Lorna Schultz Nicholson
Lorna Schultz Nicholson has three sports books being released in the fall of 2021: Amazing Hockey Stories: Alexander Ovechkin (sports non-fiction with Scholastic), Taking the Ice (a hockey middle-grade novel with Scholastic) and When You Least Expect It (a YA rowing novel with Red Deer Press). She has published children’s picture books, middle grade fiction, YA fiction and hockey non-fiction. Her books have been nominated for many different awards and are often on the CCBC’s Best Books for Kids and Teens list.
When Lorna was a kid, she loved to play sports, and she also loved to read, so she feels blessed that she has been able to combine her passions into a career. She can honestly say she loves her job! Her first pair of hockey skates were hand-me-downs from the boy down the street. In the summer she spent hours loosening up her ball glove. Today, she still loves sports. In her spare time, she likes to run, bike, swim, ski, play tennis and hit the golf course. She hates to admit that golf is perplexing to her and she hits the ball all over the place. Lorna also still loves to read, and she loves inspiring children to read.
Lorna lives in Edmonton with her husband (Go Oilers Go) and two dogs, a whiny bichon shih tzu, and a sort-of-naughty puppy she rescued from Mexico. Her website is https://lornaschultznicholson.com/
Q: As the author of more than 30 sports books – fiction, nonfiction, from picture to adult books – tell us what it’s like to be queen of the Canadian kids sports-book scene. Can you tell us about some awkward moments, given the nontraditional role of being a woman sports author?
A: Okay, I’m laughing. I’ve never been called a Queen of anything except by my husband when he’s trying to get back in my good books. But I’ll take the title. I think because the first eight books I published were hockey novels, I never really had those awkward moments. I stepped out of the gates writing sports, so I think I was able to establish myself right away. I think there was more of a surprise factor that I could write sports, especially hockey, with some sort of authenticity. I often got comments about how my hockey scenes were real for the kids, especially hockey boys, reading the books. I was happy with that. I studied hockey drills and talked to coaches and pestered my son and his friends for research.
But I also write adult non-fiction sports and have had some awkward moments with those books. I wrote Grit and Glory: Celebrating 40 Years of the Edmonton Oilers and had a lot of negative social media comments on how I was selected as the writer for the book only because of my husband’s job. They didn’t look at the years I had put in to writing about sports, or my sports background. I had people who wouldn’t respond to me for interviews because I was a female writing this book. It was so strange. I ignored those people and moved on. Sometimes I think the advantage of being a female is that we understand the emotional element of sports and can write the parents’ comments really well. Lol.
Q: What sports have you personally participated in over the years and how does that help you write stories?
A:When I was a kid my mother called me the joiner. I wanted to be on every team and I lived for sports. In fact, when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I always said “athlete” like that was a thing. I often got the “that’s not a real job.”
I played softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey (yes, I played hockey) and I even tried out for the swim team one year, and gymnastics (not my best sport but I learned how to do a back roll and cartwheel on the balance beam). But the one I probably excelled at the most was rowing. It was a fairly new sport for high school females, and I rowed on the Canadian Team one year. That was grueling training and has helped me to write about how physically hard sports can be sometimes.
I think me being involved in so many sports has helped my writing because I sink myself into the mechanics of the sport, the difficulty of it, the effort it takes to achieve results. I understand bruises (that back roll in gymnastics gave me bruises all over my neck) and callouses (rowing makes the hands like raw meat) and overall pain. I also understand the thrill of victory, winning that coveted cup, that race or event. I can bring back those feelings of my own sports life and add all that emotion to the scene. So even if it’s a sport I know nothing about, I can write about how hard it is to do a drill over and over until exhausted, and how wonderful it is to succeed at that same drill. I am still highly competitive and find it hard to just go for a run without a watch timing how fast I’m going per kilometer. And let’s not talk about my golf game.
I find it frustrating to read sports books that don’t appreciate the sport and get things wrong, with writers who don’t do their research and don’t understand what it’s like to be an athlete. I also think non-athletes sometimes struggle to write authentic sports books because they miss the emotional element of sport, that low of losing and that high of winning, and the pain that is in between.
Q: Talk about the need for sports books among young people.
A: I think sports books are so important. Not all kids will read them but there are those kids who need them because they are like I was, and love being active. But there is so much more in many sports books, so they shouldn’t just be given to the kid who likes sports. All my sports books are about friends and family and ups and downs. Sure, a sport may be at the core of the book, but it’s not just about the sport. Reading about sports can teach a kid about teamwork, which perhaps can relate to working with a team on a project. Or they can teach about how to be a leader.
I have a novel coming out in the fall with Scholastic (Taking the Ice) and it’s about hockey but it is also about what it takes to be a good leader, anxiety and standing up against bullies. It’s also about how to be kind to others. So… not just about hockey. Teachers and librarians shouldn’t steer kids away from sports books because they don’t play sports. Kids can learn so many valuable life lessons from sports books.
