If it’s Thursday night you’ll probably find me at the movie
theater seeing an early showing of whatever is coming out that week. With that
said it shouldn’t come to any surprise that several movie scenes inspired
different parts of In Her Eyes.
Without Limits
The main inspiration for Benson Wilder came from America’s
greatest long distance runner: Steve Prefontaine. You’ll even notice his name
mentioned several times throughout the book, along with his rival Lasse Viren.
The real essence of Prefontaine was his unwillingness to
give up. He didn’t believe in talent; he believed in effort. And I hoped to
carry this over into Benson Wilder’s character.
You can watch that clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5QvQT13D4
Hidalgo
There’s a moment during the final race when Hidalgo says to
his horse, “Let her buck,” which essentially means kick it into high gear. When
Benson Wilder races, he has that next gear that he only unleashes at the end.
You can watch that clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5zb5fjc5Fo
Saint Ralph
Most people have never heard for this movie, which is a real
shame. It’s a story about a young boy who believes if he can win the Boston
Marathon he will have achieved a miracle, which will in turn save his sick
mother.
Ralph’s unnerving belief is something that Benson Wilder
holds close to himself.
You can watch that clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz7nlY9Jpj0
All great racers have this uncanny ability to never give up.
You see this in the movies mentioned above, and you’ll see it again in a few
months during the Summer Olympics.
My goal was to capture that essence, bottle up it inside
Benson Wilder, and write a book that intersects running with love.
In Her Eyes
Wesley Banks
Genre: Sports Romance
Publisher: Chasing Pace Publishing
Date of Publication: 3/14/16
ISBN: 978-0-9861934-2-2
ASIN: TBA
Number of pages: 264
Word Count: 57,000
Cover Artist: Dane at eBook Launch
Book Description:
When Ben Wilder is given a second chance he focuses on the one thing he's always been good at: running. After walking on to the University of Florida he begins to quickly move up the national rankings, paving a path towards the NCAA Track and Field Championships. Everything is going the way he planned, until the day he bumps into Casey Taylor.
New to Gainesville, and focused on her first year out of medical school, Casey is initially hesitant to let Ben into her life. But the truth is she's worried about letting a guy near the one thing she loves most: her daughter, Emma. After one fun and fateful night Casey can no long bury her feelings behind these excuses, and takes a chance on a guy she is slowly falling for.
Casey's relationship with Ben starts to gradually build into a love that she has never felt. But more importantly Emma has taken a particular liking to Ben. As they all spend more time together Ben is forced to confront painful memories when he starts to notice something hauntingly familiar in Emma's eyes.
After a local journalist uncovers the secret of Ben's past their lives begin to converge on a single promise that Ben Wilder has long since made: to never give up...no matter what.
Excerpt:
Ben was tired,
but he was excited when he woke up on Monday morning. It was Casey’s day off
and Coach had given the team the week off, minus a team meeting this afternoon,
since they had another month until the NCAA Championships.
Emma’s school
started at seven forty-five which meant if he got to Casey’s around eight, they
could spend the whole day just relaxing.
When he arrived
the garage was shut, so he walked up to the front door. Before he could knock,
though, the door swung open and Casey jumped on him, wrapping her arms around
his neck and her legs around his waist.
“My hero,” she
said in a terrible southern accent. Then she started giving him little pecks
all over his head and face.
He walked inside
with her still wrapped around him and kicked the door shut. Laughing, he said,
“Who is this strange girl, and what did you do with Casey?”She continued on in
the southern accent. “You won the race for your beloved and claimed victory.”
Ben sat her on
the backside of the couch and looked down at her. “What on earth has gotten
into you?”
“You, Sir
Runner. Now, take me, take me now.” Casey puckered up her lips playfully and
Ben laughed.
Ben leaned in to
give her a quick kiss, thinking she might taste or smell like alcohol, because
right now that was the only explanation he could come up with. She tasted
like…cookies.
He looked around
the room and to his right, sitting on the kitchen counter, he found his answer.
He let go of Casey and she fell backwards onto the couch.
“Hey!” she said
as she hit the couch cushion.
Ben walked over
to the kitchen and picked up a small tub of Cookies ’n Cream ice cream and a
bag of Fudge Filled Chewy Chips Ahoy. He held up both and looked over at Casey
who was half-hiding, half-peering over the top of the couch. “Please tell me
you are not eating cookies and ice cream at eight o’clock in the morning.”
Casey jumped
over the couch and came running at Ben, a ball of sugar filled energy. She
wrapped her arms around his waist, her legs around the back of his calves, and
inched her way up his body. When she reached the top she bombarded his neck with
kisses. “My hero,” she said. She stopped for a moment and looked at him with
the most devious, sensual grin. She leaned in closer until there was almost no
space between her lips and his. Then like a cheetah springing on a gazelle, she
grabbed the ice cream with her left hand and the cookies with her right, hit
the ground and took cover on the couch.
“You have
serious problems,” Ben said.
Casey pulled out
a cookie and dipped it in the ice cream and held it up for him to see. Then she
started humming and dancing the cookie around like she was taunting him.
Ben took two
steps, dove across the couch, snatched the cookie from her hand and shoved it
in his mouth before she could barely move. She looked at him wide eyed and in
complete silence and then jumped on him. They wrestled and tickled each other
like five-year-olds, stopping every now and then for a quick cookie break.
This went on for
about thirty more minutes and then she crashed on the floor next to him. Her
head lay across his chest as he played with her hair until eventually he
crashed too.
About the Author:
Wesley Banks was born in 1983 and grew up on the west coast of Florida. He graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Civil Engineering. After spending over 7 years building movable bridges from Florida to Washington he decided to focus on his true passion: writing.
Wesley recently moved from Florida to Oregon to get back to the great outdoors that he loves so much. He lives with his wife Lindsey, and his two dogs Linkin and Story. Most of his time these days is spent writing, with as much rock climbing, hiking, or skiing as they can fit in.
Wesley’s debut novel, Hope In Every Raindrop, was released May of 2015.
Website: http://wesleybanksauthor.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wesleybanksauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wbauthor
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/wbauthor/
1 comment:
Thanks for having me on the blog!
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