My guest today is L. Anne Carrington. Hello! Welcome back to Writing in the Modern Age!
It’s such a pleasure to have you here again.
Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book? When did it come out? Where can
we get it?
Power Play is about a young woman’s transition from struggling actress
to the fictional American Hockey Conference’s first woman player in an all-male
league. Alexandra “Alex” Galloway is drafted as a center to the Pittsburgh
Rebels after being 'discovered’ by the team’s captain while visiting friends on
the Vancouver movie set where she’s filming a minor role. While Alex travels a
bumpy road during the early stages of her professional hockey career-which
include hazing by a few teammates and initial conflicts with mentor Troy
Talmadge-she also develops strong friendships with other fellow players and
proves she’s a proficient team member as her male counterparts-if not better on
occasion.
Power Play will be released by Palm Tree Books later in 2015,
preferably close to start of the 2015-16 National Hockey League (NHL) season as
possible; the Kindle and paperback editions on Amazon, the paperback on Barnes
and Noble and other expanded distribution channels. There’s a chance of an
earlier release if everything is completed ahead of schedule, but I’m not
offering any guarantees.
That's great! Yes, I hear it will be sometime between late September to mid-October. How exciting! :)
Is there anything specific that
inspired you to write Power Play?
I developed a love for hockey about
two years ago through my significant other. Many who read my work know most of
my genres are sports based fiction - specifically professional wrestling - but I
wanted to go in a different direction while staying in sports fiction. I
figured why not try writing a hockey-based novel with a twist?
Believe it or not, some people would
like to see female NHL players; as a matter of fact, it happened for a brief period
in the early 1990's. Manon Rheume, an Olympic silver medalist goalie in Nagano
for the Team Canada women's hockey team, was goaltender for the NHL’s Tampa Bay
Lightning during its 1992 and 1993 preseasons. So the idea of women in the NHL
may once again become reality in the not-so-distant future.
Interesting!
So, who do you hope to reach with this book? Do you have a specific audience in mind?
In addition to my presently loyal
readers, I hope to reach a new audience, be they sports fans or otherwise. I
don’t think I’ve been excited about doing a new book since my first novel, The
Cruiserweight, was released back in 2010.
Well, it sounds like a great plan!
As a fellow author, I know this is a tough question, but let's try it anyway.
Which of your books is your favorite? Give us a one liner as a teaser.
Wow, I love all of them, but aside
from the current Power Play, it has to be The Cruiserweight.
Here is the opening line: “Getting
psyched was Brett’s specialty, the kind of madness he needed for the
championship.”
Well, that is quite the teaser!
Let's tackle some general questions, all right?
What book that you read in the past, would you say, inspired your love of reading or writing?
I really can’t pinpoint a specific
book that sparked my love of reading and writing; there are just too many to
name. My late grandfather gave me Around the World in 80 Days when I was
a child, so I’ll say it all began around that time.
All right.
So, what does your writing process look like? Do you plot everything out before you write? Or, are you a pantster?
I love doing character portraits and
developed what I call ‘sketch notebooks’ for each novel I’ve written. I’ll have
visions as to general story ideas, the characters’ appearances, personalities,
quirks, etc., and additional thoughts that immediately come to mind. The Power
Play sketch notebook was loaded with random thoughts before being fit into
various parts of my manuscript.
Great!
What subject have you always wanted to write about, but never had the chance to?
I think I’ve written about almost
everything that interests me. Nothing else really comes to mind at the moment.
Okay.
So...I looked over your Goodreads author profile and noticed some of the quotes that you like. I will post a couple below that resonated with me as well. If you can, please elaborate for us on why they appealed to you.
“Secrets. Need to disguise. The
novel was born of this.”
― Anaïs Nin, Delta of Venus
Everyone has at least one secret
desire they don’t want in the open, yet think it shouldn’t be totally kept in
the closet. What better way to tell such secrets than disguise them as great
novels?
“The real voyage of discovery
consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
― Marcel Proust
Writing what we know is great, but
it’s also fun to venture into new genres once in a while. For example, I enjoy
writing fiction, but branched out into doing nonfiction last year with Life
Subject To Change and Billy Kidman: The Shooting Star. Nonfiction
posed more of a challenge, but the break from my usual writing also gave me
‘new eyes’ when I returned to fiction.
