6 minute read
Deundria Clark
Bianca Williams
Q. Thanks for interviewing with us tell everyone who you are and where you’re from?
Advertisement
A. You’re welcome and thank you for the interview. I’m a sports romance author from Baltimore Maryland. I discovered how much I love creative writing while pursuing a double major in Finance & Management at Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia. I graduated top of my class and began working in finance and co-founded an event planning company with my best friend.
Q. Let’s talk about “Know the plays, or “Get Sidelined” and the motivation behind it?
A. It’s my slogan or better yet my mantra. It started off as a play on words for my book series, sidelined about an up-and-coming event planner Bryn Charles who lands her first celebrity client and makes the ultimate rookie mistake of mixing business with pleasure. Bryn was constantly getting sidelined in her love life, workplace, etc... It’s not until she starts to recognize the various “plays” aka red flags, that she figures out how to avoid being sidelined. It also applies to sports. If you’re not listening to your coach, studying film, or practicing the plays, you’ll find yourself on the sideline… I loved the concept so much that I trademarked the slogan.
Q. What made you want to be a sports romance writer?
A. I always wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t have a story. It wasn’t until I experienced this whirlwind romance with an NFL player followed by a horrendous breakup that I had a vision for this project. It was through my pain that I began to write. Although the series is inspired by true events, it allowed me to combine my creative passion with my love for sports. In the end the story chose me.
Q. You dated an NFL player. No doubt you attended several games as does your character Bryn. In real-life what are your favorite 5 NFL stadiums?
A. AT&T Stadium in Dallas, home to the Cowboys hands down, is my number one stadium to visit. It’s the Disney Land of NFL stadiums. As you are entering the stadium, you are immediately immersed in the Cowboy experience. It’s luxe. There’s dancing, shopping, fresh foods, a live DJ, and much, much more. And of course, there’s football
that you can catch replays on the largest Jumbotron I’ve ever seen. I would highly recommend attending a game there even if you aren’t a Cowboys fan and perhaps treat yourself to a turf level suite and feel like you are in the game. My second choice is Mercedes-Benz Stadium home to the Atlanta Falcons. It’s one of the newer stadiums and it’s a temperature-controlled dome. You’re protected from the elements, so it makes for a truly fun experience, especially if you want to look cute. M&T Bank Stadium home to my Baltimore Ravens is my most frequently visited. Ravens fans are the best fans. My favorite feature is at night, the stadium lights create a beautiful purple skyline as you drive into the city of Baltimore. The new MetLife (Giants/Jets) is a favorite stadium simply because it’s not the old cement block it used to be. I had the pleasure of attending both the old and new stadiums against both teams. The experiences were like night and day. Last but certainly not least is Lincoln Financial Field home to the Philadelphia Eagles. I went to college in Philly so if you hung out at a sports bar you had no choice but to become a fan of all of the hometown sports teams. Philadelphia is a huge sports town. It was when I lived there that I started watching and attending NFL games. One thing is for sure, Philly fans are truly one of a kind. They will cheer you when you succeed and boo you off the field if you mess up a play. It’s the fans that make each home game the most enjoyable.
Q. How does the NFL play a big part of your life to create these romance stories?
A. In addition to dating an NFL player, I ran charity football camps for at-risk-youth in Baltimore and we had a host of players attend. It’s funny. You hear about all of the crazy professional athlete stories on blogs, radio and in magazines, and then one day you’re a part of it. The good, the sexy and the crazy. The stories I share in the series are a combination of fact and fiction.
Q. Who is your favorite sports hero?
A. Serena Williams. She’s got grit and so much tenacity and love for the game. She demands excellence and requires players to rise to the occasion to play against her. She is the GOAT. Watching her be great inspires me to fight for my goals.
Q. You have really catchy titles for the three books in the series “The Draft” “The Penalty” and “The Contract”. What was creative thinking behind using these football terms as book subtitles?
A. When I started planning my project, I knew that each book would showcase not only a football season, but also represent a season of a relationship. The association to football are the stages that an athlete goes through during his NFL career. First comes Draft Day, the athlete is chosen by a team, just as my protagonist was chosen by the player in The Draft. Next, it’s performance time. Players are put to the test. On any given Sunday, if they don’t perform up to expectations or demonstrate misconduct on the field, they could get benched, fined, or injured. That is illustrated in The Penalty. It represents the mishaps along the way, as with the ebbs and flows of romantic relationships. A big multimilliondollar contract is the end game for most players. In, The Contract, my protagonist wants the ultimate contract, marriage.
Q. Can you tell us your opinion on dating athletes?
A. The terrain is very different. People say it’s just like dating any other man. It’s not. Only elite athletes make it into these leagues and the majority of them have been coddled and catered to their entire lives. So, the most important advice I could offer is to make sure that although he is the star on the field, you are co-stars in the relationship. It’s so important not to lose yourself by getting caught up in their fantasy life. It’s a slippery slope. Keep the scales balanced and let them know that your emotional, physical, and mental needs are just as important as theirs.
Q. What’s the next big step for you for 2021?
A. November is national novel writing month so, instead of resting which I promised myself I would do, I’m going to break ground on a non-fiction book to compliment the Sidelined series. Know the Plays, or get Sidelined: in Life, Business and Relationships. The vision is to develop a playbook with winning strategies to help women achieve their goals.
Q. Where can the readers follow you?
A. Readers can follow me on: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @bwillbooks.
