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" data-orig-size="1600,1200" sizes="(max-width: 565px) 100vw, 565px" aperture="aperture" />*As I posted yesterday, I’ve been updating and streamlining my blog, book promotion materials, and video trailers for my books. Today, I’m posting the last of the three trailers that I’ve updated—Baseball Girl. This is my second novel, and it’s loosely based on my life working in professional baseball for the Baltimore Orioles for 13 years. It was fun to use my experiences and behind-the-scenes sports world to create the Bay City Blackbirds, their city (much like Baltimore, right?). It’s ultimately a love story on many levels—with baseball as the backdrop. Below is the new trailer and the synopsis of the book, along with a review from Readers’ Favorite, for which I was awarded an honorable mention for sports fiction.
It was also fun to come up with all the quotes that “lead off” each chapter, much as a lead-off hitter does for a team when at bat.
If you haven’t read it, I hope you’ll give it a try. If you have read it, thank you so much.
Opening Day of baseball is tomorrow—Let’s Go, Orioles!
B A S E B A L L G I R L ( 2015)
Francesca Milli’s father passes away when she’s a freshman in college and nineteen years old; she is devastated and copes with his death by securing a job working for the Bay City Blackbirds, a big-league team, as she attempts to carry on their traditions and mutual love for the game of baseball. The residual effect of loving and losing her dad has made her cautious, until two men enter her life: a ballplayer and a sports writer. With the encouragement of her mother and two friends, she begins to work through her grief. A dedicated employee, she successfully navigates her career, and becomes a director in the front office. However, Francesca realizes that she can’t partition herself off from the world, and in time, understands that sometimes loving someone does involve taking a risk.
Available at Amazon.com by clicking here.
Available at Barnes & Noble.com by clicking here.
Honorable Mention for Sports Fiction – Readers’ Favorite
Praise for Baseball Girl from Readers’ Favorite
Stephanie L. Verni’s contemporary fiction novel, Baseball Girl, is a marvelous novel that blends the coming of age, romance and sports fiction genres. The author’s long-term association with the Baltimore Orioles makes the novel feel like the real thing. Verni takes the reader into the inner workings of the front office of a baseball team, and it’s a fascinating look at the hard work, dedication, and stamina needed to be part of that world. While Francesca is no longer a young adult, the interwoven tales of her childhood through to her late twenties, combined with the ongoing trauma of her loss which keeps her locked up inside and unwilling to risk emotional attachments, make this story one of the more compelling coming of age tales I’ve read. Baseball Girl has a strong romantic thread, but the lack of any overtly sexual or erotic themes makes this novel eminently suitable for young adult readers as well as the target adult audience. Verni’s strong and competent Francesca is the perfect role model for young women, especially if they just happen to love sports. Baseball Girl is an awesome read, and it’s most highly recommended.