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Photo by Norman Chan via Adobe Stock |
Ah, the wonders of the internet! For writers it can make incredible connections and collaborations. This one happened with Swim Season, my YA sports novel released last October.
Long story short - I met a writer named Annie Douglass Lima through an online writers group (cleanindiereads.com) a while back and we've supported each other through many endeavors. Annie's an American teacher living in Taiwan.
It happened one day that she sat next to the school's swim coach and somehow the subject of my book came up. The coach, Randy Schmidt, was interested in the book and thought his students/swimmers might be too. The problem was he preferred to read a paperback - not an ebook - and the cost of shipping a physical book halfway across the world was 34-66 dollars, a deal breaker. Annie and Randy came up with a great idea: his parents planned to visit him in Taiwan for Thanksgiving. I could mail a book to them in Florida and they'd personally deliver it to him.
It worked! He received the book and circulated it among his swimmers. Here are their comments on the story, including some background on the individual swimmers. It's fascinating to see their responses to the book. Big thanks to all who took the time to read it, and especially to Annie and Randy for making this happen.
Dear Mrs. Sciucco,
Greetings to you, this is Randy Schmidt writing to you from the beautiful country of Taiwan, about half-way around the world - I hope you are well.
We received your book through fellow author Annie Lima during the school year. Several students and I read the whole book and I have compiled here some of their feedback - hopefully to encourage you.
Thank you for allowing us to preview your book and to offer some feedback from the middle school and high school perspectives.
Because of the length of the book, it took quite a while for most students to read it and make comments. Aside from comments about the length though, I think you will find that students who read the book were very enthusiastic about the content and how 'connected' they were to the characters (main word relayed to me was "relatable").
Comments are attached.
Thank you.
Randy Schmidt, Teacher & Coach
"I really liked this book. It is relatable and realistic. You 'get' what it is, they know what it is like to swim a lot – gives reality of sport." Girl, age 12 – one middle school (3 month) swim season; "Best swimmer in Grade 7" this year. Born in Thailand (Thai passport), Lived in Taiwan twelve years, goes back to Thailand every summer for school.
Long story short - I met a writer named Annie Douglass Lima through an online writers group (cleanindiereads.com) a while back and we've supported each other through many endeavors. Annie's an American teacher living in Taiwan.
It happened one day that she sat next to the school's swim coach and somehow the subject of my book came up. The coach, Randy Schmidt, was interested in the book and thought his students/swimmers might be too. The problem was he preferred to read a paperback - not an ebook - and the cost of shipping a physical book halfway across the world was 34-66 dollars, a deal breaker. Annie and Randy came up with a great idea: his parents planned to visit him in Taiwan for Thanksgiving. I could mail a book to them in Florida and they'd personally deliver it to him.
It worked! He received the book and circulated it among his swimmers. Here are their comments on the story, including some background on the individual swimmers. It's fascinating to see their responses to the book. Big thanks to all who took the time to read it, and especially to Annie and Randy for making this happen.
Dear Mrs. Sciucco,
Greetings to you, this is Randy Schmidt writing to you from the beautiful country of Taiwan, about half-way around the world - I hope you are well.
We received your book through fellow author Annie Lima during the school year. Several students and I read the whole book and I have compiled here some of their feedback - hopefully to encourage you.
Thank you for allowing us to preview your book and to offer some feedback from the middle school and high school perspectives.
Because of the length of the book, it took quite a while for most students to read it and make comments. Aside from comments about the length though, I think you will find that students who read the book were very enthusiastic about the content and how 'connected' they were to the characters (main word relayed to me was "relatable").
Comments are attached.
Thank you.
Randy Schmidt, Teacher & Coach
"I really liked this book. It is relatable and realistic. You 'get' what it is, they know what it is like to swim a lot – gives reality of sport." Girl, age 12 – one middle school (3 month) swim season; "Best swimmer in Grade 7" this year. Born in Thailand (Thai passport), Lived in Taiwan twelve years, goes back to Thailand every summer for school.
"I don’t really like to read books. This is the first book that I have really wanted to read once I started. It is easy to follow and real life. It drags me in the book –like a movie theater (feelings of being sad and happy, in love, and etc…) Gives you surprises, you want to keep on reading – at the end of the chapter it leaves you hanging, so you want to go on… The best book I've read so far." Girl, age 13 – club swimmer for multiple years, swam on club team this year, advanced swimmer, born in New Zealand (NZ passport), lived in Taiwan five years, goes back to NZ twice every year.
"I really liked the book – I liked how it related the life of a high school girl. My rating is a 5 out of 5. I recommend this book, especially to swimmers." Boy, age 13 – one middle school (3 months) swim season, still a beginning swimmer, born in Hong Kong (US passport), lived in Taiwan ten years, goes back to home in USA (Michigan) every two years.
"Aside from the length, which was the only main concern expressed by the students who read the book, I really enjoyed this book. The story takes place nearby to where I grew up, so that endeared me to the book and story even more. I found myself rooting for the swimmers to break the record they were trying so hard to accomplish. I even had to use some tissues at the end of the book – well done. Thank you for allowing us the honor to preview your work." Adult Male, Head Swim Coach & Teacher, born in Connecticut, just outside New York City, lived in Taiwan twelve years (US passport), goes to visit family in the USA every two years.
"I liked that the book was 'real life', not exaggerated like some other books. It was relatable to life as a student and swimmer. I definitely recommend this book to others." Boy, age 13 – one middle school (3 months) swim season, did well in first year, born and raised in Taiwan.
"The book was an accurate reflection and portrayal of the sacrifice that athletes make to perform at the highest level. As a fellow high school athlete I admired the protagonist's work-ethic and was able to connect with her struggle at practicing and investing time when no one else around her was. Thank you for writing this inspiring piece of literature and helping remind me that there are others that work hard to succeed too." Boy, age 17 – one middle school (3 months) swim season, plays varsity soccer, basketball, and track now, very into athletics as team and individual, very into reading (read Swim Season in one night), born in the USA, lived in Taiwan 12 years so far.
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