Featured New Book: What Happens on Sunday by Laurie Koozer

I’m not sure how Laurie Koozer and I met. Was it our Pittsburgh connection? Twitter? Something else that’s shared?

I don’t know. I DO know that I’ve been a guest on her blog, Yinz R Readin’, and now that she’s got a book of her own out, it’s only fair to return the favor.

Plus, Laurie’s cool people. I can’t wait until she and I begin taking Pittsburgh by storm.

Which means you KNOW she’s got a cool song to accompany her new book, What Happens on Sunday. I was lucky enough to do a proofread on this book, and let me tell you: it totally captures the Pittsburgh essence. Look out, world: Laurie’s here.

Without further ado, here’s what Laurie has to say about music and What Happens on Sunday:

I always think of my book when I hear the song “Hell’s Bells” by AC/DC. Every time I hear this song, particularly the long introduction with the bells tolling, I imagine a very cinematic vision of my characters getting ready for a Steelers game – Megan slutting up a vintage Steelers shirt and listening to pregame coverage in her Bloomfield apartment, Patty in the kitchen making game time snacks in the suburbs, Desiree putting on Steelers jewelry and a pullover fleece in preparation for a tailgate, Shannon alone in her apartment picking out a jersey to wear and ignoring calls from her sister, Jen tucking her Terrible Towel into her pocket as her and Dave argue about which wide receiver is going to have a better day, and Angela, very intentionally not wearing Steelers gear and avoiding anything on TV about the game.

I think the juxtaposition of a hard rock song to describe a book about six women is pretty fitting too given this book and the world in which they live – while softer elements such as romance and family relationships ultimately drive this novel there are parts of each character’s arc that get somewhat gritty, dare I say as bleak as a Steelers losing streak in a Pittsburgh winter? These are women who love and cry and yearn yet there is also a certain kind of grit and steel to them that is reminiscent not only of their Steel City heritage, but the gridiron game that they love.

Wow, huh?

Here’s the blurb:

In Pittsburgh, what happens on football Sundays is more than just a game and for six women during the 2005 Steelers season, their complicated relationships with the team provide solace, distraction and occasionally frustration.

Jen is a very young and very pregnant newlywed who worries that getting married on the same day as a Steelers loss will doom her marriage.

Megan never met a tailgate or a man she couldn’t conquer but is scared of losing her best friend to a relationship.

Desiree is a brash professional struggling to deal with her husband’s ex-wife and children and beginning to wonder if it’s the right time to start a family of her own.

Angela is a high school senior long ago branded bad luck for the Steelers and all she wants to do is get the hell out of Pittsburgh even if it means leaving behind her best friend Robbie.

Patty, a mom who sends a pair of sexy panties to a different player every week, hasn’t been on a date since her divorce five years ago.

And then there’s Shannon, she’s thirty-four and single. She spends the majority of her days navigating Pittsburgh traffic and her evenings tending bar and pining after her sister’s boyfriend.

As the Steelers make what seems to be an impossible run to the Super Bowl, their lives will intersect, each of them finding connections in the most unexpected places.

You guys will have to tell me if this resonates with you the way it resonated with me. This is one that’s haunted me since I worked on it, and given how many projects I see every month, and how many books I read as a reviewer, and how many books I read for pleasure, that’s saying something, wouldn’t you think?

So. Go buy. It went live on Amazon on August 13, which was just last week.

My favorite of all the e-book retailers is Smashwords. They offer us authors the highest royalties while giving you readers your choice of formats. Pick up Laurie’s book there, why don’tcha?

Connect with Laurie, too. Like I said, she’s cool people. Like attracts like, after all!

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