Julia's Jukebox for Polka Dot Dreams

Natty Smalls, the vintage clothes-obsessed heroine of Polka Dot Dreams only listens to two types of music: “Rock... and roll.” So what would be on the soundtrack if her jive through the retro scene was made into a movie?

Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On by Jerry Lee Lewis. This is the pumping piano smash on the jukebox when Natty walks into Matt’s 50s-themed ice cream parlour and first sets her eyes on the man of her dreams.

I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor. The song Natty’s landlady and Matt’s widowed mum, the irrepressible Margie, blasts at full volume while Hoovering the stairs. Although she’s partial to a bit of Abba, too.

Big Hunk Of Love by Elvis Presley. Tartan-clad Teddy Boy band Duke & The Bop Tones are roaring through this full-on rocker when Natty and Matt have their first jive at the Cinderella rockabilly club.

Chapel Of Love by the Dixie Cups. As Natty sinks to her chin in a bubble bath and thinks of Matt, what more apt tune could be playing on her retro-styled CD player than this rock’n’roll song about walking down the aisle?

Second Chance by Natty Smalls. This is the song Natty writes after meeting Matt and hoping it will be second time lucky for both of them. Cameron Swoon, the mysterious Scottish Teddy Boy, swears it’s the song that will make Natty a singing sensation. But if Cameron can get her a record deal, what effect will that have on her relationship with Matt?

Click here to try before you buy the e-edition of Polka Dot Dreams on Amazon. Or check out a copy from your local library.

Introducing Natty Smalls - the sensational singing star of Polka Dot Dreams!

Julia Douglas provides an exclusive interview with the heroine of her latest ebook, Polka Dot Dreams, the irrepressible Natty Smalls.

Name: Natty Smalls!

That’s an unusual name...

Natty by name and natty by nature! My real name’s Natalie, but Natalie Smalls sounds ridiculous!

What’s your role in Polka Dot Dreams?

I’m the star, of course! I breeze into town in my genuine 1950s vintage clothes, bullet bra and Twinco sunglasses and turn upside down the lives of everyone I meet. Especially the gorgeous Matt!

Who’s Matt?

Matt runs a rock’n’roll-themed ice cream parlour and is the most stunning specimen who ever pulled on a pair of vintage Levis! He’s got a blonde rockabilly flattop, the most amazing smile and a body-builder’s muscles that are simply to die for! He is a bit on the clumsy side, but I think that’s just nerves. We’re working on those!

You obviously like Matt. Does he have any rivals for your affection?

Well, there is the smooth and sophisticated Cameron Swoon! Now there’s a sharp dresser! Most people don’t understand the Teddy Boy look - Showaddywaddy have a lot to answer for! - but Cameron gets it perfectly: the expensive tailoring of a true Edwardian gentleman! Matt is jealous of Cameron because he’s going to make me a singing sensation!

Anyone else...?

My ex, the millionaire celebrity chef David Royale. But the least said about him the better.

Natty Smalls
as I first drew
her

Who are the female characters?

Oh, just wait till you meet the marvelous Margie - my larger-than-life landlady, Matt’s mum and, dare I say it, my potential mother-in-law! Margie owns an enormous house at the seaside. The other residents are Jase, a DJ - he’s harmless and nice. Then there’s Jude, a mysterious older woman who is Not To Be Trusted. There’s definitely something going on between Jude and Matt that I don’t like the look of at all!

What’s your best line in the book?

That would be when David says, “Virginity is a rather old fashioned ideal,” and I reply, “I guess I’m just an old fashioned girl!”

Can you tell us a secret that’s not in the book?

Matt’s always introducing himself as “I’m Matt, by the way,” - but that’s not his real surname! It’s Cardy - which could have serious implications for my name if we ever get married.

Polka Dot Dreams is available to download as an ebook from Amazon for the positively retro price of just £1.97. Click here to read the first chapter for FREE.

Polka Dot Dreams is also available to borrow as a paperback from your local library.

Bullet bra and ice-cream!

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!

Why I like my romances short and sweet

In the library today I picked up a book that better remain nameless. Suffice to say it was well known and critically acclaimed, which was why I picked it up, to see what it was like.
The first line was about someone breaking wind. Further down the first page were two jarring and gratuitous swear words.
I put the book back on the shelf because, personally, I don’t want to spend my time in such distasteful company.
Why is that so many writers and readers feel that books, especially those with pretensions to be ‘literary,’ have to look down life’s drain when they could draw our attention to a beautiful blue sky and leave us feeling better about ourselves and the world around us?
The other thing that put me off the book was its size. It was as thick as a brick and made me wonder if it could possibly reward the sheer effort of ploughing through it. Why do people feel that a book has to be long to be taken seriously? Why can’t more writers make the effort to get their points across more pithily?
I recently forced myself through another brick-thick book by a hugely successful, much filmed horror writer. On a line-by-line basis, his writing is entertaining. He’s particularly good at conveying accents and speech patterns with a single phonetically spelt word - the hungry kid who wants his “breffus,” for example. Yet, padded out over however many hundreds of pages, the only horror the tome stirred in me was whether I’d ever get to the end - or, for that matter, the point - of the thing.
So what books do I like, you may be wondering?
If I had to choose my favourite book of all time, the one who’s writing early on set the bar for what I would like to write myself, it would be At the Height of the Moon by the late and sadly neglected Eric Malpass. One of a series of gentle comedies written about the Pentecost family, who live in a rambling farmhouse in an England of long summers and gentle meadows, the book is short, engaging and written with a beautifully light touch. But the lightness of the writing should not be confused with lightweight. By turns, the novel is laugh-out-loud funny, wistfully romantic, touching, emotionally right on the button and often poetic.
I wish I still had the shiny-covered paperback with its cartoonish drawings on the front and back; it must have been discarded in some house move when I momentarily lost sight of its value. But the truth is that thirty years or more after I first read it, I can still remember great chunks almost word for word and they still give me a warm glow to remember them.
Every writer finds their own voice and style and I hope mine is that: my own. But if someone were to read one of my books and say something about its spirit reminded them of Eric Malpass then I could think of no finer compliment.