Welcome to Takeover Tuesday!

Denise Weimer is here to share a bit about her latest release, Spring Splash. You can win an electronic copy of the book. Click To Tweet Enter by using the Rafflecopter link at the end of the post. (Giveaway ends June 2, 2020 If you are the randomly chosen winner, I’ll contact you.)  

 

How the book came to be, from my Author’s Note…

Spring Splash combines two great loves of mine. For almost fifteen years, these loves, writing and being a swim mom, ran on courses that appeared would never intersect.

When my older daughter first participated in high school meets, a special competition hosted during the intermission captured my attention. The coaches of a local organization named Extra Special People (ESP—extraspecialpeople.com) fielded two relay teams. ESP is a non-profit in the Athens, Georgia area that serves children and young adults with developmental disabilities and their families. Their swim team competed at the high school meet and is known as the ESPiranhas. The crowds went wild as those enthusiastic athletes stroked through the water, and the inspiration for Spring Splash was born—even though I didn’t realize it for about five more years. As I became aware my time in the stands was winding down, the idea came back to me.

The power behind this story lies in the fact that in sports, we witness a microcosm of life. I wrote this novel to honor my daughters, the other club and high school team members, the inspirational coaches, and the extra special athletes who exhibit great strength of character by refusing to give up even when the odds are stacked against them.

 

Back cover copy…

When an injury sidelines college swimmer Anna Callaway, her dreams are crushed. She pours herself into her sports marketing practicum, helping a local special needs organization promote their athletic event. What she doesn’t expect is a swim team ripe for the Special Olympics—and their handsome but stubborn coach.

Craig Holt has dealt with eager and ignorant volunteers before. No matter how determined or persuasive uptight Anna might be about coaching his team to the Special Olympics, he has no intention of allowing her to raise the hopes of his swimmers, his sister, or his guarded heart.

Then Anna herself gets a second chance at becoming a champion. Will she pursue her lifelong goals or make room for a new dream?

 

An excerpt: Anna and her roommate/teammate Kristi are waiting for Craig to meet them at the coffee shop. We begin with Anna speaking…

“Honestly, with all the talent in the pool in front of him, I have no idea why he doesn’t already have a team going to the Special Olympics.”

“Well, we’re here to find out.”

As Anna focused on the parking lot again, her back pinged straighter than it did on a perfect dive. “And there he is.”

“You left off one important detail.” Kristi’s eyes bugged out as she followed the progress of Craig, dressed in trim jeans and a YMCA t-shirt that hinted at a six-pack as he locked his car and stepped up onto the sidewalk.

“What’s that?”

Craig adjusted his cap, spotted them, and smiled.

“He’s gorgeous.”

Anna smiled back at Craig while nudging Kristi with her foot. “And, due to working daily with people with speech impediments, also very good at lip reading.”

She’d never thought of Craig as gorgeous. Attractive, yes. But now, meeting him at a coffee shop rather than in a work setting—where if she was honest, she was a type of employee to him—she realized her friend was correct.

“He looks like he could pop out a 400-yard IM and get out dripping wet with that same smile in place.”

Anna almost choked on the casual sip of coffee she attempted to take while Craig walked in. She swiveled to greet him, hoping her face wasn’t as pink as it felt. “Morning.”

“Hey.”

“This is my roommate, Kristi.” Whom she very much hoped would behave now.

Craig stepped forward and held out his hand. “Let me guess. Another swimmer.”

“What gave me away?” Kristi reached around to wring a few more drops of water from her hair.

Anna, by contrast, had taken the time to blow dry her own hair. No, she reminded herself, not “taken.” Due to her injury, she couldn’t complete a full practice, so she had the time. Her dryer-wielding had everything to do with the wintry breeze awaiting her outside the pool and nothing to do with Craig Holt.

He tilted his head in Kristi’s direction. “So … has Anna roped you into helping with our Spring Games?”

“No, I’m here because she kept me up all night talking about special needs swimmers, and I needed the coffee. And because you scare her.”

“Kristi!” Anna’s protest came out in a squeak.

Craig’s jaw dropped a notch as his eyes swiveled to Anna. “I … scare you?”

“She’s possibly delirious. I hadn’t bargained on sleeplessness plus caffeine eroding her verbal filter.” Anna bared her teeth at Kristi, then added a raise of her eyebrows to soften the gesture to something resembling a smile before turning it on Craig. “You going to order something?”

“No, I’m good.”

Right. Because he probably got up with that ready-to-conquer-life attitude naturally, every day. To Anna’s dismay, he edged his hip toward the extra chair that waited uncomfortably close to hers … without moving it to provide a hedge of personal space.

“May I sit? And you can tell me what all this is about?”

“Sure.” Anna scooted over, her chair scraping loudly. Kristi stifled a smirk. Anna ignored her, eyeing the paper Craig held. “Is that the master list of the practice times, locations, and coaches for all the different sports?”

He smoothed the page on the table in front of her. “It is. I’ve also written in the name of an athlete I can suggest to be interviewed for each program. There are a couple I’m not as familiar with, but you have the phone numbers and e-mails of the volunteer coaches there that you can call.”

“Thanks, this is so helpful.”

“Good, but I could have e-mailed this to you and saved us all a lot of time.”

Nothing like a little bluntness. The suggestion that Craig found meeting her outside work an inconvenience firmed Anna’s resolve. She pressed her lips together and crossed her ankles, sitting up straight. “I did want to talk to you about something important.”

“Okay, what is it?”

