On Sunday, August 16th, Dartmouth Book Exchange hosted a “Big Dill” Early Release Party for Cathryn Fox’s brand-new Pickleball romantic comedy set in Churchill Falls, Newfoundland. Not officially released to the public until September 8th, it was available to our event attendees as a special edition with beautiful stenciled edges and a coloured page depicting the lead characters, Jami and Body, watching the Northern Lights, and as a regular novel, with the same picture in black and white.
To begin the event, Cathryn and I slipped on our Dill Pickle headpieces, admired an attendee’s dill pickle earrings, and commented on Cathryn’s “Sassy with a Side of Pickles” T-shirt. We discussed why Cathryn, who has written many hockey romances, moved to writing about pickleball, and if she herself played the game. It turned out the origins of writing a pickleball series began several years ago in Denver. Cathryn was on a hockey panel, and the moderator asked the panel what was next for the authors, and no one said pickleball. And no, Cathryn has never played the game. We learned that Cathryn is a plotter and writes 2,000 words a day. Her outlines run 15-16 pages and take her a week to develop. She has plans to write several books in this series and has come up with several possible, and ridiculous, “Dill” titles for them. Cathryn is known for bringing Atlantic Canada into her books and, for now, plans to keep this series set in Newfoundland and Labrador, but won’t rule out a visit to another Atlantic province. She loves writing about small towns and “found family” trope happily-ever-afters. She has found her “voice” in these fun rom-coms and enjoys writing stories that are more than just a love story; she wants the reader to experience a vacation while reading.
“The plane bucks again. I rock with it, my spine cracking like bubble wrap. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I’m grateful for the distraction. I yank it out, praying it isn’t the airline texting ‘good luck with the landing’, but no, it’s my brother.”- Jami
During the event, we had a challenging pickleball quiz with 15 questions about the game. Questions ranged from the standard size of a pickleball court to what a dink shot was. Prizes were given to the highest scores. I had a middle-of-the-road winning score of 8 out of 15, and I have never played or watched a game in my life. All I know about pickleball is what I learned in Big Dill.
“I first heard about such a sport from my brother, I thought it was some kind of competitive pickle-eating event.”- Jami
We enjoyed eating pickleball cupcakes and chocolate mini Big Dill books. We also had some pickling fun with our dill pickle headpieces and pickleball paddles. We were excited to find out that Cathryn’s next book, Dill Dough, is set to be released in November.
Brody Murray—physiotherapist, Ironman, and sworn enemy of messy feelings—is back home to open a pickleball hotspot with his best friend. His game plan is to work hard. Stay focused. Avoid complications. Then his best friend’s sister walks in. Jami Grant is starting over after losing everything—her studio, her designs, and her confidence—thanks to one spectacularly bad ex. What she doesn’t plan on, however, is running into Brody… AKA the lumber-snack, the one-night stand she never forgot. She had no idea the lumber-snack was her brother’s best friend, business and pickleball partner. Yeah. It’s a problem. When they’re thrown into close quarters, the tension ramps up fast—but Jami’s not staying, and Brody’s not getting left behind again. No matter how good they are together. In a town where everyone’s in your business and there’s nowhere to hide, resisting each other might be the hardest game they’ve ever played.
“I often write books set in my home province of Nova Scotia because, well…LOOK AT IT. I think it’s simply breathtaking, and I love giving readers a little vacation along with their love stories.
But I’ve also been lucky enough to live in three different places in Newfoundland and Labrador, and believe me when I say that province is absolutely spectacular. Rugged coastlines, colourful little towns, ocean views, incredible people…there’s just something about it that stays with you.
So, when I started writing my new Pickleball Small Town Romance series, with each book set in a different Newfoundland and Labrador community, I wanted more than anything to capture some of that beauty on the page. I wanted readers to fall in love with the characters, laugh at their antics, swoon over the romance…and then immediately start checking flights and packing bags.
I received an early review for BIG DILL, and I honestly can’t stop smiling.
The reviewer said: “Readers who appreciate Authors who embed their novels with local culture and colloquialisms will appreciate this book. (see: fish, affectionate phrases, and dishes) Too often you’ll read a book and it’s a generic setting. Not so here as the Author from the start sets up the story with humor. (see: Jamie’s departure from the aircraft). By the end, the Reader who may never have traveled farther than the pages of the book, will have traveled to Newfoundland, Canada.”
YESSSSSS!!! That right there. That means so much to me because that’s exactly what I hoped to do. Come for the pickleball. Stay for the romance. Laugh at the chaos. And maybe leave with Newfoundland and Labrador on your travel bucket list.
Although fair warning…once this series takes you to Dildo, Newfoundland, in DILL DOUGH, I cannot be held responsible for your Google search history.– Cathryn Fox
