Since I usually write about cowboys, both current and in the past, some people asked what inspired me to write about a football player.
Here’s the thing…
Captain Cavedweller loves football. I mean, really loves football. If he can find a rerun of a game to watch in July, he will watch the whole thing, even though he already knows who is going to win.
For his birthday two years ago, I bought him a pair of season tickets to the nearest arena football games (about an hour away from us). After attending the first year, not having tickets for the following season wasn’t even a question. It was a given.
I found that I also really enjoyed the games even though I’m not a die-hard football fan.
If you’ve never been to an arena (indoor) football game, they play on a smaller field with eight players instead of eleven. Because things are smaller in scale, it just seems more personal.
While I was sitting watching all those games, I started thinking in “what if” mode. As in, “what if there was a football player?” “What if he fell in love with a girl at the game?” “What if…”
I began taking notes when we’d go to the games. Lots of notes. About the fans, the players, everything.
Some of the details in Love at the 20-Yard Line are from true stories that happened. Like the rowdy bunch of fans at the games, who are also a lot of fun. They really did torment a security guard with a balloon during half-time. There really are some dancing girls who seem to inspire the rowdies to strip off their shirts and flail them around their heads. There really is a drum line that truly is amazing. The mini doughnuts – those are real and completely delicious. Oh, and that whole thing with a hot shell casing… I may have first-hand experience with that.
I’ve mentioned before, when I’m in my writing “zone” I like to listen to music. Sometimes I just let the same song play over and over. Yes, it may be odd, but my cousin who is a very talented artist does the same thing so it makes me feel not quite such the odd duck.
Anyway, the two songs I listened to predominately while I wrote the book are these two:
Lovin’ You is Fun by Easton Corbin (Love this song!)
Hey Pretty Girl by Kip Moore (His voice, oh, his voice…)
