New this winter from Pauline Books & Media: Extreme Blindside, Leslea Wahl's second book in the Blindside series.
The series begins with The Perfect Blindside, which follows Jake, a self-described “snowboarding phenom” and teenage Olympian with a chip on his shoulder and his classmate Sophie, a small-town girl who’s proud of it–and who tends to geek out over local history. Jake and Sophie become an unlikely pair as they puzzle over suspicious occurrences in the town of Silver Springs, Colorado.
In Extreme Blindside, Wahl revisits the world of extreme winter sports. Jake and Sophie seek to protect other athletes from dangerous competitive sabotage even as the world-class athlete and aspiring reporter face threats to their relationship.
Wahl shines in creating true-to-life characters with real flaws, yet who have faith and strong family example to guide them along the way. Both books in the series are told from dual points of view, allowing readers to relate to each of the main characters.
The author graciously agreed to answer my questions about Extreme Blindside (and her other fiction for teens, much of which is interconnected).
Is it tough to write a "sequel" when you've done several other novels in between? Or do you view this more as an installment in a series?
I’m hoping to write at least one more book in the Blindside series. But yes, it was a little difficult to get back into the characters. I had written two other YA books, An Unexpected Role and Where You Lead, since I had written The Perfect Blindside. When I finally decided to focus on the next installment of their story, it took a little while to get back into their voices. I struggled a bit until I finally decided to write a few short stories with Jake and Sophie as well as two characters from An Unexpected Role. For some reason, this helped.
What's your favorite thing about each of the main characters?
I love Sophie’s curious nature. She wants to be a journalist and that questioning aspect of her personality helps when they become involved in these mysteries. I really enjoyed researching topics for Sophie’s nervous ramblings about Colorado facts. It was so fun discovering interesting tidbits that I didn’t know about my native state.
Jake is probably the most difficult character for me to relate to of all the characters I’ve created. But this guy really has a great heart and is trying to do the right thing. Writing the snowboarding scenes take a lot of research and imagination. But honestly, watching videos of amazing athletes hardly seems like work.
Do your kids ever worry that something they do or say will wind up in your books? I know you had a character with that worry in another novel.
That was the premise of An Unexpected Role, an author causing trouble by including too much about her children in a book. While I usually include some little incidents that have happened to our family, the characters are nothing like my children and I stay away from anything personal. However, I did ask their permission regarding the book I’m working on now, a sibling adventure, because from the outside the family does seem to be a bit like ours. My children are all young adults now and are very encouraging of my work. They all actually help me out in various ways through marketing, editing, offering feedback, and inspiration.
Do you or your family members do extreme sports?
No. The kids have tried snowboarding a few times but really, we are a family of skiers. I have always loved watching the winter Olympics and especially the snowboarding events. I’ve also been fascinated with the dedication and sacrifice it takes to become a top athlete.
What's next for these characters? Can you give us a sneak peek into your future book plans?
I have two projects that I am currently working on. One is the family mystery/adventure I mentioned before, tentatively titles A Summer to Treasure. This one is a little different than my other books. Since it’s about siblings, it doesn’t contain as much romance, but it is a project I’ve been excited about for a few years. The other is the third adventure for Jake and Sophie. eXtreme Blindside ends with a bit of unfinished business that I will explore in the third book.
Copyright 2020 Barb Szyszkiewicz, OFS This article contains Amazon affiliate links; your purchases through these links benefit the author.
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Copyright 2020 Barb Szyszkiewicz, OFS This article contains Amazon affiliate links; your purchases through these links benefit the author.
About the Author
Barb Szyszkiewicz
Barb Szyszkiewicz, senior editor at CatholicMom.com, is a wife, mom of 3 young adults, and a Secular Franciscan. Barb enjoys writing, cooking, and reading, and is a music minister at her parish. Find her blog at FranciscanMom and her family’s favorite recipes with nutrition information at Cook and Count. Barb is the author of The Handy Little Guide to Prayer and The Handy Little Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours, available from Our Sunday Visitor.
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