The organisational effort was more than worth it as several of Coventry's finest young ice skaters helped to give the fourth Bryant Rockwell book, Edge of the Blade, a great send off at Planet Ice on Saturday. Jacky is grateful to the rink manager, Chris Carpenter, and Richard Beamish, one of the international coaches, for their help and expertise in correcting technical aspects of the story.
On the day, several of the club’s skaters added colour and style to the event, and Jacky was overwhelmed by their interest as she explained the obstacles her character overcomes to realise her dream. They were thrilled to receive an autographed copy of her book; some even started reading while posing for the photos. One of the older girls, Lauren, explained why. “There are very few stories about ice skating, especially in the UK. I often find writers do not check their facts and have skaters doing a triple jump after only a few weeks’ training. It’s great to have a story about a believable character in a realistic setting.”
John Leon, the Coventry Figure Skating Club (CFSC) chair, spoke of the awesome commitment from the youngsters (and their parents), some of whom had 3am starts as they travelled from all over the country to train with the country’s top coaches in the International School of Skating (ISS). Karl Sparrow, who photographed the event, took it a step further. “You have kids as young as eight having the nerve-wracking experience of being alone on the massive expanse of ice, facing a panel of judges, an audience and the silence before the music starts.”
To read the full story of this event, click here.
You can find out more about the Bryant Rockwell series, perfect for fans of "10 Things I Hate About You" and "13 Reasons Why" here.
Click this link to read the first few chapters of any of Jacky's books.
