A new series to love
It must seem slightly odd to some for an Aussie writer known for historicals to write a series about North America’s National Hockey League, for while we do have an avid love for sports here in Australia, ice hockey is not exactly top-of-the-charts. Yes, we do have a (very small!) national ice hockey league here in Australia, but it’s not quite the same as the fourth of the big four sports in the US.
So why do this?
Why not?
One of the main things we’re told as writers is to ‘write what you know,’ or as I’ve also heard expressed, ‘write what you want to know.’ Why? Because that’s where your passion is.
And while I’m the first to admit I’m not any great expert on ice hockey, I’ve long been fascinated by this sport (it’s tough! so physical! so skilled!), so much so that the very first two stories I wrote both contained ice hockey players.
Some of you may have heard how I first started writing, about how I was watching the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, and saw an Aussie female athlete holding hands with a US male athlete as they entered the closing ceremony. I was struck by how two people from different countries and (presumably) different sports could meet, let alone sustain a relationship, especially given the gruelling nature of their elite athlete training schedules, and all those time zone differences. Despite my best efforts, I never found out who they were, so I made up ‘their’ story, which became Love on Ice, about an Aussie short track speed skater, and an ice hockey player.
Later that year my husband and I took a trip of a lifetime to the US and Canada, and along the way, this avid Anne of Green Gables fan insisted we visit PEI and Muskoka, a picturesque, lake-filled stretch of country two hours north of Toronto, which is where LM Montgomery set her book The Blue Castle. Visiting this beautiful part of the world became inspiration for a story about another hockey player (because: Canada, hello!), which then resulted in another story, Muskoka Blue.
I’ll be forever grateful to Narelle Atkins for talking about the value of writing in a series at an Omega Writers conference in Melbourne. I’ve now written 4 interconnected series of historicals, and 2 different contemporary series. It took a while to figure out how to connect these two books, but then I realised that the two teams involved (Toronto and Chicago) were both part of the Original Six NHL teams, and I could connect the stories through this. But the characters needed a reason to be connecting, so that characters from one book could pop up in others for something deeper than just playing each others’ teams. A couple of years ago, in a moment of utter God-provision, I came across an online Bible study group for Christian hockey players who played for the Boston Bruins (another of the Original Six teams), which I realised could easily be extended into an online Bible study group for players from all sorts of teams.
A CALEB win for my book The Elusive Miss Ellison came with a manuscript assessment and saw Iola Goulton take my mess of a Love on Ice manuscript and make several suggestions. These suggestions became further ideas for books, and now I had my reason for my characters to interact (the online Bible study group – a real thing!) which meant I suddenly had a solid series concept. And then, I realised that all those years ago I’d actually visited four of the cities (Boston, Montreal, Toronto and Chicago), so I had some fun background and research, including attending a Chicago Blackhawks game while in that amazing city.
It’s kind of awesome to look back and see the way God has woven different details into this series, how He’s used different people to bring inspiration and encouragement, and provided just what I needed at the right moment. I feel like this series has been over a decade in the making.
The Original Six hockey romance series is a contemporary Christian romance series, perfect for people who love books by authors such as Becky Wade, Courtney Walsh, Susan May Warren and Kara Isaac. Don’t worry, it’s not too sporty, there is loads of romance and humour, and the solid God-threads my readers enjoy.
The first book, The Breakup Project, set in beautiful Boston, releases December 29. The next, Love on Ice, (I shifted it to Detroit – and Australia!) releases just in time for the Winter Olympics on January 26. Chicago-based Checked Impressions is out February 24, Hearts and Goals, set in gorgeous Montreal, releases March 24, Big Apple Atonement releases May 26, and Muskoka Blue comes out July 27.
I really hope readers enjoy reading these, and can’t wait to introduce them to this fictional, yet grounded in reality, world.
Here’s a little about The Breakup Project:
New Year. New Resolution. New Romance?
What happens when the best-laid plans break a friendship?
As the twin sister of hockey’s hottest forward, romance-loving Bree Karlsson is used to being ignored, leading to a New Year’s resolution to not date any athlete in her attempt to find Mr. Right. But what happens when the man who might prove to be her personal Mr. Darcy is her brother’s hockey-playing best friend?
Mike Vaughan might be happy playing in Boston, but he’d be even happier if Bree could one day see him as more than a good friend. He agrees to help Bree with a special project in the hope she’ll finally see him as something more. But when a misunderstanding ends in a Valentine’s Day disaster, Bree realizes that her breakup project may have broken her friendship with Mike in two. Can she ever redeem her mistake?
This friends-to-more romance has plenty of heart, humor, and swoon-worthy kisses in this first book of the Original Six, a sweet, slightly sporty Christian contemporary romance series.
The Breakup Project is available to preorder at a discount from Amazon, Amazon.com.au, Apple, GooglePlay, Kobo and will also be available as a paperback from Koorong.
Let’s talk! Are you a fan of series? Have you ever watched an ice hockey game? Have you visited any of the Original Six cites of Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Montreal, New York or Toronto?
When I was a kid in Minnesota, they flooded the low spots in the town parks to make ice rinks. We’d sometimes skate down the block and a half of snow-turned-to-ice at the side of the street to the park to skate for real. Other days we used the rubber guards you can slip onto the blades so you can walk on them without damaging blade or walking surface. There was always a bunch of kids playing hockey. The town had a “warming house” with a heater on during the day so you could go in and thaw out for a few minutes and then skate some more. I never joined the hockey games, but my brother did.
How fabulous, Carol! Definitely not what happens here in Australia – hence part of my fascination with this sport on the opposite side of the world!
I like watching ice hockey at the Winter Olympics and am impressed by what a tough sport it is. I’ve tried ice skating but kept falling over. I grew up in Queensland so I’m better with flowing water sports. Cheering you on with your new series!
Oh – one question. This series is indie, isn’t it? Why indie rather than try for another trad contract?
Yes, I agree, Susan. It’s definitely a tough sport (I see regular reports of players returning to the ice after losing teeth, busting noses, etc – gotta love the commitment to the game!)
And why indie? Because I wanted to try (and bc the two US trad publishers I shopped my Australian-character stories to weren’t interested). So it’s a bit of an experiment – which I’m loving!