Wow, you are so right, Lori, about both topics. I certainly agree that writers should try new things. I'm glad it worked out so well for you. I recently did the same when I ventured into children's fantasy, and it inspired me to keep my writer's mind open.
So...what project do you have planned next? Or is that a secret?
I haven’t decided what I’m going to
do next as of this interview. Whether it’s an actual life event, sports, or
another idea, something’s bound to crawl into my brain and say, “This will make
a great book!” It’s only a matter of time.
(Laughs.) I know exactly what you mean.
Is there anything you'd like to add? Any special advice for your fellow writers?
Don’t listen to naysayers or
“haters.” Get your work out there, but don’t over-promote to the point
potential readers become annoyed and put off. Network with other authors,
support, and read their books. Do many personal and online appearances as your
schedule allows. Most important...keep on writing!
That's great advice! Thank you, Lori!
And thank you for stopping by Writing in the Modern Age! :)
Readers, here is the blurb for Power Play.
Alexandra “Alex” Galloway had
lifelong ambitions of acting on Broadway, television, or in movies. Despite
versatility in a wide range of regional dialects, stunt work, singing, ballroom
dancing, archery, and field, street, and ice hockey, she has thus far been
limited to an endless string of film extra and uncredited roles.
Alex’s small part in an
underdog women’s hockey team film catches the eye of a visitor to the Vancouver
set while in town for a game – Troy Talmadge, star and team captain of the
American Hockey Conference’s Pittsburgh Rebels.
Dazzled by her on-ice flair,
Troy appoints himself as Alex’s mentor. He urges his agent to take her on as a
client and signed to a Women’s Hockey League contract, but the agent has
something far better in mind: having her drafted as the AFC’s first woman
player, specifically to the Rebels.
Will Alex survive the
pressures that accompany her newly-found professional hockey career…or does it
slowly freeze much as her previous stint as an actress?
Here is an excerpt.
Hitting an important championship
goal rested on Alex’s
shoulders; the
Rebels faced one of their strongest opponents
in the Princeton Trophy’s deciding game. Whether her team would win big or fade
into the dreaded second place no one would remember would be determined if she
got the puck past Washington Wildings goaltender Foster Kingston…or not.
Alex hated overtime, but the game
was still tied at two goals apiece after regulation. She stood almost frozen
and looked at her teammates for some type of sign.
Coach Dean Barry stared back with a
frown, wondering whether her shot would successfully pass the blue line.
Forward Davy St. Cloud, who scored both
goals in regulation for the Rebels, and right winger Brian Donahue gave her thumbs-
up signs.
Defenseman Byron Brady said a silent
prayer.
Second alternate captain Lenny
Walton, defenseman Marty O’Freel and left winger Vince Beaumont all glared at
her with “Bitch, you have one job” expressions on their faces.
Veteran Jax Ivanka raised an
eyebrow, smiled, and winked at her.
Center Reggie Hebert, first
alternate captain Boris Furishnykov, and backup goaltender Greise Faust gave
her encouraging nods.
Alex then spotted Troy mouthing the words
she'd heard many times: “Whatever it takes, we’ll walk together. Go for it!”
She turned back, skated past her
opponents, and gave Kingston a determined stare. She needed to get that
damn puck into the net, one way or another…
Author Bio
L. Anne Carrington is an
award-winning Amazon bestselling author, freelance writer/journalist, and radio
show host whose previous work covered topics from fiction to news stories,
human interest features, and entertainment reviews. She wrote The Wrestling Babe Internet column for
seven years, a former music reviewer for Indie
Music Stop, former book reviewer for Free Press (an imprint of Simon and
Schuster), and pens several other works which appears in both print and Web
media. One of her freelance articles, An
Overview of Causes of Hearing Loss and Deafness, was bought by Internet
Broadcasting Systems, a company that co-produced NBCOlympics.com for the 2004
Summer Olympics in Athens and the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics in addition to
being the leading provider of Web sites, content and advertising revenue
solutions to the largest and most successful media companies.
In addition to her acclaimed
novels in The Cruiserweight Series
and nonfiction wrestling bestseller Billy
Kidman: The Shooting Star among works of both fiction and nonfiction, Ms.
