Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings

Diamond Heat | Alex Washoe

For the Love of the Game #2

Release Blitz: August 15th 2021

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58406566-diamond-heat

Blurb

Daisy Flowers is a one-time college pitching phenom whose career was sidelined by misogyny and transphobia. For over a decade she’s toiled away in the minor leagues, doing any job she can to stay in the game she loves. But her heart has grown bitter, and every fastball she throws is fueled by rage. When the Majors finally give her the call, she has only one dream left: to take on the entire baseball world and leave it scorched and ruined in her wake.

Jonas Sutton, in his third season in the Majors, is a talented player who has never quite lived up to his potential. Struggling to break through, but thwarted by the secret he can never reveal.

Daisy’s arrival, in the midst of a pennant race, with everything on the line and the bright glare of the spotlight burning all the time, ignites tempers and passion. She’s prepared to fight every inch of the way for the glory she deserves, and Jonas desperately wants to stand by her side.

But no matter how powerfully he’s attracted, Jonas knows Daisy is the fuse on the explosion that could blow his world apart.

Warning: Contains interactions with transphobic characters (mild) and memories of childhood struggles

Excerpt

Now pitching for the Seattle Navigators … Daisy Flowers!

The crowd exploded. People were yelling. Most of the Chicago players came out of the dugout to watch her take the mound. Daisy sprinted across the field. Heff met her at the mound, and they hugged.

I felt a twist of jealousy — I should’ve been the one to greet her out there. I wanted to be beside her at this moment. And at the same time, the idea of all the eyes now focused on her made me want to dig a hole in the field and crawl into it.

When Heff was back behind the mound, she started to throw her warmup pitches, but stopped when the crowd didn’t settle down. She took a deep breath, turned all the way around, surveying the stadium. Like she had the other day, she took off her hat and held it up, with the Pride pen showing.

Daisy. Daisy. Daisy.

She turned back toward home plate. I couldn’t see her face, but her shoulders squared up. She tucked her ponytail back under the cap and began to work.

I’d seen her pitch before, of course. As a teenager, then on TV, and in dozens of magazine photos. As she faced the first Chicago batter, she went into her elaborate wind up. Starting with her hands behind her back, then lifting them over her head, the ball completely hidden in her mitt. Her left leg drew up, until the foot was even with her knee. That’s the picture I had of her on my wall in high school. Those long, powerful legs in tight fitting baseball pants. Poised there, for a long half-second, serene and frozen like a crane, she was still breathtaking. I felt like my chest was cracking open.

Then she exploded outward, her hand shooting toward home. It would be almost impossible to pick up that release. I’ve been thrown at by some of the best pitchers in the game, and I could imagine how that looked to the batter. Like the ball suddenly appeared with a crack halfway there. The fastball seemed to leave shockwaves in the air.  It punctured the center of the zone and all the batter could do was step back.

The force of her pitch spun her around on the mound, and she followed through, ending with her back to the plate. She stood like that for half a second, as if nothing else mattered, as if the catcher and the batter and her teammates didn’t exist.

I thought of two things.

My Grandpa loved to watch old jazz films. His favorite was Miles Davis, who would come out on stage and turn his back to the audience when he played.

“People got pissed,” Grandpa said. “They thought Miles was disrespecting them. Or it was some kind of political statement. But it wasn’t that at all. He just didn’t care about performing, or what they thought. All he cared about was the music.”

Daisy turned back toward the plate. Her eyes brushed across me. She lowered her head just enough to acknowledge me. But that was all I got.

Heff signaled for a change-up outside. She nodded, her hands slipping behind her back again.

The second thought? I had a lit professor in college who loved Emily Dickinson. There was this thing he quoted almost every class. “If I feel physically as if the top of my head has been taken off, I know that is poetry.”

I know a little bit about jazz. Nothing about poetry. But like I said I have been thrown at by some of the best.

I didn’t understand any of that until now.

About The Author

Alex Washoe is a nonbinary writer and game designer living in Seattle, Washington. In previous incarnations, they have been a bookseller, an amateur stand-up comedian, a public speaker, a dog walker at a companion animal shelter, a wildlife rehab care assistant, and many other less interesting things.

Alex lives with their best friend and one (and a half) cats. They enjoy reading and writing romance, cozy mysteries, westerns and speculative fiction, all with an LGBTQ+ twist.

Social Media

Website: https://www.alexwashoe.com

Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/Alex-Washoe-Author-Page-351907692814938

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Alex-Washoe/e/B06XC351MC/

Giveaway

Alex is giving away an Amazon gift card with this tour:

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