Guest Post: Holly Schindler

Holly Schindler is the author of A BLUE SO DARK, which I love, and this year's PLAYING HURT (which I also love but haven't yet reviewed). Chelsea, one of PLAYING HURT's main characters, was the star of her high school basketball team until an injury ended her season early. Although I myself am not a star athlete (in any way, shape, or form), my life revolves around basketball for about nine months out of the year. I asked Holly to share about how basketball became such a big part of Chelsea's story.

Chelsea, Sports, And Me

I’m no athlete.  At all.  It’s a little pitiful, actually, how clumsy I am. 

I chose to write about athletes in a roundabout way.  The first draft of PLAYING HURT didn’t feature the sports subplot at all.  When I drafted PLAYING HURT, I wanted to write a story about learning the difference between loving someone (how Chelsea feels about Gabe) and being truly IN love with someone (how she feels about Clint).  In the original book, Chelsea went on vacation, and found herself falling for her guide, Clint, in a way she had never fallen for her boyfriend at home…

I knew something was missing, but just wasn’t sure what…After selling A BLUE SO DARK, I re-read PLAYING HURT (which was then called SUMMER FLING).  I realized what was missing was backstory…as I read, I was really struck by how athletic Chelsea seemed…hiking, fishing, all existed in the original draft—so I started thinking, “Well, what if she IS and athlete—then I thought, “What if she WAS an athlete?” 

Even as I was realizing Chelsea was telling me she wanted to be an athlete, I still felt a little iffy about it.  I wondered—could I pull off an athletic backstory?  Would I be able to write the emotions / sensations of playing ball in a believable way?

Which is really the reason I chose to make Chelsea a basketball player.  In some ways, it’s the most natural fit in this area—at one point, the Missouri State University Lady Bears basketball team was really the most popular sports team in the area.  And I do remember with fondness when the Lady Bears made it to the Final Four when I was in grad school…

And of all the informal neighborhood driveway-sports, I did play a little basketball—pitifully, of course.  But I did have a hoop at the end of my driveway that didn’t go completely unused.  So I felt I could pull that off better than any other…

It’s amazing the places your characters will want to go, though, if you just listen to them.  PLAYING HURT was truly the first time I let my characters tell me who they were, instead of the other way around…and I’m so, so glad I did.

Be sure to check out PLAYING HURT, and don't forget about Holly's debut novel, A BLUE SO DARK.

Star basketball player Chelsea “Nitro” Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone’s admiration in her hometown.  But everything changed senior year, when she took a horrible fall during a game. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.

As a graduation present, Chelsea’s dad springs for a three-week summer “boot camp” program at a northern Minnesota lake resort.  There, she’s immediately drawn to her trainer, Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player who’s haunted by his own traumatic past.  As they grow close, Chelsea is torn between her feelings for Clint and her loyalty to her devoted boyfriend back home.  Will an unexpected romance just end up causing Chelsea and Clint more pain—or finally heal their heartbreak?

Fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose has been hiding a secret. Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her sole caretaker ever since Aura’s dad left them. Convinced that “creative” equals crazy, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination. Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked—and together may offer an escape from her fears.

Find Holly online:

website / blog / twitter / YA Outside the Lines blog / Smack Dab in the Middle blog