Carrington hosts The L. Anne Carrington
Show on Spreaker Radio.
She spends time between
Pittsburgh, PA and Tampa, FL, continuing to write.
Author Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lacarrington1
Google+: https://plus.google.com/108945778643334332910/posts
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/L.-Anne-Carrington/e/B0055STQL6/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4191972.L_Anne_Carrington
L. Anne Carrington's Books:
Coming Soon (Book one in the Power Play Series):
Available:
Nonfiction:
Books in The Cruiserweight Series:
Other Books:
I developed a love for hockey about
two years ago through my significant other. Many who read my work know most of
my genres are sports based fiction - specifically professional wrestling - but I
wanted to go in a different direction while staying in sports fiction. I
figured why not try writing a hockey-based novel with a twist?
Believe it or not, some people would
like to see female NHL players; as a matter of fact, it happened for a brief period
in the early 1990's. Manon Rheume, an Olympic silver medalist goalie in Nagano
for the Team Canada women's hockey team, was goaltender for the NHL’s Tampa Bay
Lightning during its 1992 and 1993 preseasons. So the idea of women in the NHL
may once again become reality in the not-so-distant future.
Interesting!
So, who do you hope to reach with this book? Do you have a specific audience in mind?
In addition to my presently loyal
readers, I hope to reach a new audience, be they sports fans or otherwise. I
don’t think I’ve been excited about doing a new book since my first novel, The
Cruiserweight, was released back in 2010.
Well, it sounds like a great plan!
As a fellow author, I know this is a tough question, but let's try it anyway.
Which of your books is your favorite? Give us a one liner as a teaser.
Wow, I love all of them, but aside
from the current Power Play, it has to be The Cruiserweight.
Here is the opening line: “Getting
psyched was Brett’s specialty, the kind of madness he needed for the
championship.”
Well, that is quite the teaser!
Let's tackle some general questions, all right?
What book that you read in the past, would you say, inspired your love of reading or writing?
I really can’t pinpoint a specific
book that sparked my love of reading and writing; there are just too many to
name. My late grandfather gave me Around the World in 80 Days when I was
a child, so I’ll say it all began around that time.
All right.
So, what does your writing process look like? Do you plot everything out before you write? Or, are you a pantster?
I love doing character portraits and
developed what I call ‘sketch notebooks’ for each novel I’ve written. I’ll have
visions as to general story ideas, the characters’ appearances, personalities,
quirks, etc., and additional thoughts that immediately come to mind. The Power
Play sketch notebook was loaded with random thoughts before being fit into
various parts of my manuscript.
Great!
What subject have you always wanted to write about, but never had the chance to?
I think I’ve written about almost
everything that interests me. Nothing else really comes to mind at the moment.
Okay.
So...I looked over your Goodreads author profile and noticed some of the quotes that you like. I will post a couple below that resonated with me as well. If you can, please elaborate for us on why they appealed to you.
“Secrets. Need to disguise. The
novel was born of this.”
― Anaïs Nin, Delta of Venus
Everyone has at least one secret
desire they don’t want in the open, yet think it shouldn’t be totally kept in
the closet. What better way to tell such secrets than disguise them as great
novels?
“The real voyage of discovery
consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
― Marcel Proust
Writing what we know is great, but
it’s also fun to venture into new genres once in a while. For example, I enjoy
writing fiction, but branched out into doing nonfiction last year with Life
Subject To Change and Billy Kidman: The Shooting Star. Nonfiction
posed more of a challenge, but the break from my usual writing also gave me
‘new eyes’ when I returned to fiction.
Wow, you are so right, Lori, about both topics. I certainly agree that writers should try new things. I'm glad it worked out so well for you. I recently did the same when I ventured into children's fantasy, and it inspired me to keep my writer's mind open.
So...what project do you have planned next? Or is that a secret?
I haven’t decided what I’m going to
do next as of this interview. Whether it’s an actual life event, sports, or
another idea, something’s bound to crawl into my brain and say, “This will make
a great book!” It’s only a matter of time.
(Laughs.) I know exactly what you mean.
Is there anything you'd like to add? Any special advice for your fellow writers?
Don’t listen to naysayers or
“haters.” Get your work out there, but don’t over-promote to the point
potential readers become annoyed and put off. Network with other authors,
support, and read their books. Do many personal and online appearances as your
schedule allows. Most important...keep on writing!
