Image credit: mavrick / 123RF Stock Photo
I’m not what you call an athlete. The most extreme activity I would take on is exercise, Jeeping through the mountains, or riding my bike on flat, level ground.
But I love to write about extreme sports and many of my characters partake in some type of sport. Garret and his brother Chayton in Burn on the Western Slope love to ski, ice climb, and many other mountain adventures. Jake, in my current work-in-progress, is a triathlete. I’ve also written about an auto racer and a surfer (look for those soon!). Most of my characters participate in some type of sport, whether it’s a hobby or a career.
I also love to watch extreme sports, and learning more about those activities was one of my favorite parts of writing Burn on the Western Slope. The research was fun and I almost felt like I was involved in the ice climbing with Garret and his brother. (That particular scene had been deleted before publication of the book, but it still taught me a great many things useful for other scenes and character development).
In my research, I learned that airdog means a snowboarded most interested in aerial tricks and thus, Air Dog became the name of the bar that Garret’s brother owns in Burn on the Western Slope. (Watch for Chayton’s story coming soon!)
Without further ado, I wanted to introduce you to my new paper at paper.li. XtremiA about extreme sporting in the US and beyond. It’s a great way to learn about or keep updated on extreme sports, and I continue to use it for research on my books. If you have any suggestions for news sources, I’d love to hear about it!