First Madonna did it and now Kylie's doing it. Two of the
world's best known pop divas have been branching out. Instead of
performing concerts in packed stadiums around the world and recording
multi-million selling albums, they have turned their attention to the
more gentle world of children's publishing.
Madonna's book "The English Roses" came out in 2003 and now
Kylie Minogue's novel "The Showgirl Princess", a story about one girl's journey
to stardom, has just been published.
Both women are already famous for being
multi-talented. Both are well-known world-wide for their singing, dancing
and acting but now it's their writing skills that they are keen to share with
the rest of us.
Kylie began acting on Australian TV when
she was 11 years old but it was her role as the teenage "Charlene" in the
soap opera "Neighbours" that really put her on the international
map.
Her on-screen boyfriend (played by Jason Donovan) in
"Neighbours" became her off-screen love and when the two of them recorded
the duet "Especially for You" in 1989 it seemed that romance, pop music
and success were all Kylie's for the taking.
16 years later her charmed life was shattered with the
news that she had breast cancer. Her world tour was cancelled and
she underwent surgery in May 2005.
It was while she was recovering from her breast cancer
treatment that she wrote "The Showgirl Princess". She said it was
"therapeutic to be working on something" while she was
recuperating.
Madonna said one of the reasons for writing "The English
Roses" was that she wanted to do something for her children. Kylie's reason is
rather different. She admits the idea of the book came from her actor boyfriend
Oliver Martinez but that she has always had an interest in writing. "Way back
when I was in primary school" she said, "I used to do little drawings and
stories. My dad always said that one day I'd write a children's book".
Kylie Minogue is due to start her next tour in Australia in
November 2006.
