Chance For Rain by Tricia Downing

Posted: November 5, 2019/By: achristay@aol.com

Please welcome Tricia Downing author of Chance For Rain

Tricia Downing will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Chance for Rain

byTricia Downing

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GENRE: Chick Lit/Romance

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INTERVIEW:

If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?

I’ve envisioned Chance for Rain as a movie a million times, but if that dream were ever to be realized, in the role of Rainey, I wouldn’t want a traditional Hollywood actor, but an actor with a disability. I have a friend who is a paraplegic actor and would love the opportunity to see her play the part. As for her best friend—I’d pick Kate Hudson.

How did you come up with ideas for your books?

Chance for Rainwas an opportunity to create an entertaining, yet educational novel. It started out merely as a fun side project for me. The seedlings of the story came to me one night as I was falling asleep and nearly kept me up all night. Each time I put my head back on the pillow, another scene, sentence or paragraph came to me and I had to keep sitting up, pulling out the notebook and writing everything down so I wouldn’t forget it by morning. Once I got to writing and getting into the character of Rainey, it became an opportunity for me to highlight a character with a disability, and in the process of telling her story, I was able to add teaching moments into the manuscript that highlighted disability etiquette and awareness, to give the reader a perspective that might be something different than the norm. So often in the movies, we see characters with disabilities as being tragic, unhappy characters, or the opposite—overly inspiring; the character who overcomes his/her disability to do something that no one thought was possible. In Chance for Rain, my goal was to make Rainey an interesting and believable character, but one with a universal problem to tackle—a problem that could belong to anyone. And in this case, a concern about her ability to fall in love and to experience that love in return.

What expertise did you bring to your writing?

I majored in Journalism in college, so I’ve been doing some sort of writing ever since, whether it be magazine articles, press releases or speaking presentations. Then I published my memoir, Cycle of Hopein 2010 and thought that was the end of my book writing. I had no idea that writing would become something I would continue to pursue and have a desire to turn out more books. Further, I never imagined I would turn to a fiction writing career, but after completing Chance for Rain, I am excited about jumping into another story and honing my writing skills. I look forward to continuing to write to see what comes up for me next!

As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

I plan to continue writing fiction, but for now, it’s just a hobby. I would love to think I could make a living at writing, but I think for me, it would take away much of the enjoyment. I love to write when I need to escape reality for a little bit.

If you were the casting director for the film version of your novel, who would play your leading roles?

I’ve envisioned Chance for Rainas a movie a million times, but if that dream were ever to be realized, in the role of Rainey, I wouldn’t want a traditional Hollywood actor, but an actor with a disability. I have a friend who is a paraplegic actor and would love the opportunity to see her play the part. As for her best friend—I’d pick Kate Hudson. I haven’t picked the perfect Brian yet, however.

Do you belong to a critique group? If so, how does this help or hinder your writing?

I don’t belong to a critique group, but when I decided to actually work toward finishing Chance for Rain, I took a writing class and part of each class session was dedicated to critiquing others’ work. It was helpful to have other eyes on my writing, but since my writing schedule is sporadic, I haven’t joined a group, since I never know when I will have something to contribute. Of course, if I DID join a group, I’d have people keeping me accountable!

Do you outline your books or just start writing?

I’ve written two books and both of them were written without outlines, but one of the projects I am currently planning is going to be a little more complicated in terms of the number and stories of the individual characters, so I’m sure I will need an outline.

Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?

I am a Paralympic athlete and so is my main character Rainey. She is a skier however, which is not my sport. Too fast and dangerous. I prefer triathlons and endurance racing, but I wanted to write a character who shared my passion for athletics.

Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?

I have several parts and pieces, musings of future books on my computer. My goal is to buckle down for #NaNoWriMo and finish the first draft of my next novel. Since it’s in the early stages, I’m not sure where it will go, but do know that it will be another love story.

Who is your favorite actor and actress?

Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington

Anything else you might want to add?

Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?

One of the reasons I wrote Chance for Rain was to bring to life a character with a disability, with the goal not of showing a tragic or dismal existence (as is often the case with disabled characters), but to show the disability experience for what it is: another version of the human experience.

As someone who has sustained a disabling injury (I have a spinal cord injury and use a wheelchair for mobility), I want to share with readers that life with a disability is not as unusual or unlike any other, as people might believe. With this in mind, I created my central character, Rainey May Abbott, to be a typical 30-something woman looking for love, and having the same insecurities that many of us have at some time or another in our lives. Will I fall in love? Will I be loved in return? Will I get married and have a family?

I hope my novel will give readers a new perspective on disability, love and relationships as I continue what I hope to be a series of stories featuring characters with different disabilities, navigating the ordinary, complex and the unknowns of life and love.

