100% My Fault

My latest book, Double Fault, is out

I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by. - Douglas Adams

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Happy April and Happy Spring, everyone!

If I wasn’t sure how much I prefer warm weather over the alternative, last weekend’s 30 degree temperature drop made a believer out of me. Really looking forward to being back in the 80s later this week. Winter, be gone!

Second only to my excitement about the return of warm weather is my delight in announcing my latest book, Double Fault, is officially out.

Double Fault maintains my pattern of having no pattern. It’s a contemporary action/thriller set in the tennis world. It fits right in with my previous titles that were, in more or less this order: a middle grade historical; a YA conspiracy thriller trilogy; and an adult historical fiction. It fits right in by not fitting in. Maybe one of these days, I’ll commit to a genre. Just not today!

You’ve probably heard the writing advice, ‘write what you know’. When I chose this topic many years ago during one of the many National Novel Writing Month challenges I participated in (50,000 words in 30 days), it was the first time I actually put that old saw into practice. I had never been a young Norwegian immigrant pioneer. Nor had I been a teenage nepo boy. Or a 17th century French pickpocket/stowaway.

But I had played a little tennis in my day. I wasn’t on the tour or anything. Heck, I didn’t even make the school team; nor did it occur to me to try out for it. I was one of the thousands of average folks who join the local neighborhood club team and spent several years having a dang good time playing matches, traveling to tournaments, and making some great friends. One of my teams actually won state, believe it or not.

Like a lot of recreational players, there was quite a gap between the heady days of playing tennis in my youth and returning to it with a vengeance after adulting (going to college, getting a job, getting married, having kids). My skills were as rusty as my old Wilson T2000 racquet. But the biggest change wasn’t switching to a non-metal racquet. It was shifting from singles to doubles.

When I first started playing tennis, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as doubles. I clearly remember being astonished when I signed up for an easy A in my Phys Ed requirement at UTA (Go Mavs!) and there was another girl standing on the court with me. I honestly had no idea why she was there. When I figured out we were going to be learning doubles, let’s just say I was less than pleased. Doubles is for losers, I remember thinking. For geezers.

Oh, the irony, twenty-odd years later. The tables definitely turned. Doubles is literally the name of the game in rec tennis, no doubt due to the age demographic. I held my nose and attended a couple of clinics. Initially, I was not loving the vibe. In fact, I was ready to walk. But our teaching pro, Mike, talked me off the ledge. I’m sure I wasn’t the first player coming back to the game after a loooong layoff and not being thrilled at the prospect of having to cooperate with another human being while trying to murder that little yellow ball.

I liked Mike. He was a solid dude. So I took his advice, and he was right. Once I got the gist of doubles, I was hooked. When we moved from Minnesota to South Carolina, little did I know I was now in USTA Heaven. It was kinda like a hockey player moving to Canada. Everyone plays tennis there. The weather is perfect. Most clubs are in great shape. Most are very affordable. The state is small, so traveling to tournaments is no biggie. All in all, it was a huge win for my tennis game.

After a couple of years playing league, I was such a club rat that when I heard about an available position with the USTA in South Carolina, I jumped at the chance. I still played club tennis, of course, but as an official USTA employee, I got to see the inner workings of the organization and really enjoyed being a tennis ambassador.

It wasn’t long until I made yet another shift in my tennis life: that of becoming certified as an instructor. I had enough knowledge and skill at that point that I could teach beginners of all ages, then hand them off to more experienced pros when the time was right. That’s how I wrapped up my work career: as a teaching pro at some very nice public facilities in the Columbia, SC area. Good times.

So when you read my latest book, there is actually stuff in there that I know from experience. Probably not the stuff about the Russian mob, or hot FBI agents. But the behind-the-scenes skinny on club operations, and rec player dynamics, and the care and maintenance of sweaty undergarments, and how great a cold beverage tastes after a long match? Totally legit.

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I will leave you with three things:

• It’s bluebonnet season here in Central Texas. The wildflowers in the North 40 appreciated that cool, rainy weekend a lot more than I did. Look carefully and you will see dianthus, mugwort, and Texas poppy as well. Rudbeckia and Indian blanket will dominate in the next phase of spring blooms.

• Earlier I mentioned National Novel Writing Month. This popular challenge initially was held in November. As I said, I participated several times. I learned a lot about self-discipline, the importance of pre-planning, and the value of merciless editing, among other things. That’s why I was sorry to hear about their unfortunate management issues last year and more recently, their demise. I’m thankful that I had a chance to learn from them while they were still around. As NPR said, RIP NaNoWriMo.

• Speaking of learning things, I’m so glad our local library book club chose Remarkably Bright Creatures as our read for May 2025. Yes, I know it came out several years ago. But I am embarrassed to admit I had never read this marvelous book until recently. Delightful in every way.

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My latest book, Double Fault, is available now on Amazon.

When an investigation of illegal match fixing by the Russian mob brings the FBI to her tennis club in the person of hunky agent Wilson DuBois, Veronica Burk vows to help him solve the case quickly before her own very successful gambling habit falls under suspicion.

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Ventured is available now on Amazon.

When she takes a chance on making a new life for herself, French orphan and cutpurse extraordinaire Belle must find a way to survive in the New World—or she may not live long enough to enjoy it.

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My YA trilogy is also still available if historical fiction isn’t your thing.

Brody Morgan grew up starring in commercials for his dad's mega food corporation. What will Brody do when he discovers what he's really been selling?