Give a warm welcome to Marianne Sciucco as she talks about her book Swim Season with us today!
Thank you, Shanna, for inviting me to spend some time with your readers. I’ve been writing forever and indie-published my first novel last year. Like so many writers, I wear many hats, one of which is called “Swim Mom.” I’ve shuttled my daughter to swim meets and swim practice for years, and now follow her across state lines during her college swimming career. All those hours sitting on cold, metal bleachers waiting to watch her swim for a minute or two gave me more than a sore you-know-what: It inspired me to write a novel about girls’ varsity swimming.
In Swim Season, the new girl on the team challenges a longstanding school record attached to a $50,000 scholarship. My goal was to write a story about the whole high school swimming experience, to show others who may not be as familiar with the sport how much fun it is and how hard these kids work. I started it four years ago and will soon have a completed manuscript. The plan is to publish in spring 2015.
This story is about more than swimming as my young heroine, Aerin, deals with the aftermath of her parents’ divorce, a stepmother and two stepsisters she doesn’t want, her mother’s PTSD and drug addiction after two tours of duty in the Middle East as an Army nurse, and her best friend’s cute twin brother. Oh, and she’s just started senior year in her third high school. Aerin is a girl you will definitely cheer for.
Here’s a sneak peak:
I dove into my lane and started moving forward, losing all sense of time as I entered my zone. It was a peaceful place, with no noise except for the splashing of the water as I glided through it. The cool wetness of it stroked my skin. My arms arced overhead and plunged into the water – left, then right, now breathe on the third stroke – while my feet made efficient flutter kicks churning the surface of the water. I felt at home. My mind was set free of all worries. Here, in this pool, I felt a sense of comfort and control I found nowhere else.
A sudden tug on my left foot jerked me out of my zone. I stopped and sputtered upright.
“Hey,” said Mel, “come on. We’re done.”
I recently launched a pre-publication campaign through Pubslush, a marketing platform much like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but dedicated exclusively to books. Pubslush offers crowdfunding and pre-orders, and a way for me to test the waters, build an audience, and provide start-up funds necessary to publish, distribute, and promote Swim Season. You can help by becoming a supporter, starting with as little as one dollar. There are lots of great incentives, including free books.
Please take a moment to check out my Pubslush page SwimSeason.pubslush.com, then join my team. You don’t even have to get wet.
About the Author
A lover of words and books, Marianne Sciucco dreamed of becoming an author when she grew up but became a nurse to avoid poverty. She later brought her two 
passions together and writes about the intricate lives of people struggling with health and family issues. Her debut novel, “Blue Hydrangeas,” an Alzheimer’s love story, is rated 4.7 stars on Amazon and has more than 60 5-star reviews. A native Bostonian, she lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. You can follow Marianne’s Adventures in Publishing on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, and on MarianneSciucco.blogspot.com
