Today I am so pleased to welcome E.E. Grey to Joyfully Jay. E.E. has come to talk to us about her latest release, Tumbled. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Writing About Gymnastics (when you aren’t a gymnast)

I don’t know about you, but I am definitely not athletic, and certainly not athletic enough to be a gymnast. It’s one of the most intense sports and requires constant training for Olympic-level athletes—a lot of professional gymnasts live and train in training centers year round. The closest I’ve gotten to gymnastics is watching it on TV, and listening to my cousins talk about their practice and routines. How exactly are you supposed to write about something you’ve never done, aside from a few cartwheels as a kid?

The beauty of being a writer is being able to imagine things you might not be able to experience in real life. It’s also one of the curses—wanting to write about things you have never done. Some advice out there says to write what you know, but I’ve never been one to listen to advice (it’s gotten me in trouble a few times, let me tell you). These days, with the internet at our fingertips, there’s no excuse to not write about something for lack of information. When I first decided to write the Olympic Passions series (Vaulted and then Tumbled), I focused on gymnastics because gymnastics has long been my favorite sport to watch. Sure, football’s good, and I love ice skating, but gymnastics always drew my attention first. I was lucky to know quite a bit about the sport before I started writing—that’s what happens when you like something; you learn all you can about it—but knowing a lot doesn’t always equal knowing enough to write a novel.

When it comes to sports novels or movies, it always seemed to me that the writer has to know an awful lot about the sport, even if it’s a minor, background detail. The more you know about your background, the more seamlessly it fits into the story. I feel like the more you know, the less work it is.

In Vaulted, the first book in the Olympic Passions series, our main character, Dorian, excels on the vault. It’s his best (and not-so-coincidentally my favorite) event. This is where gymnastics gets to shine, during competition, and where I, as an author, have to figure out how to describe complicated moves to someone who may never have seen a vault. I spent hours watching YouTube videos, studying the twist of the body, the positions of hands and feet, then looking up the proper name for each move. Sometimes, sticking in too many specifics can take away from the story. This is why the more you know, the more seamless it becomes.

Tumbled came with its own set of things to learn. Tumbled follows Auden on his path to the Olympics, the days counting down to trials and the stress that comes with training and relationships. This was more about the everyday life of a gymnast: preparation for the Olympics, life in a training center. I read up on real-life training centers in the US, gymnast’s diets, training schedules, Olympic trials, World Championships, and everything in between.

No matter how much I knew before starting the Olympic Passions series, I knew a lot more after. The great thing is that I can now annoy family and friends with useless facts about gymnastics. It’ll be a nice break for them after the time I learned all about cephalopods for another story.

Tumbled comes out May 10th and is available through Forbidden Fiction! Get your copy today.

Blurb

A chance at the Olympics has been everything Auden has always wanted, but now that it’s within his grasp, he finds himself slipping further away. Does he really want to be an Olympic gymnast when there’s so much more to life? To make things worse, he has a major crush on both his friends-with-benefits teammate, Trayce, and a free-spirited musician named Shane. With the Olympic trials looming on the horizon, Auden has to decide what he really wants and how much he’s willing to give up to get it. (M/M)

Bio

E.E. Grey has been writing for over ten years and has completed several novel-length works and over three hundred short stories. When not writing, Grey enjoys traveling, having visited over twenty countries with several still on the list for the future. Grey’s other favorite pastime is baking sugar-filled desserts for friends.

Where to find EE Grey:

• Blog: http://eegrey.blogspot.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eeg13/
• Tumblr: http://strandedinfiction.tumblr.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ee_grey
• Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/E.E.-Grey/e/B007SRJOI2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1459352597&sr=1-1
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6427645.E_E_Grey

Giveaway

E.E. has brought an ebook copy of Tumbled to give away to one lucky reader on her tour. Just follow the Rafflecopter below to enter. There is also a Goodreads giveaway you can check out by following the widget below. 

Rafflecopter giveaway

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Tumbled

by E.E. Grey

Giveaway ends May 13, 2016.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

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