Book Spotlight: Off Pitch by Brianna Kienitz
(Pitch Prodigies #1)
by Brianna Kienitz
Date Released: October 9, 2017
About Off Pitch
Soccer star Adeline Fahey has never taken an interest in the world outside of the pitch. The daughter of wealthy Irish immigrants, and a straight-A student, she sees nothing but the goal—finish her last two years of school and join a professional soccer team—no ifs, ands, or buts.
Then Gabriella Soto, a cello prodigy in her own right and the teaching assistant in Adeline’s dreaded Beginning Spanish class, walks onto her playing field.
After a drunken night in a T-rex costume boots their hearts onto a collision course, Adeline and Gabriella must tackle a field of school scandal, homophobic parents, and their own passionate career goals to have a shot at something more. In the face of so many obstacles, Adeline and Gabriella fear that their love may not be strong enough to score them the championship relationship they never knew they wanted.
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An Excerpt from Off Pitch
I stood back to watch my handiwork as the soccer ball soared gracefully into the top-right corner of the goal, and a whistle blew from somewhere near the sideline to signal the end of practice. I sighed with contentment at my own spectacular skill and jogged toward the net to help clean up the mess of balls that littered the goal area. My bedeviled locks clung to my sweaty forehead as the summer sun beat down from the clear August sky and reflected off Lake Michigan, bathing the soccer field in a double-whammy heat wave.
“God, Adds! Do you ever let up? The season hasn’t even started yet,” Jessica whined from her position inside the goal.
“After fourteen years on the pitch together, I thought you’d have learned the answer to that question.” I gave her chestnut ponytail a playful tug, and she glared at me while she leaned casually against the goalpost.
“Well, there was that one time in first grade when we sat down in your living room and watched a movie.”
“Ha. Ha.” I rolled my eyes. Jessica Strobel and I had been best friends since first grade. Now, going into our junior year at Northwestern University, our relationship subsisted entirely on sarcasm and caffeine.
“I’ll tell you what. Since you managed to block almost 10 percent of my shots, and I know what a sore loser you are, I’ll take you out to coffee after we’re done here.”
“Wow, your highness. You are so magnanimous. Thank you soooooo much,” Jessica said with a flagrant eye roll. As much as we teased, I did feel a little guilty for dragging her to this practice. It was the last day before the start of fall classes, and while pre-semester practices weren’t mandatory, I was beginning to feel the stress of the inevitability of graduating in two years. I only had two seasons left to impress scouts and get picked up by a professional team, or risk becoming another college has-been. That was a fate to which I refused to succumb.
Jessica was, and always had been, my rock. She kept me grounded and sane, which was no small feat, given my penchant for being a high-strung ass much of the time. Her role in my life was much like that of the Roman slaves who whispered in Caesar’s ear, “Remember, thou art mortal,” as he paraded victorious. Not that I thought I was immortal but I did have a big head. Jessica was the person who kept my over-inflated ego from carrying me away like a hot-air balloon.
“Fahey! Strobel! Clean up now, chitchat later,” Coach barked from the sideline. “Some of us have places to be.”
“You heard the man.” Jessica gave me a pointed look. “You made this mess. You clean it up.” Without another word, she traipsed off toward the locker rooms. I sighed audibly, but silently smirked at her retreating back. She put me in my place like no one else could. It was only fair that I pick up. If I hadn’t dragged her to this voluntary practice, she would probably still be sitting in our shared apartment in her pajamas, watching whatever show she was currently obsessed with.
Once I had stuffed the plethora of soccer balls back into a bag, I hitched it over my shoulder and hauled it to the sideline where the coach waited impatiently. He seemed focused on whatever he was doing on his clipboard, so I didn’t dare disturb him. I threw the bag into the pile of soccer sundries for the equipment manager to deal with and started to trot toward the locker room. I was only a few steps along when the coach called after me.
“Hold up, Fahey. A word, please.” His tone was always gruff, but I had learned that his demeanor was more warm than harsh. His face seemed to bear a perpetual five-o’clock shadow, but his blue eyes were always bright beneath his bushy rich brown hair. It was as if he was built to be a coach, right down to his powerful physique and firm attitude.
“What’s up, Coach?”
“Gardener is gone,” he said without looking up from his clipboard.
