A Tight Grip

2014 PNBA Book Award Nominee: General
2015 IndieFab Winner: Finalist, General

“A Tight Grip [is] a hilarious, high-drama novel with a delightful angle of approach to the inner workings of women in golf, family, and the positives and negatives of middle age.”
—Books, Inc., The West’s Oldest Independent Bookseller

Some people might say that, at age 46, Jane “Par” Parker is too old to win golf tournaments; too old to fear her mother; and too old, after twenty years, to still feel heavy grief over the murder of her father. But Par has an obsessively tight grip on the past, and no one can tell her to live her life otherwise. Par is maniacally driven to win a golf tournament she hasn’t been able to win in ten years. Recent low-scoring rounds have strengthened her confidence. Distractions conspire against her: she spends a night in jail for a crime she blames on her husband; reads about her arrest on the front page; learns she has an enemy at the newspaper; and discovers shocking love affairs by those closest to her. A Tight Gripcelebrates the bonds of female friendships as Par Parker processes her life with her three closest friends. She discovers the transformative power of adversity, and seizes options to evolve as a person, an athlete, and a best friend.

Author: Kay Rae Chomic

Publication Date: June 10, 2014

Categories: Fiction, Spring 2014, Women’s Fiction

Description
About the Author

Description

2014 PNBA Book Award Nominee: General
2015 IndieFab Winner: Finalist, General

“A must read for any woman who plays golf, values long-term friendships, or relates to the ups and downs of middle age. Tee it up with 46-year old Par Parker as she obsesses about winning a match-play golf tournament while dealing with distractions she could never have predicted. Kay Rae Chomic has written an entertaining novel set in my hometown of Jackson, Michigan. The story has humor, relatable characters, and high drama―on and off the course. I recommend reading this book on the beach, on vacation, as an escape, or just to spend time with characters you might like as friends.”
—Elaine Crosby, LPGA and Legends Tour Member

“Par is a golf champion, unhappy wife, bereaved lover, bereft empty-nester, jealous sister, and a good friend. This ‘pack’ of women friends, three plus Par, is what saves her life and what makes A Tight Grip a different sort of novel. A great read with an unexpected and very gratifying happy ending.”
—Priscilla Long, author of The Writer’s Portable Mentor and other works.

“Chockablock with all the perils and passions of competition in both life and golf, Chomic’s A TIGHT GRIP is a winner. Fans of golf and women’s fiction will gobble it up.”
—Roberta Isleib (Lucy Burdette), author of Murder with Ganache

“[This] new novel will appeal to ‘women of a certain age’ . . . Even at 46, [Par Parker] carried a 4-handicap…. [O]bsessed with winning yet another match-play championship, she finds herself confronting hazards far more daunting than golf course ponds and woods (love affairs . . . family crises . . .). Many women readers will relate to, or perhaps envy, Parker’s relationship with her three friends. . .”
—Dennis McCann, Wisconsin Golfer magazine

“A Tight Grip [is] a hilarious, high-drama novel with a delightful angle of approach to the inner workings of women in golf, family, and the positives and negatives of middle age.”
—Books, Inc., The West’s Oldest Independent Bookseller

About the Author

Kay developed her writing skills by earning certificates in fiction and non-fiction writing from the University of Washington, being part of a writing group, participating in readings, taking classes, and attending events at the Hugo House. Flash fiction was Kay’s first writing focus. After winning an international short story contest, she felt empowered to begin a novel with plans on stringing together the flash to finish it. Her novel, A Tight Grip, will be published by SWP in the spring of 2014. Much of the golf action in this novel was taken from Kay’s competitive golf experiences. Some highlights: youngest person, at fifteen, to be medalist and make it into the finals of the Jackson county match play tournament; played at the local, state, college, and national level; best round: 73; one hole-in-one; life-long friendships made. As a participant in NaNoWriMo-2011, Kay drafted a novel set in Seattle, which is a work-in-progress. An avid career changer, Kay spent a decade in the business world in four different industries, fifteen years teaching in a business school, and three years as a transit instructor. Kay has a BA in marketing from Michigan State University, and a MBA in management from Golden Gate University.