I'm faced with a bit of a dilemma. I decided to release RUNNING AWAY WITH THE CIRCUS because many people felt it would appeal to a wider readership than my other books, and help to pay for the higher costs of A MILLION MILES FROM BROADWAY.  However, while its potential audience may be larger, it is harder to pinpoint. There haven't been any media reviews yet. I'm just not sure how to promote this.  I would appreciate all the help I can get.
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These are some of the comments the book has received:
Reviews:
From Lulu.com:



By Ged Crefin 9-Jun-2013
I worked on this tour and although not a veteran of reviewer Al Buchan’s standing, I too had never experienced anything like it. Al is not joking when he says it was ‘at the time, far from funny’ but it would be disingenuous to claim it was all bad and many friendships - and more - were forged in the white heat of what must have been for many, a once in a lifetime experience. The fact that I was there undeniably colours my opinion of Mel’s book, it really was a treat to read, but the subject matter and the author’s affable wit and personality should make this a work which appeals to more than just your touring theatrical types. Mel’s account of his experience as a security guard on a circus touring Taiwan is told with wry humour and charm. Successfully combining travelogue and bite size anecdote to recapture the sense of lunacy, he achieves a fine balance between the more serious stuff - animal cruelty, threats and violence towards the crew - and the often hilarious, often downright... More > absurd. Dividing the book into theatrical Acts and scenes works well, Act IV scene 2 passed the laugh out loud test - several times - and the decision to feature photographs of the trip nicely augments Mel’s genial ‘Westerner abroad’ approach. The inclusion of historical and cultural info locates the action nicely without ever being too dry; the trip on the Alishan Forest Railway (Mel is a rail enthusiast as well as a theatre buff!) nicely invokes a sense of rural East Asia away from all the madness. Running Away With The Circus concludes nicely with well judged attributes of fond reminiscence and 'where are they now?' curiosity attended to. This is very much Mel’s book and he has avoided the temptation to create a work of sensationalist stories with limited interest at the expense of the Taiwanese. Of course the ‘culture clash’ informs much of the craziness but Mel’s book has the overall tone indicative of a man who sees the good – and the funny – in all people with the possible exception of the ubiquitous Sweetpea, Mel’s roommate and nadir who has the unenviable ability to push even the equitable Mr Atkey to the edge. Al Buchan does have a point though when he says that Mel’s account is ‘only about half of it’ – I know because I was there – but rather than taking anything away from Mel’s wonderful book, it makes me wonder if anyone might be up for putting together a more unashamedly anecdotal, no-holds-barred supplemental based on interviews?… Ged Crefin
 
By Al Buchan 7-Jun-2013 I was on this tour with Mel and when I got wind of this book I couldn't wait to get a copy. Having read it I can now at last laugh about it. It was safely the worst tour I have ever been on (I've been touring all over the world with shows from rock to ballet for nearly 25 years). Mel has written very accurately and humorously on, what at the time, was far from funny. I spoke to Mel after I read the book to congratulate him on a job well done and to offer him a forward to the manuscript which would simply read. "Believe it or not what follows actually happened and indeed is only about half of it" A must read for all touring folk. Al Buchan

 
From Goodreads:
Jun 26, 2013 Jennifer King rated it 4 of 5 stars
Excellent lay out of the book with creative headings and potent pictures. Bits of history flowed with the true story. Unique true life storytelling!