“Yeah. I know.” I felt like he was stating the obvious. Cam Gardener had been the captain of Northwestern University’s women’s soccer team for the past two years. She had graduated last year, and we’d held a big going-away party for her and the other graduates at the end of the semester. I was perfectly aware that graduating meant she wouldn’t be on the team anymore.
“So, we’ll need a new captain.” Coach looked up at me finally. “It’ll be the ladies’ decision, ultimately, but I want it to be you.” His expression was calculating as he waited for me to respond.
“Oh…wow! I…thanks, Coach. I mean, it’s up to the others, obviously, but…yeah. I’ll think about it. Thank you. I’ll think about it,” I babbled and started to walk away. I felt Coach’s gaze weighing on the back of my strong shoulders, and my thoughts began to race. I had never really considered being captain of any team. I was an excellent player by any standards, and it wasn’t that I was selfish, or a showboat, but I was always focused on being the best I could be. I loved being part of a team, but I had never thought of myself as a leader.
The prospect was both exhilarating and daunting. I tried not to let it worry me as I undressed and showered in the locker room. Hopefully, Jessica was up for being a sounding board, and she could help me figure this whole situation out. She was always the level-headed one.
Off Pitch
Brianna Kienitz © 2017
All Rights Reserved
A Guest Post from Brianna Kienitz
Writing an explicitly sexual book as an asexual author
(A)sexy Writing
When I started writing this post, I had the laughable idea that I could fit all of my thoughts about asexuality into 700 words. Silly me! It turns out that nearly 15 years of pent up confusion and emotions don’t fit into one little blog post. So, if you’d like to read about my personal asexual journey, head over to my blog. I am completely overwhelmed by the response to the original post and I want to thank everyone who read, shared, and commented. It made all the anxiety I experienced over sharing something so personal absolutely worth it.
Now, let’s talk about writing sexually explicit material as an asexual writer. I consider myself grey ace, or as I like to call it, sexually indifferent. With very few exceptions, I don’t experience sexual attraction. I could have gone my whole life without having sex with another person, and been completely content (my wife and I have sex and it’s fun, but I don’t need it). However, there are a few things that turn me on, and sex in books tops that list.
I like sex in books not only because it's fun to read and write, I think it is incredibly important to have realistic sex representation in books, especially for the queer community. For many people, fiction is the only way for them to get sexual education. I believe it is our obligation as authors to create realistic, healthy sex scenes. We need to have open conversations through our work so that people can gain the knowledge they deserve and make informed decisions about their sexuality.
Finally, I feel that including sex in my writing is a way to show people that asexuals are not broken. I do get it; I understand sex and that it is important for many people. I even enjoy it, be it real or fictional. The difference is that it's not something I feel towards other people. It is not an integral or necessary part of my relationship, though I can respect that it is for my wife. I try to show that sentiment through my characters (none of whom identify as asexual this far, but I do have an ace main character planned for a future novel) by giving them happy, healthy sex lives.
I hope that some of this made sense. Truthfully, I’ve been wrestling with asexuality since puberty, and I still haven’t found a good way to explain it to others that doesn’t involve talking myself in circles. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns feel free to reach out to me. I am always happy to engage in this conversation.
If you want to take it a step further, I challenge you to share your own story with the world. It can be difficult, and terrifying, but if I've learned anything it's that we are hungry to see ourselves represented in fiction and the real world. People want to know that they aren't alone and that their feelings are valid. So take a leap of faith and throw your story to the wind. You might be pleasantly surprised by what comes back.
About Brianna Kienitz
Brianna Kienitz (pronounced Kee-nits) started out as an avid reader of lesbian fiction on Wattpad. When reading no longer sated her appetite, she turned to writing the stories she craved. Brianna believes a good story should make you feel every moment deeply, whether it be laughing until it hurts, crying yourself dry, or screaming with unbridled rage. Her Wattpad works have been widely read and have received multiple awards from the Wattpad community. Her current project, Off Pitch, was named Wattpad LGBT Book of the Month in March 2017.
Brianna lives in Missoula, Montana, where she works as a slayer of transit demons, and a dance instructor. She spends most of her down time hiding in her Hobbit Hole with her wife and cat, curating T-rex costume GIFs, and pretending not to be socially awkward on the internet.
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