Girls Varsity Swim Season starts in mid-August.
For ten years my life revolved around swim practice, swim meets, fundraising, travel, and one swimmer in particular.
My daughter’s swim career ended in February, 2017. The previous October, I published my Young Adult novel Swim Season, which was inspired by my years of sitting on those cold, hard bleachers cheering her on.
I got more than a sore butt. She and her teammates inspired me to write this novel, and it took five years for me to put it together. It covers the entire season, from tryouts, to dual meets, to county and state championships.
It also covers the highlights of senior year: Football games, dances, friendships, first crush, college prep, and a host of other anxieties, including divorce, a blended family, a Wounded Warrior, PTSD, incarceration, and more.
There’s a lot in the 593 pages that comprise this book.
Book Description
Sometimes winning is everything.
Champion swimmer Aerin Keane is ready to give up her dreams of college swimming and a shot at the Olympics. As she starts senior year in her third high school, Aerin’s determined to leave her family troubles behind and be like all the other girls at Two Rivers. She’s got a new image and a new attitude. She doesn’t want to win anymore. She’s swimming for fun, no longer the freak who wins every race, every title, only to find herself alone.
But when her desire to be just one of the girls collides with her desire to be the best Two Rivers has ever seen, will Aerin sacrifice her new friendships to break a longstanding school record that comes with a $50,000 scholarship?
To honor these swimmers, I’m offering Swim Season for FREE on Kindle August 27-29. Pick up your copy here. Also available in paperback and audiobook.
To learn more about Swim Season, read my post Write What You Know and Then Some – Researching My Young Adult Novel “Swim Season.”
Crissi Langwell is the author of 10 books across several genres. Her passion is the story of the underdog, and her novels include stories of homeless teens, determined heroines, family issues, free spirits and more. She writes literary fiction, magical realism, women’s fiction, and young adult. Beyond writing, Crissi is an avid bookworm and a weight training wannabe. She pulls her inspiration from the ocean, and breathes freely among redwoods. She lives in Northern California with her husband and their blended family of three kids.
Danielle Thorne is the author of classic romance and adventure in several genres. She loves Jane Austen, pirates, beaches, cookies, cats, dogs, and long naps. She does not like phone calls or sushi. A graduate of BYU-Idaho, Danielle saw early work published by Arts and Prose Magazine, Mississippi Crow, The Nantahala Review, StorySouth, and… you get the idea. Besides writing, she’s edited for both Solstice and Desert Breeze Publishing. Her growing blog, The Balanced Writer, focuses on writing, life, and the pursuit of peace and happiness. Currently, Danielle freelances as a non-fiction author while waiting to hear from readers like you through her website. During free time, which means when Netflix is down, she combs through feedback and offers virtual hugs for reviews. Her next historical romance is coming soon.
Several years ago I wrote A Long and Winding Road, the story of the hilarity and chaos that happened when my husband and I took Mom and Dad, both of whom had Alzheimer’s, on a seven-week, sixteen-state trek across the southeastern U.S. in a forty-foot motor home. In it I also told of the years and the life experiences that brought the four of us together. Readers responded to the emotions in the story – the humor, the joy, the sorrow. But most of all, they responded to the love, and they wanted to know what happened next. Mom’s Long Goodbye is the rest of the story.
After years as a family caregiver, Linda Brendle began to write as a way of helping herself and others deal with the pain and frustration of caregiving. Now that her parents are eternally healed, she writes about life in the country, her feral Kitty, and her amazingly patient husband David.
Laurie (L.C.) Lewis knows that wherever life takes her, she will always be a Marylander at heart–a weather-whining lover of crabs, American history, and the sea. She admits to being craft-challenged, particularly lethal with a glue gun, and a devotee of sappy movies. Therapists have been chasing her down to diagnose her multiple personality syndrome, since she writes under three names–historical fiction as L.C. Lewis, romance and women’s fiction as Laurie Lewis, and general fiction as Laurie L.C. Lewis. Laurie was honored to win the 2017 RONE Award for Inspirational Romance. She also has been an IndieBRAG Medallion Honoree, and a New Apple Literary Medallion winner. She has twice been named a Whitney Awards finalist, and a USA Best Books Award finalist.
By Eleanor Cooney
I know that some will find the story I tell in my book 
But at the same time, I began writing 
Judy Cornish is an elder law attorney, geriatric care manager and author who has spent the past nine years working with families and people experiencing dementia in northern Idaho and Eastern Washington. Prior to her law practice and founding the Dementia & Alzheimer’s Wellbeing Network® (DAWN), Judy had worked in vocational rehabilitation and as a psychosocial skills trainer with the mentally ill. With her varied background—and education in literature, languages, fine arts and the law—she discovered a unique and truly effective approach to dementia care. The DAWN Method® enables families to recognize and meet their loved ones’ emotional needs, so they can live comfortably and safely at home for longer. Today, Judy runs Palouse Dementia Care, providing case management and care services on the Palouse, and DAWN, through which she consults and provides training in DAWN care.
cket from high school to college and her dream of becoming a scientist. The cocky new kid at school was getting in her way, and into her heart.
Julie L. Spencer lives in the central Michigan area with her husband and teenagers. She has a very full life managing a conservation district office, writing grant proposals & book reviews, and chasing after several teenage athletes. Julie’s been writing since she was in junior high, but prior to publishing The Cove, her only published work was her Master’s Thesis. She loves to read and write New Adult Contemporary Christian Romance novels, and has several more novels nearing publication.
Timothy Scott is a husband and father, and storyteller. He writes stories that celebrate the power of family and relationships in order to make a difference in the lives of others.
Marianne Sciucco, Author 