Q: By my count, more than half your fiction books feature a male protagonist, but not by much. Tell us how you decide whether to have a male or female main character, whether one poses any more challenges than the other to you as a female writer, and any reactions you’ve gotten from young readers on the gender topic. (Love the picture book series featuring non-gendered teddy-bear “pucksters.”)
A: Thanks so much for saying that about my Puckster books (Tundra). Those books were fun to write and I tried so hard to include a very diverse cast of animal characters who all played on the same team. Those books were a collaboration with Hockey Canada and were designed so HC could use them as teaching tools. Sometimes reviewers didn’t get what I was trying to do, which was frustrating, but I knew the impact they were having, so I was fine if they didn’t get it. The kids got it. And lots of parents did too. Lol.
Now, about writing male versus female. I like writing both and I started writing from a male voice because my son was playing hockey, hated reading, and I wanted books for him to read. And I knew he would have preferred reading about a boy. But then I also wanted to write about females because I believe in females playing sports, as I think it teaches them so many skills that they can carry with them as they pursue careers. When I wrote my Podium Sports Academy series (Lorimer), I did six books with three females and three males and I planned it that way right from the beginning. By the way, one book was about synchronized swimming, which I knew nothing about. Those gals are tough, so don’t be fooled by the smiles.
Back to the gender topic. I think I usually write what comes to me, and the character is just there in my mind. In my first set of novels, I had a female as a secondary character in the first few books and I knew I wanted to write a book on her. That book was Delaying the Game (Lorimer). I’ve never had a reaction from my readers that I shouldn’t be the one writing the book… because maybe a male would know more. But you know, this is a good question, and I wonder if kids look at the name (mainly boys) and decide to go with a male author? Might be a good study to do.
Q: What authors do you most admire and why?
A: I love Kwame Alexander (Crossover) and Jason Reynolds (Ghost). I wish those books had been around when my boy was young. In Canada I think both Eric Walters and Sigmund Brouwer write authentic sports books and I know they understand sport. I also like Heather Camelot (Clutch) and Ellen Schwartz (Heart of a Champion) for their historical take on sports fiction. Karen Spafford Fitz (Taking the Lead) and Eric Zweig (Crazy Canucks) write wonderful hi-lo novels. David Skuy is also another favorite of mine (Rocket Blues, Striker). He has a real knack for true action and is authentic in his writing. And then there’s Pam Withers (Tracker’s Canyon, The Parkour Club, Drone Chase). She has done something wonderful by broaching the extreme sport world, and kids are so drawn to that. Pam’s books combine action and adventure.
Q: Beyond the sports appeal, what do you like to write about and why?
A: I like writing about friends and family and the lives of kids outside of their sport. My novel coming out in the fall (Taking the Ice, Scholastic), features a protagonist who has lost his father and has to move to a small town. It is a book about feeling awkward, having anxiety about being the new kid, being a leader and sticking up for what’s right. I also have a young adult novel coming out in November 2021 about a female rower (When You Least Expect It, Red Deer Press) and dudes too can read this book to find out about the sport! It is also about feeling lonely in a family situation, and having that first romantic attraction. These are real life issues that any kid can read about, put into a sport book. But I also want to appeal to that sport kid who wants to immerse in something they are passionate about, like I was when I was young.
A: Okay, I’m laughing. I’ve never been called a Queen of anything except by my husband when he’s trying to get back in my good books. But I’ll take the title. I think because the first eight books I published were hockey novels, I never really had those awkward moments. I stepped out of the gates writing sports, so I think I was able to establish myself right away. I think there was more of a surprise factor that I could write sports, especially hockey, with some sort of authenticity. I often got comments about how my hockey scenes were real for the kids, especially hockey boys, reading the books. I was happy with that. I studied hockey drills and talked to coaches and pestered my son and his friends for research.
But I also write adult non-fiction sports and have had some awkward moments with those books. I wrote Grit and Glory: Celebrating 40 Years of the Edmonton Oilers and had a lot of negative social media comments on how I was selected as the writer for the book only because of my husband’s job. They didn’t look at the years I had put in to writing about sports, or my sports background. I had people who wouldn’t respond to me for interviews because I was a female writing this book. It was so strange. I ignored those people and moved on. Sometimes I think the advantage of being a female is that we understand the emotional element of sports and can write the parents’ comments really well. Lol.
Q: What sports have you personally participated in over the years and how does that help you write stories?
A:When I was a kid my mother called me the joiner. I wanted to be on every team and I lived for sports. In fact, when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I always said “athlete” like that was a thing. I often got the “that’s not a real job.”
I played softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey (yes, I played hockey) and I even tried out for the swim team one year, and gymnastics (not my best sport but I learned how to do a back roll and cartwheel on the balance beam). But the one I probably excelled at the most was rowing. It was a fairly new sport for high school females, and I rowed on the Canadian Team one year. That was grueling training and has helped me to write about how physically hard sports can be sometimes.
