One of the reasons I write is to share my love of things. I wrote The Showman’s Girl - and my non-fiction book Circus Mania - to celebrate my love of the circus in the hope it would inspire readers to investigate the fabulous world of the big top.
I wrote Nashville Cinderella to celebrate the Nashville song-writing community, to show how hard the song-writers and musicians in that world work, how they all know and support each other, and how they craft songs from their own lives and relationships. I suppose, really, it came from my love of country music.
So it was great to read a couple of customer reviews of Nashville Cinderella on iTunes from people who were inspired by the story to discover country music:
“A great read from JD, inspires me to get some country on my ipod!”
“Loved reading this book, really inspirational. From reading this I found a new love for music that I never thought I’d find. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a new romantic novel to bury your head in.”
Reviews like that really warm my heart because they show I achieved what I set out to do. So if you’ve read the ebook and enjoyed it, do please post a review and spread the love!
(and, as they say in the circus, if you didn’t enjoy it... keep it to yourself!)
The Showman’s Girl and Nashville Cinderella are available to download from Amazon and iTunes, or to borrow in the Linford paperback edition from your local library.
From Afghanistan to Vietnam, Italy to India and Peru to China, participants in 47 countries around the globe staged special events to celebrate World Circus Day on April 20. I was proud to do my bit to represent the UK and celebrate the day by giving away my newly launched ebook The Showman’s Girl as a free download on iTunes.
And, to prove my involvement, it was an honour to receive the above certificate from HSH Princess Stephanie of Monaco, Honorary President of the Federation Mondiale du Cirque.
The Showman’s Girl follows the adventures of Emily, who runs away with the circus in the 1930s.
If you missed the free download, you can still buy it from iTunes for just 49p!
Or you can borrow the Linford edition paperback from your local library for free!
World Circus Day 5 will be celebrated on April 19, 2014. But if you can't wait until then for some circus slapstick, International Clown Week begins this August 1st!
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Natty
as I drew her |
For Natty Smalls, the star of Polka Dot Dreams, it’s all about the look: 50s hairdo, vintage clothes and, living up to her name, even retro underwear in the form of a bullet bra and girdle. As she puts it, a period-perfect figure requires the right foundations; for Natty, there was no stinting behind the scenes.
While thinking about some of the rock’n’roll outfits Natty wears in the story, I found myself drawing her. So I was knocked out to see how closely the cover illustration of the Linford large print paperback edition resembles my original sketch, even down to the ice-cream, courtesy of her boyfriend Matt’s rock’n’roll-themed ice-cream parlour.
Check it out in... or, rather, check it out of your local library now!