BLURB:

Elite athlete Rainey Abbott is an intense competitor on the outside, but inside, she feels a daunting apprehension about her chances of finding true love. Her life as a downhill skier and race car driver keeps her on the edge, but her love life is stuck in neutral. A tragedy from her past has left her feeling insecure and unlovable.
Now that she’s in her thirties, Rainey’s best friend Natalie insists she take a leap and try online dating. Rainey connects with brian85 and becomes cautiously hopeful as a natural attraction grows between them. Fearful a face to face meeting could ruin the magic, Rainey enlists Natalie to scheme up an encounter between the two where Brian is unaware he is meeting his online mystery woman. Rainey is left feeling both guilty about the deception and disappointed by something Brian says.
When they finally meet in earnest, Rainey’s insecurities threaten to derail the blossoming romance. As she struggles with self-acceptance, she reveals the risks we all must take to have a chance for love.

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EXCERPT:

Whoever said it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all was full of shit. I am sitting on the patio of my childhood home with my father; together we are a testament that it doesn’t matter whether you once had a great love or never had one at all. Between the two of us, we have experienced both, yet here we sit—on the same playing field of loneliness—spending time together while lost in our own worlds.

Sunday mornings with my dad have been a tradition ever since I moved out of our family home and got a place of my own. It’s our quality time, if you can call it that. He’s got his nose stuck in the New York Times, and I’m scrolling through Facebook on my iPhone.

“Rainey, I just read an interesting article about how more people are breaking the smartphone habit and reconnecting with each other face-to-face,” he says. I can tell he’s looking at me and waiting for me to glance up, but I only respond, “Uh-hmm,” as I’m thoroughly glued to the screen of my personal electronic device, reading Jenny’s status update and wondering exactly what she’s referring to when she says how crazy last night was and that “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” I make a mental note to text my high school friend for more on this juicy gossip and perhaps even consider my dad’s commentary and schedule a face-to-face lunch date to catch up.

This weekly get together and inanimate exchange of conversation is my father’s and my attempt at keeping our family together. I use the term “family” loosely because I’m not convinced that two people alone constitute a family. But, it’s all we have left. Our inattention isn’t because we don’t like each other. On the contrary, I love my father more than any other person on this earth. Yet, our conversation is hollow, as are our hearts.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Paralympian, Speaker, Author, Disability Advocate

On September 17, 2000, Tricia Downing went from being a competitive cyclist to a paraplegic requiring a wheelchair for mobility. Her life was changed forever, but Tricia’s competitive spirit and zest for life continued on. Making the transition from able-bodied cyclist to an athlete with a disability, Tricia has completed over 100 races, including marathons and triathlons, since her accident. She was the first female paraplegic to complete an Ironman triathlon and qualified for the Hawaii Ironman World Championship twice. Additionally, she was a member of Team USA at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tricia’s professional life has been immersed in sports as she earned a master’s degree in Sport Management in 1995 and worked at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. She was the press officer for the USA Table Tennis team at the 1996 Olympic Games.

She has received many sports accolades, including the USA Triathlon Physically Challenged Athlete of the Year (2003), Sportswomen of Colorado—Inspiration (’03), Triathlon (’05), Hall of Fame (’12) Awards, the 2006 Most Inspirational Athlete from the Challenged Athletes Foundation and the 2008 Courage Award from the Tempe Sports Authority.

As a community leader and disability advocate, she was a member of the 2013 class of the Girl Scouts Women of Distinction. She also received the 2019 Inspiration Award from Craig Hospital for outstanding community contribution from a Craig Hospital “graduate.” (Craig is a world-renowned spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation hospital) Tricia has truly excelled despite her life-altering injury.

In addition to her sports pursuits, Tricia has taken an active leadership role in her community as a peer mentor to others experiencing spinal cord injuries, she founded Camp Discovery (and subsequently The Cycle of Hope non-profit) dedicating 10 years to helping female wheelchair users gain confidence and self-esteem through a yearly sports and fitness retreat. Additionally, she serves on the board of USA Shooting, which is the National Governing Body for the Olympic sport of shooting.

Tricia published her memoir: Cycle of Hope—A Journey from Paralysis to Possibility in June 2010, with the second edition released in January 2017. In August of 2018, she published her first fiction novel Chance for Rain.

Website:https://triciadowning.com/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/RedefiningAble

Twitter:https://twitter.com/redefiningable/

LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/in/triciadowning

YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/user/RedefiningAble

Instagram:https://instagram.com/redefiningable/

Pinterest:https://www.pinterest.com/redefiningable/

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Chance-Rain-Novel-Tricia-Downing-ebook/dp/B07GYRJT41/

Barnes and Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/chance-for-rain-tricia-downing/1129236522

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