I think me being involved in so many sports has helped my writing because I sink myself into the mechanics of the sport, the difficulty of it, the effort it takes to achieve results. I understand bruises (that back roll in gymnastics gave me bruises all over my neck) and callouses (rowing makes the hands like raw meat) and overall pain. I also understand the thrill of victory, winning that coveted cup, that race or event. I can bring back those feelings of my own sports life and add all that emotion to the scene. So even if it’s a sport I know nothing about, I can write about how hard it is to do a drill over and over until exhausted, and how wonderful it is to succeed at that same drill. I am still highly competitive and find it hard to just go for a run without a watch timing how fast I’m going per kilometer. And let’s not talk about my golf game.
I find it frustrating to read sports books that don’t appreciate the sport and get things wrong, with writers who don’t do their research and don’t understand what it’s like to be an athlete. I also think non-athletes sometimes struggle to write authentic sports books because they miss the emotional element of sport, that low of losing and that high of winning, and the pain that is in between.
Q: Talk about the need for sports books among young people.
A: I think sports books are so important. Not all kids will read them but there are those kids who need them because they are like I was, and love being active. But there is so much more in many sports books, so they shouldn’t just be given to the kid who likes sports. All my sports books are about friends and family and ups and downs. Sure, a sport may be at the core of the book, but it’s not just about the sport. Reading about sports can teach a kid about teamwork, which perhaps can relate to working with a team on a project. Or they can teach about how to be a leader.
I have a novel coming out in the fall with Scholastic (Taking the Ice) and it’s about hockey but it is also about what it takes to be a good leader, anxiety and standing up against bullies. It’s also about how to be kind to others. So… not just about hockey. Teachers and librarians shouldn’t steer kids away from sports books because they don’t play sports. Kids can learn so many valuable life lessons from sports books.
Q: By my count, more than half your fiction books feature a male protagonist, but not by much. Tell us how you decide whether to have a male or female main character, whether one poses any more challenges than the other to you as a female writer, and any reactions you’ve gotten from young readers on the gender topic. (Love the picture book series featuring non-gendered teddy-bear “pucksters.”)
A: Thanks so much for saying that about my Puckster books (Tundra). Those books were fun to write and I tried so hard to include a very diverse cast of animal characters who all played on the same team. Those books were a collaboration with Hockey Canada and were designed so HC could use them as teaching tools. Sometimes reviewers didn’t get what I was trying to do, which was frustrating, but I knew the impact they were having, so I was fine if they didn’t get it. The kids got it. And lots of parents did too. Lol.
Now, about writing male versus female. I like writing both and I started writing from a male voice because my son was playing hockey, hated reading, and I wanted books for him to read. And I knew he would have preferred reading about a boy. But then I also wanted to write about females because I believe in females playing sports, as I think it teaches them so many skills that they can carry with them as they pursue careers. When I wrote my Podium Sports Academy series (Lorimer), I did six books with three females and three males and I planned it that way right from the beginning. By the way, one book was about synchronized swimming, which I knew nothing about. Those gals are tough, so don’t be fooled by the smiles.
Back to the gender topic. I think I usually write what comes to me, and the character is just there in my mind. In my first set of novels, I had a female as a secondary character in the first few books and I knew I wanted to write a book on her. That book was Delaying the Game (Lorimer). I’ve never had a reaction from my readers that I shouldn’t be the one writing the book… because maybe a male would know more. But you know, this is a good question, and I wonder if kids look at the name (mainly boys) and decide to go with a male author? Might be a good study to do.
Q: What authors do you most admire and why?
A: I love Kwame Alexander (Crossover) and Jason Reynolds (Ghost). I wish those books had been around when my boy was young. In Canada I think both Eric Walters and Sigmund Brouwer write authentic sports books and I know they understand sport. I also like Heather Camelot (Clutch) and Ellen Schwartz (Heart of a Champion) for their historical take on sports fiction. Karen Spafford Fitz (Taking the Lead) and Eric Zweig (Crazy Canucks) write wonderful hi-lo novels. David Skuy is also another favorite of mine (Rocket Blues, Striker). He has a real knack for true action and is authentic in his writing. And then there’s Pam Withers (Tracker’s Canyon, The Parkour Club, Drone Chase). She has done something wonderful by broaching the extreme sport world, and kids are so drawn to that. Pam’s books combine action and adventure.
Q: Beyond the sports appeal, what do you like to write about and why?
A: I like writing about friends and family and the lives of kids outside of their sport. My novel coming out in the fall (Taking the Ice, Scholastic), features a protagonist who has lost his father and has to move to a small town. It is a book about feeling awkward, having anxiety about being the new kid, being a leader and sticking up for what’s right. I also have a young adult novel coming out in November 2021 about a female rower (When You Least Expect It, Red Deer Press) and dudes too can read this book to find out about the sport! It is also about feeling lonely in a family situation, and having that first romantic attraction. These are real life issues that any kid can read about, put into a sport book. But I also want to appeal to that sport kid who wants to immerse in something they are passionate about, like I was when I was young.