The Madonna of Bolton
By Matt Cain
An everyday story of love, life and Causing a Commotion
Publication date: July 2018
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Matt Cain
Matt Cain was born in Bury and brought up in Bolton. He was educated at a comprehensive school and Cambridge University.
He spent ten years making arts and entertainment programmes for ITV, before stepping in front of the camera in 2010 to become Channel 4 News’ first ever Culture Editor, covering the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Mercury Music Prize and the Turner Prize, interviewing Grayson Perry, the Spice Girls, Pedro Almodóvar and Emeli Sandé, and looking inside Lucian Freud's studio following the artist's death. In 2012 he presented the series What Makes a Masterpiece? for More4.
Matt is the author of two novels: Shot Through the Heart (2014) and Nothing But Trouble (July 2015). He's currently employed as Editor-in-Chief of Attitude, the UK's biggest-selling magazine for gay men, and its sister publication, Winq.
Matt is the Diversity Media Awards Journalist of the Year 2017, has been nominated for Stonewall's Writer of the Year award, and written articles for The Times, The Independent, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, The Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express, the Daily Telegraph and The People. He was a judge for the 2013 Costa Book Awards and the Polari First Novel Prize 2014 and continues to judge the South Bank Show Awards.
He lives in London.
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I put the phone down and sit up straight, staring into the darkness. By the side of my bed the alarm clock flashes 02.45.
People always say that when the phone rings in the middle of the night you know it’s going to be bad news. But the funny thing is, when I was woken up by the sound of my mobile, the first thing I thought was that a friend was out drinking and wanted to know if I was in town – either that or they wanted to share a drunken ‘I love you’ experience. God knows I’ve put my friends through enough of those myself.
‘You know what,’ I’ll slur to whoever I’m with at the end of a night out, ‘I think you’re brilliant. I really really love you.’
But I shake the words out of my head. No, this time it isn’t that. It isn’t that at all. Although right now I wish more than anything else that it was.
I stand up and pull on my dressing gown. If I quickly pack my things and leave London now I can be back in Bolton by the start of the day.
I pad into the kitchen and fill the kettle. As I take out a mug and drop in a teaspoon of instant coffee, I suddenly feel a twist of frustration. It’s been months and months since I was last home; there are so many unhappy memories there and so many relationships I’m finding it difficult to deal with. But yesterday, as if from nowhere, I finally found myself wanting to go back. I suddenly felt homesick and wanted to reconnect with my family. I wanted see the very people I’ve been running away from.
Then this happened, one of the things I’ve been dreading most for my whole life. And now I’m being called home for a completely different reason, a reason that makes me feel sick with fear – fear that, after all this time staying away, I might just have left it too late to go back.
Matt Cain has written 3 private updates. You can pledge to get access to them all.
8th October 2017 Don't Tell Me'Don't tell me to stop,' sang Madonna. So I took a leaf out of her book and ignored all those publishers who said my book was too gay or just wouldn't sell. And now, thanks to all you guys, it's over 80% crowdfunded and on course to be Unbound's fastest-funded novel ever! So thanks so much and if there's anything you can do to give us that one last push - maybe telling friends or helping spread the…
4th October 2017 Halfway there!Hi everyone, I'm so happy to report we're now halfway towards our funding target after a little over two days! Thanks so much once again for your support - and if you can bear to keep talking about the book and sharing the news and telling your friends, that would be so brilliant as we still have a long way to go! But people have started to report on us in the news. Check out this piece in today's…
3rd October 2017 Causing a CommotionHi everyone. We've got off to a cracking start! After just 24hours we're already a third funded, which is the fastest start ever for a novel on Unbound. So thanks so much for supporting the project and making my dream come true. If you can bear to keep sharing the link on social media or keep telling your friends it'll hopefully get us to two-thirds funded by the end of today. And the message about…
These people are helping to fund The Madonna of Bolton.
Chris Hulbert
Steve Jolley
Keith Savage
Sara Brown
Todd Biron
Beth Lewis
Irene Bull
Anthony Brown
David Glyn-Jones
Lucas Mattos
chle70 Le
Liz Jefferies
Michael Ridd
Caitlin Harvey
Caitlin Harvey
Komal Kaur
Kenneth Kwok
Todd Smee
Matthew Cox
Samantha Schulz
Catherine Makin
Kate Bulpitt
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I would foundrise you as been a big Madonna fan but cannot communicate with you on FB . Messenger is blocked from your side .
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