Candee Fick is the wife of a high
school football coach and the mother of three children, including a daughter
with a rare genetic syndrome. When not busy with her day job or writing, she
can be found cheering on the home team at football, basketball, baseball, and
Special Olympics games. In what little free time remains, she enjoys exploring
the great Colorado outdoors, indulging in dark chocolate, and savoring
happily-ever-after endings through a good book.
“Catch of a Lifetime is
a super sweet love story. I didn’t know much about football until I read this
book. The author knows so much about football that she was able to help me
understand this sport. I learned that a college football coach has a lot more
work than probably anyone realizes. There is more to it than just teaching
techniques only. I also didn’t realize that the boys have to watch film clips
to help them with strategy. I grew to respect what a coach has to go through to
get his team ready. This was a fun story and I was able to feel the excitement
of the game along with the tender romance. Towards the ending, there are some
tense moments.” –Review
by Author Linda Weaver Clarke
Welcome to my blog, Candee. Please tell us
about your sweet romance, Catch of a
Lifetime.
Catch of a Lifetime
tells the story of a first-year college football coach and a graduate assistant
athletic trainer who hates football but has to work with the football program
in order to pay for her schooling. It’s a clean and wholesome read even as it
deals with real life issues inside a college football program. Here’s the back
cover blurb:
He breathes football. She shudders at the very mention of
the sport. After a tragedy involving a football player destroyed her family,
athletic trainer and graduate student Cassie moves across the country looking
for a fresh start, but a change in financial aid lands her in the middle of her
worst nightmare. Meanwhile, rookie coach Reed worries his dream career will
slip away as injuries plague his players and his star receiver teeters on the
brink of ineligibility. As the two work together to salvage the season, sparks
fly, and Reed must eventually choose between the game he cherishes and the
woman he loves.
Where did you get your inspiration for this story?
This story nugget
arrived in a dream. I woke up living a scene that was so real it stayed with me
for at least an hour. As the details began to fade, I realized it had the
makings of a good story and so I scribbled down as much of the scene as I could
and filed the paper away with other ideas waiting for the right time. Of
course, when I pulled out my notes, the characters needed a bunch of tweaking
in order to make the situation believable and book length, but the essence of
the conflict was still there. Cassie did not want to work with the football
program but Reed was hero enough to help change her mind.
Of course, they
say to write what you know so several of the individual scene ideas came from
my personal experiences as a football coach’s wife and mother to a player who
got hurt during a game. I knew a lot about football from my guys, but I still
needed to do a lot of research.
What kind of research did you do?
While I
fictionalized the college, it was based on a very-real team’s schedule because
I needed to know how many games there were in a season, how they would qualify
for a bowl game, and a typical week’s practice plan. I also needed to know
about NCAA eligibility requirements for athletes, the test schedule for a
biology class, athletic training certification protocols, and how to diagnose
or treat specific injuries. All those tiny details and many more from sideline
game action helped create realism in my descriptions and bring the setting to
life.
Please tell us about the main character in this
story and what you love about him or her.
Cassie Parker hates
football, mostly because she blames a football player for the tragedy that
destroyed her family. But she’s also a fierce competitor who remembers the
commitment to excellence required in her previous sport of gymnastics as well
as the agony of career-ending injuries. She’s dedicated to her new field of
athletic training because she wants to help others and resolves to put up with
the football players in order to fulfill her vow to her late mother and finish
her education. I love how her empathy toward an injured player opens the door
for her to face the past and learn how to forgive so she can move forward to a
bright future. She’s a spunky fighter in a petite package.
Now it’s time to tell us something about the
real you that we’ll never forget.
I get to read and write for a living. Unfortunately, what I
get paid to read is thousands of pages of depositions from asbestos cases and
the writing involves summarizing work histories for legal reports. I’m blessed
to get to work from home with flexible hours, but it’s definitely my dream that
the income from my fiction would someday replace the need to read and write
about asbestos. Can you blame me? I guess in that way I’m like my heroine
Cassie because I’m doing something I don’t like in order to support my real
dream.
Thank you so much for
this interview, Candee. It was a great pleasure reading your book. It was so
much fun and I hope my followers will check it out.
24 comments:
thank you for posting!
It's great that this book can reach older teens as well as college students.
Dianna
nice interview
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
I love football. This sounds like a great read.
Tia
videoclimber AT yahoo DOT com
Question to the author: how did you come up with the names of the main characters?
What a nice way to have a story come to you. True inspiration! Love it!
Sonja dot nishimoto at gmail dot com
would love to win. angelachesnut246@gmail.com
This does sound like sweet read.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
How cool about the story coming in a dream, looks very good Thanks for the chance 2 win.
With so much discussion today about football, it's nice to see a fresh
true to life story which encompasses so many areas of the sport. Raised
in a green/white University town where we walked to home games at State,
I've viewed so many changes over the years, yet it remains the sport we
never tire of. It's wonderful you take time to share this and with the
responsibility of your sweet daughter and family. I think you've got a
winner,Candee. :)
I enjoyed reading about the inspiration for the story, thanks for sharing.
Thanks everyone for stopping by and your kind words. This story was especially fun because of how I got the original idea and how passionate some people (my family included) get about their team.
Mai T. asked how I came up with the names for my characters. The shorter answer is I search baby books, phone books, and yearbooks for lists of unique first and last names. I also make sure different character names don't start with the name letter so that the skimmer/speed readers among us don't get easily confused about who did or said what. The longer answer is that I really get to know my character's personality, appearance, and goals ... and then a name just seems to fit them perfectly. For example, Reed is not a "reed" since he's a really big muscular guy, but with his last name of Worthington, I hope I've given readers a sense of his integrity and moral convictions.
Funny story about names: While waiting at the airport for my flight to a college weekend visit, I did some people watching with a friend and we made a game of trying to come up with someone's name based on how they appeared and acted. One cowboy-type just looked like a Tom. Turns out the cowboy was on my flight and visiting the same college. As we chatted on the shuttle later, I learned his name was ... Tom. (We met again the following fall at school, became friends, and shared rides back home for several years.) Hmm. There might be a story nugget in there.
I always like to hear how an author comes up with story ideas! Liked your interview post!
This sounds absolutely intriguing! I am unfamiliar with this author but she sounds like one amazing new author!
I would love to win, read, review her book.
Thank you both for the giveaway!
Your book information describes my husband and I to a T.
He eats, sleeps, and breathes football.
Me, I don't hate it but I could care less who is playing or whether they win or lose.
I'd much rather have my face in a book instead of glued to the tv.
Janet E.
von1janet(at)gmail(dot)com
I love how much research went into the book. I love also how the author can relate to the main character with her real job not what she really wants to do, but is necessare for her to do what she wants to do.
This looks like a fun book! I like the way the character struggles with football because of tragedy, but needs to love it due to her job.
And the airport name game sounds like fun! :)
I love the plot of this book! The main characters are a fun match!
I am intrigued by this one! Thank you for the opportunity!
mauback55 at gmail dot com
liked the interview sounds like a fun one! - regnod(at)yahoo(d0t)com
Sounds really interesting, I like to watch football. mch267@sbcglobal.net
She is one busy woman I wonder how she finds the time to manage all she does? Amazing
Very intriguing and inspirational !
Congratulations to Tia Dalley. You are the winner of this wonderful book. I know you'll enjoy it. I surely did.
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