Do you have a personal background in (or... â€� Taryn Bashford Q&A

Katya de Becerra asked Taryn Bashford:

Do you have a personal background in (or maybe a connection to?) sports, and yes if, how did this experience influence your writing of The Harper Effect?

Taryn Bashford Yes, I do. When I was a teen I was training for the 400m track event in the hope of making the Olympics, while my brother was a tennis player and then became a professional player and coach. Having the mindset of an elite sports person is in my head, I guess, and was part of the reason a character like Harper came into mind. Also the experiences my brother shared were authentic and interesting, and made a good setting for the novel. I also believe that sport can play such a good role in the life of teens - they benefit in so many ways from learning independence, resilience, how to take knock backs, team work, sticking with something, being empowered, setting and achieving goals and so much more, that it seemed like a good topic for a YA novel. I've also always LOVED movies like The Karate Kid, Million Dollar Baby, Rocky, Chariots of Fire, so I guess it's not a surprise I've written this novel in the hope of inspiring readers to go after their dreams because anything is possible if you set your heart and mind to it.

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