. You know, it's, it's a being grateful. I have a gratefulness day every Sunday. I celebrate gratefulness day and I kind of spend the day kind of working on my stuff, but also kind of being aware of,

you know, how good I have it, how, how well I have it, you know, do I have it perfect? No. But you know what? I got some really cool things. I got some people love me. I got a dog loves me. And, uh, you know, I, there's a lot of people my age that are, their health is breaking down and they're not doing as well, maybe. So I, you know, I don't have any room to complain. I remember I complained once at, when I hit 50 on Facebook and I was like, I was kind of doing a little entertainment rap where I was boohooing and you know, just for entertainment purposes and I was like, oh god, I'm 50

And uh, someone wrote me and they said, you know, maybe you should just calm down a little bit with complaining about being 50 There's a lot of people who aren't here that would love to have hit 50 And you know, maybe you should just back it off there buddy. And he was right. I was like I'm like, yeah, you got a point there. I probably should appreciate So life I've just began for you when you were 50. Yeah, there was a lot that opened up. Uh, it seems, I think when people turn 50, they, they kind of start hitting some new awakenings, maybe. Is that true?

You know, I think that with drugs that are helping people combat illnesses and things, that people are going to live much longer. And they'll probably even come out with a pill that makes you younger. I would like a pill that makes me younger. I think that's called Viagra, isn't it? No, I'm just kidding. So what's your future plans that you're working on? I think we talked in the pre-show about you've got some books you're working on. I still think you need to do a biography. You've got some amazing stories

there in your life. Thank you. Thank you. Well, maybe I'll do something, a memoir or something, but no, you know, you know, 2026 is a very important year for America. And after the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Of course. It took seven years, Chris, before America was accepted as a sovereign country. I mean, the King had to have an enabling act in Parliament to agree that his subjects would no longer be his subjects. And France and Spain, well, Spain had to accept America. They all knew that America was going to be a great country. And I think, you know, they wondered about that. And so there were a lot of difficulties with boundaries, the navigation of the Mississippi River and the loyalists.

The loyalists, Benjamin Franklin was very upset with the loyalists and said, you know, they'd been burning towns, they'd been spies, they'd been helping the British. And then somebody came along and said, but there was some loyalists who didn't do any of those bad things. So they were able then to resolve that and have in the peace treaty that the states would each be able to help for a year to any reparations or anything to the loyalists. But it's been a fascinating journey for me, this research, and being an American citizen and having given up my British citizenship, independence is very close to my heart. Pete Now, were you, during World War, let's see, I think I lost the timeline. During World War II, you were in America or were you in Britain?

I was also in America because when we came back, my mother and I to America from Australia, when Pearl Harbor had happened and the airplane that we were meant to fly back to England on, they told us that because we weren't important and they needed the seats for generals, and obviously they did, we would have to wait for a ship. So I went to school in New York to a school called Julia Richmond High School

for about a year and a half until they told us that there was a ship that would take 12 civilians, and it was a troop ship. And I remember the soldiers on the ship at night singing, and they would sit on the deck and they would sing. Pete Wow! Julie Yes. Pete I mean, this is a story, I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of even smaller stories about that journey and some of the things. And then it was probably high

risk because the Germans had, you know, subs running around everywhere. They sure did. That's why I'm amazed I'm 97. Yeah. I mean, that's pretty good. And then all the drinking, partying and drugs too, you know, you did so there. And also, a wonderful thing happened to my husband and I. When we came to Miami in Florida, I was selling from door to door and my husband had to take his exams again. And so we knew nobody really except the people in the hospital. And would you... Well, it's an amazing thing that the friends that we made, we went back to England after 20 years,

those friends sent us airplane tickets. And they said, we're giving you a car and we're giving you an apartment for three weeks. We want you to come and have a holiday back here. And then they even offered my husband a job and then we came back to America for another 30 years. Geez, my friends stuck. So, I mean, how, I don't think in any other country such a wonderful

thing would happen to people that they would so generously do all that for friends, really. That is true. That is a wonderful country. You know, my grandfather came here from Germany in the 1800s, before the troubles of Germany. And he stepped off the train at the Union Pacific Depot in Salt Lake City, Utah. He spoke nothing but German, knew nothing but a little English. The Mormon missionaries had conned him into coming to Utah

and they took him in and they helped him and they found some other Germans. I suppose they could talk to him. But they took him in. He stepped off off the train just standing at the train station and you know I was there visiting having dinner they now turn the train station into a they have some great bars and dining restaurants over there and so I went over and checked out how beautiful it was and my grandfather worked there all his life so it's kind of special but yeah the fact that people just take people in and feed them and give them a job and and get them working and stuff uh you know what a beautiful thing this country used to be

right and look at the Marshall Plan where America rebuilt and I America, there's nowhere in the world like America. There used to be. Yeah. Uh, so as we go out, I give people your final thoughts, tell them where to pick up the book and where to go get all the fun things and to watch out for more coming from you. Well, I hope that, uh, if you have, or even if you're an adult, the fact that we can change our thoughts when we're miserable, we can think of something good. Or if we're not feeling brave, we can somehow manage to act brave, that life is wonderful and it's a gift to be alive and it's a miracle to be in this universe. That's what I want to say. And what an inspiring message and uplifting message for children too, because like I said,

I was the guy afraid of the monsters under the bed and all that jazz. So in fact, Neil made me sleep better now at night when I ordered the book. Heather, I'm still trying to get over it. I still have monsters in the bed, but they're called like death taxes and, and what's the other part? I don't know. Paperwork. I don't know. Wonderful.

Have a great day. And thank you for coming. And I'm looking, you got cut off by the intro. We were talking pre-show, 4,000 books. I think you said behind you there in the video. Yes. I love people that collect books. I think books are great.

Do you have a connection? I used to, and then I moved a lot of it to digital and I regret it. I really miss, there's something, the beauty about the tactileness of a book and reading it. Did your dog sit on your lap? She's a Siberian Husky, so she's not a lap dog. They're a little too big for that.

Oh. They'll usually sit with me and I'll read some thing of Stoicism and stuff like that. Well, thank you very much for coming to the show, Heather. Thank you for having me. Thank you. We'll look forward to having you for the next book. And I wish you all you wish yourself, Chris. Thank you very much. And you too. Thanks to Heather for coming on the show. Thanks, Ron, for tuning in. Go to Goodreads.com for Chess Chris Voss. Order up her book wherever fine books are sold. It's called Moonlight Monsters out June 4th 2022 by Heather.

Go to Goodreads.com for Chess Chris Voss, LinkedIn.com for Chess Chris Voss, Facebook.com for Chess Chris Voss, Chris Voss One on the Tiktokity. Thanks for tuning in. Be good to each other. Stay safe. We'll see you guys next time.