Best to just blurt it out before she exploded. Or fainted. “I want to help coach the advanced swimmers during practice.” She gulped in air. By necessity, she was capable of holding her breath a really long time. And it might be necessary now.

His gaze didn’t falter from hers, and he showed no emotion. Finally, he spoke. “Why?”

Anna exhaled. “Because I don’t think their potential is being realized.”

“Oh, you don’t, do you? And just how would you help realize it?”

Unsettled by the condescension in Craig’s tone, Anna glanced at Kristi. She gave an almost imperceptible nod. Anna forced herself to meet those brown eyes again, though they looked guarded rather than warm. She pressed her hand into her stomach to calm the butterflies there. Ha. Funny. “I can help tweak their technique with the view of competing in the Georgia Special Olympics this May.”

“And how are you going to get them qualified? Our Spring Games are short course, in yards rather than long course meters. They’d need long course meters in order to swim at the state meet at Emory University.” Craig looked satisfied with himself for presenting this practical, undeniable obstacle.

And just in case it wasn’t sufficient to throw Anna off, he added another barrier. “I don’t trust conversions. How would we know they could swim the actual yardage without wigging out? A long course pool is intimidating for those unaccustomed to practicing or racing in one.”

“That’s true, and I’ve already thought of that. The club team has a long course meet at the college natatorium called Spring Splash the first weekend in May. The university’s assistant coach heads up the senior age group for the club team, so I’m sure I could pull some strings.”

Kristi offered an encouraging smile and nod. “It would be good PR for the club team.”

“Whoa.” Craig waved both hands. “Let’s pump the brakes here. Did my swimmers ever indicate to you that they wanted to compete?”

“Well, John and Reggie are so obviously racers. And DeShondra did, straight out, even though I never would’ve guessed it from her snail’s pace breaststroke. I talked with her yesterday after practice, and she said she used to attend meets, but the team doesn’t anymore. Why is that?”

Craig sat back, quirking up one corner of his mouth in a reflective gesture. “We did compete. But some of the swimmers didn’t understand why they weren’t put on relays. Some even quit because of it. Others tried meets but found they couldn’t handle the pressure. We decided that it was better to keep the swim program like most of the others in OCP, racing only for fun and only within the organization. That also kept the practices low key, equal, where everyone could take part.”

Anna didn’t know what she’d expected Craig’s explanation to be—maybe a lack of time or personnel—but she hadn’t expected a calm, thorough reason. She sighed. “I can understand that. I know that keeping stress down is an important emphasis for special needs athletes. But …”

“But what?”

“Aren’t you cheating them of real life?”

“I think we’re protecting them from unrealistic comparisons and expectations.”

“No, you’re not.” Before she could stop it, Anna’s hand shot out to cover Craig’s. She didn’t know why. Maybe because she sensed sadness in his statement and connected to it.

At his look of surprise, she jerked her hand back and stammered. “S-sorry. It’s just that I get what you’re saying better than anybody. My whole life, I’ve been compared to my older sister. She was better than me at everything. She got a full scholarship, academic and athletic, while I barely made the team. She made conference and championships every year, while I never got on the bus for either. And now, right when I was set to finally succeed, this happened.”

Anna paused and touched her shoulder. Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked them away.

“I didn’t know.” Craig’s mouth worked as though he struggled to decide what to say next. “That stinks.”

“I probably would have quit.” Kristi spoke up, leaning forward. “But not Anna. She’s still practicing every day, holding out for the hope she might qualify at the Last Chance Meet in late February. And now she’s taking all this on too. I think you should listen to her, because I’ve never seen her this passionate about anything besides her own swimming.”

“But that’s a huge part of my concern. I know how much she has going on.” Craig turned to her. “I think you have a noble idea, Anna, but will you see it through? Or will you drop it if you do end up competing again? Is this just something to fill a hole?”

Anna clasped her hands over her chest as Craig’s insightful questions pierced her heart. “I’ve asked myself the same things. But what you don’t know about me is, I’m not a quitter. If I commit to something, I’ll see it through.”

“Or kill herself trying.” Kristi mumbled, swirling the liquid remaining in her cup.

Craig rested his muscular forearms on the table, watching Anna. “Again, what I’m afraid of. Anna, I can’t risk the hopes and dreams of these young people to give you a warm fuzzy.”

“It’s not about a warm fuzzy.” Anna bit her tongue, taking a second to regroup. Why did Craig get to her so much? Why did she feel like she had to prove something to him? “This is not about me. It’s about what I see in that pool that your program is not exploring. Don’t you want your swimmers to get the best out of the sport? So what if the best looks different from one person to another? Isn’t athletics about pushing ourselves past our limits, to dream, to do the impossible? Even more so for the special needs athlete than any NT athlete, right?”

Craig breathed out an uneven sigh, tilted his head, and frowned at her. Only it wasn’t an ugly frown. It was a frown that showed, along with the moisture that sprang into his eyes, that he kept some deep emotion in check. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand him.

Both girls held their breath while Craig chewed the inside of his lip. He never released Anna’s gaze. Finally, he spoke in a soft, raspy voice. “I need to know I can trust you with this.”

“You can. Craig, I think this is the reason I was assigned this project.”

“Don’t let me down.”

Why did she sense that plea was personal rather than professional? “I won’t.”

 

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About Denise…

 

 

Denise Weimer writes historical and contemporary romance and romantic suspense set in her home state of Georgia. She’s authored over ten novels and a number of novellas. As a managing editor for the historical imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, she also helps others reach their publishing dreams. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.

Where you can find Denise online…

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