#MJGreece
- What was your inspiration to write this book?

Shana Mangatal
- This book came straight from my diaries which I started writing in the 80’s when I was a teenager. I wrote down everything that happened in detail from the 80’s to 2009. When I finally pulled my diaries out of storage about a year ago and read them, I found so many stories about my life and about Michael that I knew his fans would want to hear. These are never before heard stories and details about Michael that I think might shed some light on who he actually was as a man and a human being. His fans have been so loyal to him his entire career, and I felt they deserved to know these wonderful moments and memories that I had kept secret for so long. My memories humanize him and I believe his fans will love him even more after reading them. My perspective is unique in that I was once a fan, just like all of you. This book takes you on my journey - a young girl who dreamed of moving to Hollywood and being a part of the entertainment industry and eventually meeting and falling in love with my idol, Michael Jackson. His fans will be able to relate to my feelings and observations, I think. It was such an exciting and magical time in my life. Writing it all down preserved and honored those memories for me and I hope everyone will be able to feel as if they're living those moments with me.

MJGreece
- What was the most difficult part of the whole process?

Shana
- It was extremely difficult reading my diaries and reliving my moments with Michael. I hadn’t read them since I wrote them starting over 30 years ago. I had blocked out almost everything and tried to forget that part of my life. When I finally did read them, even the happy memories made me sad. I cried as I read every page. I had written so many details that it really brought me back to those days and made me feel exactly how I felt during those moments.

I couldn’t help but regret some of my decisions and want to change some of the things that happened. When you look back and examine your life decades later, its so easy to see where you went wrong and how certain decisions might have changed the entire course of your life. But, when you’re living in the moment, and you’re young, it’s impossible to always make the wisest decisions. Youth is wasted on the young, that’s for sure. So, having to bring back those memories was very painful. It's all still very raw because there really wasn’t ever any closure.

MJGreece
- Why did you wrote this book now, after so many years of your relationship with Michael?

Shana
- Those years with Michael were the best times of my life. They were magical. They were the culmination of all of my dreams that I had as a young girl coming true. I knew that my story could perhaps inspire young people to go be their dreams. This book is evidence that no dream is too big. You can come from the smallest town and move to Hollywood without knowing a single soul and still become a part of the exciting world of show business that once seemed so unreachable. The fact that I became a part of the life of the most famous man in the world is proof that anything is possible and dreams do come true. I felt that my story needed to be heard and I hoped it would encourage others to believe in themselves and to have the courage to make their dreams a reality.

I also feel that Michael’s legacy has been tainted over the years. There continues to be an effort in the media to lessen Michael’s impact in history. He was the greatest entertainer to ever live and he deserves to be remembered that way. There have been so many terrible and untrue stories about Michael over the years that his accomplishments as a ground breaking legend seem to have taken a backseat to the crazy stories the press continues to spread. This book will help people remember him as he actually was and not the false image the press has created.

MJGreece
- What did Michael used to say about his fans?

Shana
- Michael loved his fans more than anything. He would’ve done anything for them. During his saddest times, his fans were always there to lift him up. He knew how much they loved him and that’s really one of the main things that kept him going all of those years. They made him strong.

MJGreece
- What was your funniest moment with Michael?

Shana
- Michael was such a funny guy with an incredible sense of humor. He loved to laugh and was a natural comedian. Being around him just made me happy. He always made me laugh and I tried to do the same for him. He had the ability to make everyone around him look at the world with the eyes of a child. He had an innocence and wonder about him that was inspiring to be around. He was such a leader that anyone that hung around him picked up his attitude towards life and started acting as if they were a kid again too.

I played quite a few practical jokes on him and I think he loved that because he liked being treated like a regular person. It was difficult for me to think of him as a superstar when I was around him, because he was so down to earth. I wrote about many of those practical jokes and fun times we had in "Michael and Me". Those were my favorite parts to write about because those moments showed Michael as he really was- a fun, down to earth, normal guy, who had a wicked sense of humor. I want everyone to know that side of him because that is the real Michael Jackson.

He was one of a kind. I am quite sure there will never be another human being as powerful and magical as he was. I miss him so much.

MJGreece
- Did Michael used the code name "Melissa" for you?

Note: "Melissa" (if that's a real name) is mentioned by Michael in private recorded phone calls know as "Glenda tapes", that we have heard long time ago. Michael said on the tapes that he was in love with this "Melissa". This description sounds like Shana. "Melissa" was also on Dangerous tour, was also modelling and was also dealing with the band. She was young back in 1992, so Michael mentioned her as girl, not woman.

Shana
- "Melissa" sure sounds like me.That description is exactly me. I heard that he talked about seeing her at rehearsal or something like that. In my book, I wrote about a similar encounter in his van. I also attended the Dangerous Tour rehearsals, which I still have the all access pass for. In addition to that, he had his Dangerous Tour office set up where I worked at Gallin Morey. He was there at least once a week, sometimes more. That's how he became so comfortable with me. We saw each other at work all of the time and he hung there all day usually.

