Kevin Holdgate, the former James Shepherd Versatile Brass and Grimethorpe trombonist has turned his hand to writing a novel — helping a fine charity cause in the process.
'Jimmy V — The Josephine Baker Affair' was released on 1st January on Amazon Kindle, and is set at the height of the jazz era 'Roaring 20's'.
Jimmy V
It tells the story of the Honorable James St. John Smyth, 3rd Viscount of Stanley — jazz trombone player, known as simply 'Jimmy V' to his friends, who in 1927 has been invited to appear with the famous Paul Whiteman Band in Berlin alongside the celebrated American singer and entertainer Josephine Baker.
Travelling together through interwar France and Germany with his American manservant, Harry Pratt, and his long standing female companion Lady Julia Mortimer, Jimmy is blissfully unaware of the very different agendas they have to follow.
Excitement and adventure
Excitement and adventure ensue as secrets are uncovered, plots revealed, and characters, some of whom will be surprisingly familiar, take the reader on a journey couched in all that jazz.
Kevin told 4BR: "It's always said that everyone has a book inside them waiting to be written. This was certainly true in my case, but it took a life changing event, and the regular chastisement of a very dear friend to stir me into action."
Jotted down
He explained: "In July 2013 my wife Anita was diagnosed with breast cancer. For the following 12 months our lives were quite literally turned upside down. Six months of chemotherapy, followed by major surgery, followed by a further period of radiotherapy took us through to July 2014.
This saw us finally able to go on the holiday we had planned, but had to cancel a year earlier.
As we sat on the beach on holiday in Brittany I began to formalise the idea of a story. I jotted it down and e-mailed to my good friend Jo Priestley back in England. Eighteen long months and a considerable number of rewrites later I finally completed the novel."
50% of proceeds
Kevin revealed that following the success of the 'Trombones against Breast Cancer' initiative in 2014, he has decided to donate 50% of the proceeds from the book to the 'Breast Cancer Now' charity.
He said: "The charity does incredible work in sponsoring the research that will one day eradicate this dreadful disease. I've seen close up the effects that it has on the lives of so many people and sadly, some of the brave ladies who had chemotherapy at the same time as my wife are no longer with us.
The great ladies of 'Boobs & Brass' have done a fantastic job raising money for the charity since the band's formation in 2006. By purchasing the book people will be contributing towards helping them to continue with this work."
The book is available on Amazon.co.uk for download to Kindle or a paperback version can be obtained from Amazon.com
Excitement and adventure ensue as secrets are uncovered, plots revealed, and characters, some of whom will be surprisingly familiar, take the reader on a journey couched in all that jazz4BR
Kindle Download
Paperback edition
Kevin hopes to have a limited supply of the paperback version of the novel available for sale at the Butlins Mineworkers Contest in Skegness. These will be available from the Boobs & Brass stand located in the trade stands in Centre Stage.