That's great advice! Thank you, Lori!
And thank you for stopping by Writing in the Modern Age! :)
Readers, here is the blurb for Power Play.
Alexandra “Alex” Galloway had
lifelong ambitions of acting on Broadway, television, or in movies. Despite
versatility in a wide range of regional dialects, stunt work, singing, ballroom
dancing, archery, and field, street, and ice hockey, she has thus far been
limited to an endless string of film extra and uncredited roles.
Alex’s small part in an
underdog women’s hockey team film catches the eye of a visitor to the Vancouver
set while in town for a game – Troy Talmadge, star and team captain of the
American Hockey Conference’s Pittsburgh Rebels.
Dazzled by her on-ice flair,
Troy appoints himself as Alex’s mentor. He urges his agent to take her on as a
client and signed to a Women’s Hockey League contract, but the agent has
something far better in mind: having her drafted as the AFC’s first woman
player, specifically to the Rebels.
Will Alex survive the
pressures that accompany her newly-found professional hockey career…or does it
slowly freeze much as her previous stint as an actress?
Here is an excerpt.
Hitting an important championship
goal rested on Alex’s
shoulders; the
Rebels faced one of their strongest opponents
in the Princeton Trophy’s deciding game. Whether her team would win big or fade
into the dreaded second place no one would remember would be determined if she
got the puck past Washington Wildings goaltender Foster Kingston…or not.
Alex hated overtime, but the game
was still tied at two goals apiece after regulation. She stood almost frozen
and looked at her teammates for some type of sign.
Coach Dean Barry stared back with a
frown, wondering whether her shot would successfully pass the blue line.
Forward Davy St. Cloud, who scored both
goals in regulation for the Rebels, and right winger Brian Donahue gave her thumbs-
up signs.
Defenseman Byron Brady said a silent
prayer.
Second alternate captain Lenny
Walton, defenseman Marty O’Freel and left winger Vince Beaumont all glared at
her with “Bitch, you have one job” expressions on their faces.
Veteran Jax Ivanka raised an
eyebrow, smiled, and winked at her.
Center Reggie Hebert, first
alternate captain Boris Furishnykov, and backup goaltender Greise Faust gave
her encouraging nods.
Alex then spotted Troy mouthing the words
she'd heard many times: “Whatever it takes, we’ll walk together. Go for it!”
She turned back, skated past her
opponents, and gave Kingston a determined stare. She needed to get that
damn puck into the net, one way or another…
Author Bio
L. Anne Carrington is an
award-winning Amazon bestselling author, freelance writer/journalist, and radio
show host whose previous work covered topics from fiction to news stories,
human interest features, and entertainment reviews. She wrote The Wrestling Babe Internet column for
seven years, a former music reviewer for Indie
Music Stop, former book reviewer for Free Press (an imprint of Simon and
Schuster), and pens several other works which appears in both print and Web
media. One of her freelance articles, An
Overview of Causes of Hearing Loss and Deafness, was bought by Internet
Broadcasting Systems, a company that co-produced NBCOlympics.com for the 2004
Summer Olympics in Athens and the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics in addition to
being the leading provider of Web sites, content and advertising revenue
solutions to the largest and most successful media companies.
In addition to her acclaimed
novels in The Cruiserweight Series
and nonfiction wrestling bestseller Billy
Kidman: The Shooting Star among works of both fiction and nonfiction, Ms.
Carrington hosts The L. Anne Carrington
Show on Spreaker Radio.
She spends time between
Pittsburgh, PA and Tampa, FL, continuing to write.
Author Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lacarrington1
Google+: https://plus.google.com/108945778643334332910/posts
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/L.-Anne-Carrington/e/B0055STQL6/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4191972.L_Anne_Carrington
L. Anne Carrington's Books:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lacarrington1
Google+: https://plus.google.com/108945778643334332910/posts
Google+: https://plus.google.com/108945778643334332910/posts
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/L.-Anne-Carrington/e/B0055STQL6/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4191972.L_Anne_Carrington Coming Soon (Book one in the Power Play Series):
Available:
Nonfiction:
Books in The Cruiserweight Series:
Other Books:
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