Blink Publishing dances off with musical theatre star Ball’s memoir

Blink Publishing has landed musical theatre star Michael Ball’s memoir.  

Ciara Lloyd, editorial director, and Matt Phillips, non-fiction publisher, acquired world rights for Different Aspects from Gordon Wise at Curtis Brown. It will publish on 12th October 2023. 

The synopsis says: “In 1989, a young Michael Ball landed the lead role in the musical ‘Aspects of Love’. It was a moment that changed his life forever. It was the first time he worked with legends of the stage like Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Trevor Nunn; it was from that show that came his smash hit song, ‘Love Changes Everything’, which rode high in the charts for 15 weeks. It was then, also, that he first met his long-term partner Cathy McGowan and battled back against the stage fright that had threatened his career. 

“Over three decades later, Michael returns to a new production of the same show where he made his name, older, possibly wiser, and with a lifetime’s worth of stories to tell. In Different Aspects, Michael takes us backstage inside the making of a West End hit, while diving back into memories to explore that moment in his 20s when the world was at his feet and his life changed beyond recognition.” 

Ball said: “Revisiting ‘Aspects of Love’ has been such a wonderful experience, both on and off stage, and l really felt that now was the perfect time to share this experience with readers. It has evoked such extraordinary memories of my time adapting to the enormous life changes I went through during the original show’s creation, to remember and re-evaluate who I was then in comparison to who I am now. I’ve loved trying to write an honest and heartfelt account of both these periods in my life and to give the reader an insight into the world I live in and love so much. The excitement, heartbreak, laughter, tears, people and places, mishaps and memories…all the different aspects of my life then and now.” 

Lloyd added: “Working with Michael is a real career high for me, especially on such a special project. I know Michael’s fans have waited for a non-fiction book from Michael for a long time, and Different Aspects is sure not to disappoint!”