Austin Gisriel, author of Safe at Home: A Season in the Valley, the story of the 2009 New Market Rebels, has just released 3 Tales From the Grand Old Game, a collection of short stories about baseball. Tales has been published solely as an e-book and represents Gisriel’s first published foray into fiction.
“I’m very grateful that I have dedicated readers,” says Gisriel, “and I like talking to them, so to speak. That’s why this collection is priced at only $0.99.”
The first story is the tale of four friends bound together by a common love of baseball, and when one of them dies, the group takes one final road trip.
“The main character is based on longtime New Market Rebels’ coach Mo Weber,” says Gisriel.
“Mo has meant a great deal to many people over the years, and I thought that I could get at that better in a work of fiction than in an essay. I did record an interview with Mo, however, talking about his days in the semi-pro Basin League back in the ’50s, and the story contains a link to that interview. That way, everyone has a chance to meet the man behind the character,” adds Gisriel.
In the second story, Trent Tyler, Cleveland’s third baseman, must take an inner journey to discover why he suddenly can’t throw a baseball.
“Major leaguers are human, and they have their anxieties, just as the rest of us do,” says Gisriel. “It’s a subject that’s close to me, and I wanted to explore it in this story.”
“The third story, ‘A Baseball Fan’s Fairy Tale,’ is kind of an updated version of Damn Yankees,” comments Gisriel, “only this time the main character doesn’t play for the team, he buys the team, thanks to a little help from a lot of friends.”
Gisriel is familiar to many Valley Baseball League fans, not only from his writing, but also as part of the Rebels’ webcasting team.
The book may be obtained for any e-reader by typing the title into the search box at www.smashwords.comor go to www.amazon.com and type the title into the search box on the Kindle Page.
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