I love sports. I love playing sports. I love watching sports. I love sports—period.

I grew up in a small town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where participation in youth sports—regardless of one’s gender—was particularly encouraged. I grew up playing basketball, softball, and ice hockey. My parents spent their summers driving me around to basketball camps and 3-on-3 Gus Macker basketball tournaments. I saved my birthday money to buy Rebecca Lobo’s UConn jersey and real authentic player shorts and would practice my shot on the poured blacktop court my dad had installed in our yard. In high school I added volleyball to that list of sports, and I went on to play both volleyball and softball in college.

I’ve long wanted to write a sporty sapphics novel, but the seed of the idea behind Hoops & Heartstrings formulated in March of 2023. My wife and I get into March Madness every year, both on the men’s and the women’s side—filling out brackets and turning the tournament into our entire personality. Like so many others that year, we got swept up in the Angel Reese/Caitlin Clark discourse. Did they hate each other? Were they bad sports? Were they trash talkers? Or were they simply competitive athletes who wanted to win a championship? I was bothered by the obvious double-standards we place on female athletes who are supposed to be humble and demure and gracious to a fault. We’re not all that removed from the World War II period when we expected female baseball players to wear skirts and makeup and be ladies on and off the field.

My author brain was also churning away—what if two players who hated each other in college got drafted to the same WNBA team? We see it all the time in the professional league—two players who have beef now suddenly find themselves playing for the same franchise. How do they navigate that situation? And what if they fell in love?

The central characters in Hoops & Heartstrings are not based off of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese—this isn’t real person fanfiction (eww), but I’m sure a casual fan might believe that. Instead, they’re amalgamations of certain kinds of athletes. Lex is from the midwest, grew up in a lower-middle class family, and has a chip on her shoulder from being overlooked and underestimated. She doesn’t shoot logo threes or stunt for fans; she prizes grit and good defense and putting the team before individual accomplishments. Eva is from a monied family in New England, went to college in the South, and has been catapulted to celebrity status because of the many sponsorships and endorsements she received in college and now as a pro.

I’m really proud and excited about this—my 22nd full-length novel! It’s another story that weaves romance with a social justice storyline. I wanted to highlight the disparity between the men’s and the women’s league, but also the double-standard between white and Black female players—the way they’re perceived and treated by fans and the media. White female athletes often receive more positive media coverage, focusing on athleticism, leadership, and skill. In contrast, Black female athletes face stereotypes that emphasize aggression or attitude, rather than skill or leadership. They’re criticized for showing emotion, intensity, or confidence—variously labeled as "angry" or "disrespectful”—while white female athletes might be praised for displaying the same behaviors. Marketability and endorsements is also a theme in the novel. White female athletes are often perceived as more “marketable” and receive more endorsements and sponsorships, even if their performance isn’t better than a Black counterpart. And watch out if a Black female athlete makes a mistake.

Sports is a window into who we are as a people and what we value—and who we value. Sometimes sport has the potential to unite. And sometimes it reveals the ugliest parts of the human condition.

For those wondering about an audiobook, I’m currently negotiating the details with Tantor. I don’t have a release date or a narrator yet, but it will be happening.

In the meantime, I hope you get hooked on these characters and their journey. And I hope you’ll let me know what you think!

Prost,

Eliza