2013 Worlds - Short Dance & Ladies SP

What a wonderful night at the arena!! But first let's backtrack to the Ladies' Short Program - I only saw the final two groups (I opted for lunch at The Works, which was fabulous! I tried poutine for the first time - pretty tasty!) I was very, very disappointed that Ashley left her triple-triple on the practice and warm-up ice. It's time to step it up and do it when it counts! There wasn't much to be excited about among the ladies I saw. Kanako Murakami was probably the highlight for me. 

On to the Short Dance - Team USA was amazing! I've loved Chock/Bates' short dance all year, and they put out another outstanding and engaging performance tonight. The Shibutanis looked much more confident and had their best SD performance of the year. And then there was Davis/White, who had an absolute blast and made everything look so easy. Their Giselle SD should be the model for all short dances. 

I thought the scoring was very interesting. After the top two teams, the rest of the top ten are extremely close. There could be lots of shifting after the free dance. I thought Weaver/Poje looked amazing after being out with Kaitlyn's injury (she's a rock star for being back on the ice so quickly), and Cappellini/Lanotte were one of my favorites, too. I didn't see much difference between Bobrova/Soloviev and Pechalat/Bourzat, so I think the scoring was fair there. So glad the hot mess that is Ilinykh/Katsalapov were buried in the standings.

Here are my photos from dance and pairs practice, the ladies SP, and the short dance! I also had one video from dance practice of Meryl Davis doing her gorgeous spiral and a video from the short dance with a little Gangnam Style flavor.

2013 Worlds - Men SP & Dance Practice

What a bizarre men's event! Can't say I ever thought Denis Ten would be in second place after the short program. He skated divinely tonight! I was thinking back to 2009 Worlds in L.A. and how that was when we first saw Denis burst onto the scene. I remember giving him a standing ovation after his free skate.

I thought Daisuke Takahashi was a tad undermarked (his quad looked fine to my naked eye). Kevin Reynolds impressed me - I hadn't seen him skate live in awhile and he's definitely come a long way. He interpreted his music excellently. Brian Joubert was classic Joubert and I loved every minute of it! People can rag on him all they want, but until you see him skate live and how much energy he brings to the building, you can't appreciate his presence on the ice.

I saw one group of dance practice tonight with the U.S. teams and I took a couple of videos. Here's Meryl Davis/Charlie White's short dance run-through. And Madison Chock/Evan Bates' short dance run-through.

And here are my photos from practice and the men's short program.

2013 Worlds - Pairs Short Program

The pairs short program was a pretty solid competition! I can't say that I agree with the results, though. I didn't think Volosozhar/Trankov's cheesy music and program was four points in PCS better than Duhamel/Radford's program. D/R had some amazing transitions (the one into the throw lutz was particularly awesome). I love what D/R are doing technically (they have the same technical content as my fictional pair, Emily and Chris). I wasn't impressed with Savchenko/Szolkowy today either. And Pang/Tong were a bit gifted IMO. I think James/Cipres were kinda hosed. They have all the skills plus lots of excitement in their program. 

Here's the link to my photos from the event!

Music Monday

For this week's Music Monday I'm doing something a little different. In LIFE ON THE EDGE, there are a couple of instances where Sting's Lyrics book plays a role, but because of copyright issues, I couldn't quote the lyrics in the story. So, I thought I'd share those lyrics here so you'd know exactly what Emily was reading as she went through the book :) If you haven't read LIFE ON THE EDGE and don't want to be spoiled, stop reading here!! Major spoilers below!

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At the 2001 World Championships, when Chris is flipping through the Lyrics book and comes across one of Sergei's notes to Emily, this was the passage that Sergei had highlighted in the song "Desert Rose":

Sweet desert rose
Each of her veils, a secret promise
This desert flower
No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this

Beside the lyrics was Sergei's note: "You are my desert rose."

Later that night when Emily is reading the book in bed, the first song she reads is "Next To You" and the highlighted lyrics are:


But I've never felt like this before
But I just don't know what's come over me
You took me over, take a look at me
What can I do
All I want is to be next to you


And the note from Sergei says: "I had to laugh when I started to read the book and this was the first song because all I'd been thinking about for months was how I wanted to be next to you. And here it was reminding me again."

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When Emily is angry with Sergei for lying to her and he leaves the book and a rose on her doorstep, the song he marked was "Forget About the Future" and the lyrics are:

Let me ask your forgiveness, baby
My heart is ever full of sorrow
We got to move into the future maybe
And think about a new tomorrow


Emily had amazing willpower to resist this and Sergei's kisses!

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In the proposal scene, when Emily finds the book on the patio, the marked song is "When We Dance" and the two highlighted lines that make her gasp are:

I would love you more than life

If you'll come and be my wife

I would've been freaking out too if I was her :)

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Lots of skating coverage coming up on the blog this week! I leave for the World Championships in London, Ontario on Tuesday!! Look for photos from all events!

FIGHTING FOR THE EDGE Blurb

I have book news! FIGHTING FOR THE EDGE, the third book in the EDGE series, won't be out until later this year, but I wanted to share the official blurb. I mentioned in a previous post that this book will be slightly different from the first two in the series because you'll get both Emily's and Aubrey's POV! They each have a story to tell as they head into the 2006 Olympics, so they're going to share this book :) You'll still see lots of Sergei (and all his swooniness!), and Chris will also be prominently featured (and looking to break hearts!)

So, here's the skinny on FIGHTING FOR THE EDGE (EDGE #3):

Best friends Emily and Aubrey have skated almost all their lives, and they’ve had Olympic dreams just as long. Emily and her partner Chris are now one of the favorites for gold in pairs, while Aubrey and Nick are top contenders for a medal in ice dance. Off the ice, the two friends’ lives couldn’t be more different. Emily is enjoying marriage with her husband and coach Sergei, and they’ve mapped out their future together. Aubrey has avoided serious relationships and is unsure of her career plans after the Olympics.

With the Games only weeks away, they are on the edge of realizing their dreams. But when a raging snowstorm hits, it sets in motion an unexpected series of events that will test Emily and Aubrey in ways they never imagined, giving them more to fight for than Olympic medals.

In case you missed them, I posted two excerpts from the book last month. The first featured Emily and Sergei and the second Aubrey and Chris. 

If you've read the first two books, don't forget to pick up the free short story REACHING THE EDGE! It's an epilogue to EDGE OF THE PAST. You can find out more here!

LIFE ON THE EDGE now an Audio Book!

I'm so excited to announce that LIFE ON THE EDGE is now available in audio format!! It's available on Amazon and Audible.com. I've been listening to it, and the narrator is perfect for Emily! And she does a Russian accent for Sergei :) If you listen to it, let me know what you think!

New Adult Giveaway Hop Winner

Congratulations to Heather Baker Schrock for winning the gift card!! Thank you so much to everyone who participated!