Protecting the Animals

I’ve had a few questions about when my next book will be coming out. I’m the first to admit that it has been taking an inordinately long time to get it written.

The reasons are the same as for many writers at the moment. Covid slowed us all down, presenting us with too much real life to deal with. Also, a writer with just one book out has to work for a living. Writers don’t actually make even a meager living from their books until they have a substantial catalogue out. At least not most of us.

In the meantime, I’ve had a couple of comments about my circus setting and the subject of animal welfare. Let me say that I am categorically in favor of banning wild animal acts because of the treatment these animals have had to endure and the inadequate cages they were kept in during the heyday of the traveling circus.

So why did I write a book set in such a circus?

First of all, because the premise was based on a true story told me by a Cirky. In the real life incident, no one died. The tiger did react to an electric spark and maul the lion tamer enough to put him in hospital, but he woke up and immediately asked if the show continued. It did. The cats knew their paces and went ahead and finished the act without their human conductor.

I wrote the book as a fantasy, from a time before the magic of the circus was marred by realization of the conditions these animals had to endure. Rather I made them like pets, as much as a big cat can be made a pet, based on some of the animal sanctuary videos we all see on Facebook where a dedicated person or team preserve species and develop close personal relationships with the animals.

Stories are all about imagination and this particular story, for me, takes place in an imaginary world where big cats in the circus are treated well, develop relationships with the lion tamer team and have enough space. There are elements of reality too. Staying out of the path of the urine really is the first thing you learn on a lion tamer team.

I’ve reduced the price on A Spark of Justice for the rest of September, both Kindle and Paperback. There’s no better time to take a trip to a fantasy circus where the animals are doing just fine.