Game, Set … Match? , or how I turned my father’s four month sabbatical into an erotica story!

This is my ‘story behind the story’, or in other words, the genesis of my story Game, Set … Match?, part of the “Best In Game” Amber Pax. When Trace put out the call for a sports themed Amber Pax, I thought it was a perfect match. I grew up in a house where sports really was the dominant religion. My father was a basketball and tennis coach at the University of Albany, and my brothers had athletic ability coming out of every pore of their bodies. My brother Tim, one year younger than me, was a fabulous tennis player, playing number one on the school varsity team probably in his 10th grade year, and my youngest brother, Michael, led our high school basketball team far in the state finals his senior year. Anyway, being a college professor, my father decided to take a sabbatical to learn to teach and coach tennis back in the ‘70s. So, somehow, he dragged me and my four siblings and my mother to live on a tennis ranch in Texas for four months.

It was a fun experience – basically, we got to live on a resort, with tennis courts and ball machines available 24/7 for us to use, indoor facilities with ping pong tables, a swimming pool, and a constantly changing group of guests, some of whom were tennis and entertainment celebrities. It’s hard to begin to describe what it was like moving from NY state to Texas. Let’s just say that Texans describe where they live like it’s another country, and most of the time we agreed with them.

So when I decided to pick a subject for my sports story, I thought it would be fun to have a fantasy about living on a tennis ranch in Texas. Only problem was, I haven’t played tennis in a while (bad knees) and I haven’t lived in Texas in 30-some years! Fortunately, my father is still alive, and in his seventies both coaches and plays tennis, and I still have a friend who lives in the little town of New Braunfels, which is really where the Bar None ranch is set (although I’ll never call it that!). I relied heavily on them for help, but I think my friend Mike in Texas had the most fun, especially with all my weird questions (okay, I want them to have sex somewhere in San Antonio after walking on the River Walk, but not in a hotel. Any ideas?) He and I brainstormed over the phone several times and he helped me get the details just right.

I’m going to San Antonio in April, right before the RT conference in Houston, to do some more research, and then hopefully write three more stories based on the ranch and Jaime, my heroine’s, family. And right now, with a winter storm barreling down on us here in Ontario, the trip can’t come too soon!

Review in RRT Erotic, by Jennifer Bishop, for Game, Set … Match?: In Jaime Alexander’s opinion, there’s no better place to play tennis than her family’s ranch in the Texas Hill Country. Of course, that is only if she can manage to stay away from her father. While at the Bar None, Jaime runs into her brother’s former doubles partner, the very sexy Mac Garza.

Mac is surprised to see that Jaime is all grown up, but floored by the siren who propositions him. The former tennis star is definitely intrigued by Jaime: a woman unimpressed by his celebrity and interested in the man behind the image. But there are still some things they’ll have to work out before a relationship can work.

Two friends find an unexpected love on the courts in GAME, SET ... MATCH? The chemistry between Jaime and Mac sizzles, but there is more than sex to their relationship. Mac is recovering from an injury and is trying to decide what to do with his life now. Jaime was a tennis phenom when she was younger, but gave it up to chase her dreams, which caused difficulties between her and her father. The time Jaime and Mac spend together will help them each deal with their issues.

An interesting short story, be sure to check out GAME, SET ... MATCH?