He did use different names for people sometimes, so that can explain why that name and others aren't recognizable on those tapes.
He'd stand at my desk and flirt with me every day that he came in to the office. My co-workers teased me about that and started calling him my "boyfriend" or "husband" as a nickname.

Some people tend to forget that Michael had an every day life that wasn't reported or documented. We didn't have TMZ back then, so he was able to live his life without being followed by cameras. He did a lot of things on a daily basis that fans will never be aware of. He was a human being who did normal things, just like everyone else. The only time Michael was seen was when he was working. So, you have to imagine, he was living a normal
life on those days when he wasn't seen.

One of the reasons I wrote the book is to show his fans another side of him, that they may have never seen before- the human side. Your whole perspective changes about a person when you meet them and get to know them. So, I understand the perspective the fans have of Michael. I was once a fan myself as a teenager and I can tell you, my perspective and feelings changed when I got to know him. It was impossible for me to see him as a "superstar" after getting to know him. He was so down to earth, I only saw him as "Michael". He was a regular person in my eyes.
A lot of fans have asked why there are no private pics of us. First of all, he hated being photographed unless it was in a professional setting with perfect lighting and his own photographer. But most importantly, we didn't have cell phones with cameras back then and selfies didn't exist. You had to bring an actual camera with you to places and events, which I did rarely. I never brought a camera to work or on dates, of course. No one did.
There was no way I was going to whip a camera out of my purse and ask to take a picture of him. Only fans could get away with stuff like
that. He would've dropped me immediately and I would've been fired from my job if I had pulled such a stunt! Lol.

I don't have ANY pics with most of the celebrity friends I had, and certainly none with the majority of the clients at my job. That just wasn't done back then. You would be fired. I always treated Michael as a regular person and that's what made him feel comfortable. And I wanted him to think of me as someone he could feel safe with. Asking for a picture in private moments would not have been cool, especially knowing that he wanted to keep everything a secret.

I was in two of his short films, "Is This Scary" and "Ghosts", 3 years apart. He owns all of the pictures from those shoots, in which there were many that we posed for. So, unless the Estate releases all of his private pics, I may never see them. There's a lot of behind the scenes video footage from those shoots that we shot as well. I wish they'd release all of those. We filmed a lot of fun stuff together on those sets. I even had a private photo shoot with his photographer. I have still never seen those pics.

I have a lot of documents and notes that I couldn't use in my book and some pics that I also couldn't use. For a book, you have to get permission to use everything. It's a tough process. I'm lucky that Michael gave me the picture that's on the front cover actually. It's quite possible I would've never seen or owned that picture either, if I wasn't in touch with him and his office on a daily basis.

Anyway, back to the two short films of his I was in. He personally cast me in both. That should be a clue to the closeness of our relationship and the length of it. I was just a receptionist at his manager's office. Receptionists usually don't get to be in short films with clients or associate with them at all, especially when the client is the most famous man in the world. It's because of Michael's affection for me that he kept inviting me to be a part of the things he was working on, including rehearsals and tour dates and short films. He usually treated people he worked with and who worked for him very professionally. He'd never met most of his assistants at his own office. He never even hung out with his band or background singers on tour. So, for him to form a relationship with me outside of work, and to put me in his videos, it was a big deal. Not only to me, but to my co workers as well. His own managers were surprised at how close we had gotten.
Because he treated me so differently from everyone else, I started really falling in love with him. On the set of "Ghosts", he treated me like a princess. He made sure I was taken care of. It was just so sweet. It showed me what a gentleman he was. He was such a wonderful guy. After his big dance scenes, he'd always look over at me to see my reaction. It's as if he was looking at me for approval and that was just so sweet to me. I always gave him a thumbs up or a big smile. Even though he was the greatest entertainer to ever live, he was still humble and down to earth like that. Seeing that side of his personality made me fall even deeper in love with him.

MJGreece
- What do you answer to those who are accusing you for lying in your relationship with Michael and saying that you are doing this just to gain publicity?

Shana
- I think if you actually read the book you will see that it would be impossible for me to make up the things that happened. Everything is documented and some of it is so crazy, I could never even dream that it would happen that way.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Also, if I wanted to write a book of lies or fantasies, I would've written it much differently, with a happier ending. I was raw and honest in the book and did not embellish the relationship or try to make it more than it was. There were times when I was confused with all that was happening actually. I wrote about all of that. The book is written in real time as if you're reading my diary and my feelings do conflict at times. The reader will be able to follow all of the ups and downs of this rollercoaster relationship as it happened. People who read the book like the fact that it's so honest and detailed. I didn't hold back anything and I didn't try to make myself or Michael look good or bad. I just wrote everything exactly as it happened.

Also, if I just wanted publicity by writing this book, I would've written it 7 years ago, right after he passed away. I was getting a lot of offers at that time and refused to speak to anyone about him. Emotionally, I just wasn't ready to deal with any of the memories I had. Even the happy memories made me sad after he passed away. It took a long time to get to a place where I was strong enough to finally tell my story. I knew it was an important story and one his fans needed to hear. But, I had to do it when I was ready and not when the media wanted it.

MJGreece
- Thank you very much.

Shana
- Thank you so much!