Lightning Strikes: the inspiration behind Channeling Marilyn (Guest Post by Mima Tipper)
I remember the moment like it was yesterday. There I was sitting at the kitchen island with my then teenaged daughter Marley, looking through a copy of Teen Vogue. Marley was in middle school, and was very interested in fashion, so I thought it would be fun to look at the mag together. We were leafing through the pages when an ad popped out at me. It was maybe for a perfume or a clothing brand, and there was the model all done up like Marilyn Monroe, pin-up style. My thought was: damn, the woman’s been dead for over fifty years, and these vultures just won’t leave her alone. We kept looking at the mag and, bang, there was a young pop singer all done up like Marilyn. Well, that made me think: what would Marilyn think of this? You know, like if her spirit was up there on a cloud looking down. What would she think of all these models and singers and others copy-catting her look, trading on her image?
After that, Marilyn was everywhere for me, as if my asking that “what if” question had conjured her. I saw Marilyn clothing brands and jewelry brands and t-shirts. I saw books about her, fan clubs and references. Influencers wearing her famous dresses. Her possessions being auctioned off. Art with her face, plays with her persona, and on and on. Marilyn was everywhere.
The “what if” thought came back to me again, and my writer’s brain began to concoct a story. Who would Marilyn’s spirit visit if she could come back? Then why? Then what would happen? Before long I had the bones of what would become my YA paranormal fantasy Channeling Marilyn.
Looking through Teen Vogue with my daughter was not my first rodeo with Marilyn. I was only a toddler when she tragically died at the young age of 36, but all throughout my life I was very aware of her as an actress. I loved her movies and I was thrilled whenever it was “Marilyn Monroe” week on WABC-TV (Channel 7 out of NYC). I would curl up on the sofa in our tv room basement with my after-school snack, and lose myself in films like “Some Like it Hot” and “Bus Stop.” I was always a fashion-free tomboy—still am, if I’m honest—but there was something about Marilyn. Her completely polished, technicolor appearance engaged me like the most luxurious bouquet of the most gorgeous flowers. There was something more about her, though. There had to be. After all, there were a lot of gorgeous, polished actresses in Hollywood movies from the 1940s and 1950s. So, what was (and is) it about Marilyn that keeps her at the top of pop culture?
Over the years I spent researching her life, watching her movies, and drafting and editing my novel, I’ve thought of that question: what is it about Marilyn? I mean, she has more fans now than when she was alive, and those fans seem to span every demographic, every gender and age worldwide.
For me, it goes beyond her hard work and talent as an actress, her physical beauty, and even her personality (at least what comes through in her interviews and in all that’s been written about her). She possesses an incandescent emotional vulnerability that touches me at my core. I believe her. It’s as simple and rare and complicated as that.
That’s why I wanted to write a novel including her spirit as a character. I didn’t want to rehash her life, fame and tragedy. That’s been done over and over again. I wanted to speculate on the fiction and fantasy of what Marilyn’s spirit would think of what has happened with her legacy in the mortal coil, and I wanted to let her spirit come back to that mortal coil and have another story.
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“Channeling Marilyn” (She Writes Press, June 2, 2026)
Seventeen-year-old Lexa Donovan longs for a glamorous life. But when she’s chosen to star as sexy showgirl Cherie in her school’s spring production of “Bus Stop,” she can’t help but panic. One thing timid, plus-size Lexa knows for sure is she’s the exact opposite of the most famous Cherie ever: sex-goddess Marilyn Monroe. On the verge of quitting, Lexa’s world turns upside down when Monroe’s spirit takes up residence in her body. With the world’s greatest acting coach now on her side, Lexa’s ready to give the play her all. But before the curtain rises on opening night, Lexa and Marilyn learn to trust their own hearts and act on what each truly needs to move forward—in life and in death.
Half Greek, half American, Mima Tipper earned her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is the award-winning author of the YA novel “Kat’s Greek Summer.” Mima has also published YA fiction in Hunger Mountain and Sucker Literary Magazine. “Channeling Marilyn” is her second novel. Beyond devoting most of her time to writing, Mima helps at Inklings Children’s Books in Waitsfield, Vermont, volunteers at her local library, and is committed to promoting literacy. Mima lives in Vermont with her family; find her at www.mimatipper.com.
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