Bat Out of Hell

About the Book

‘Bat out of Hell –The Movie’, is the true story of one man’s quest to create an epic feature-length film which he truly believes will be the ‘movie to end all movies’. Based on the best-selling paperback ‘Jupiter’s Travel’s’, by Ted Simon’, which tells the true story of this man’s unbelievable four-year motorcycle journey around the world, Shaun Donovan attempts to recapture the spirit of the now legendary ‘Easy Rider’ movie, by combining all the thrills and spills which Ted encompassed along the way, into one blockbuster production –a movie which will set the hearts of bikers around the world alight, as he rekindles their passions for a life of freedom on the road. Armed with a hand-written manuscript, a home-made movie poster –and a soundtrack that should simply blow Ted away, Shaun flies 6,000 miles to the home of Mr. Simon, where he proudly presents the ‘Sales pitch of his life’. After listening to various tunes, Ted agrees how uncanny it is that the lyrics in the songs from Meat-Loafs now legendary ‘Bat out of Hell’ album could easily portray actual scenes taken from Ted’s storyline –and so the stage was now set. Over the next twelve months Shaun embarked on a quest that would involve numerous meetings with the heads of various film and television companies across the UK, before a twist in the tale occurs, when it is suggested that Shaun retrace Ted’s journey from start to finish, subsequently creating a six-part documentary series for BBC television, entitled ‘Steps of Jupiter -20 years on’. Apart from planning and preparing an 8,000-mile ‘solo’ motorcycle journey from Cardiff to Cape-Town, read how Shaun also drives the length and breadth of California, before crossing borders into Mexico, and also how he circumnavigates the state of Florida in search of a new life for him and his family, as he desperately tries to cling-on to what is left of his failing marriage, before it is too late! ‘Bat out of hell –The Movie’ is a compelling manuscript, taken from diaries written by Shaun during the twenty six months he was out of work –a time when he was completely penniless, and all that he had left to hang on to was a dream –a dream which he was determined to turn into a reality.

About the Author

Shaun Donovan was born in Cardiff, South Wales, on 9th August 1959. The son of a carpenter, he joined his father in the building trade after leaving school at the tender age of fifteen, but Shaun was soon disillusioned with the industry, and so he changed careers, working first as an office clerk, before moving into the lucrative world of sales and marketing. Being a keen motor-cyclist and also an avid travel enthusiast, Shaun spent numerous holidays riding his bike around Europe and North Africa, spanning a distance of 10,000 miles, and visiting 13 countries, along with several islands between 1981 and 1983. In 1984, Shaun married Caryl, and a few years later they became the parents of three children, Liam, Carl and Hayley. However, after being made redundant in 1991 due to the recession, and with little hope of re-employment in the near future, their marriage collapsed the following year. In 1998 Shaun moved to the Canary Islands to live and work, and two years later he took his three children around the whole of America, and across into Canada, utilising the Greyhound Bus system to cover a total of 12,000 miles. Apart from giving them the holiday of a lifetime, Shaun also kept the promise he had made to them two years earlier, by treating them to a wonderful week in Disneyworld. In 2001 Shaun met Sally on the island of Tenerife, and in 2007 they took off on another great Greyhound Bus ride, only this time around the whole of Australia. Three years later Shaun returned home to Wales, and the following year him and his daughter, Hayley, set-off on a 60,000km (40,000 miles) jaunt around Asia, Africa and India. Shaun is currently working on his next travel extravaganza, which includes visiting a dozen countries in South America, before traversing the length of Central America -and then ending-up somewhere in Mexico?