Interview with Linda Lange, author of Incomplete Passes

You don’t have to be a sports fan to love “Incomplete Passes: Reflections on Life, Love, and Football.” This quirky memoir is the story of a fifty-year friendship between four women who grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, during the Sixties when Vince Lombardi was coaching the Packers.  While other teenage girls were sighing over Elvis Presley or the Beatles, my girlfriends and I were literally following our Packer heroes around town–a practice that occasionally got us in trouble.

“Incomplete Passes” is a coming-of-age story with a twist.  I actually “come of age” at three different stages of life in this book–as a maturing teen, through a mid-life crisis that inspires a musical comedy, and when my friends and I, now entering our senior years, reunite in Green Bay.

So it’s a memoir?
“Incomplete Passes” is a memoir.  It’s also part of a genre that is quickly growing in popularity—Boomer Lit. 

Boomer Lit? What’s that?
What’s Boomer Lit?  It’s a theme-related genre that includes novels, memoirs, self-help books, inspirational books, and even science fiction. The youngest baby boomer is turning 50 and the oldest 68, and they are entering a new stage of life.  Boomer Lit addresses their new concerns–not aging per se, but making a success of Second Adulthood.

So is this memoir targeted at baby boomers?
Baby boomer women are the prime audience.  But “Incomplete Passes” will appeal to anyone who has fantasized about romance with a celebrity, questioned a life decision, or experienced the joys of reconnecting with old friends.

Tell us more about you and these old friends.
I’m identified by my own name, but I changed my friends’ names, to give them deniability if they need it.  The interesting thing about my three friends and me is that we all grew up together, but we turned out so differently.  My best friend Pam is a devout Catholic; I describe myself as a Jew-turned-atheist.  Carla is staunchly conservative, while her BFF Del is liberal–and vocal about it.  We now live in Louisiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and California, and each of us has taken on some of the characteristics of her region.  What we have in common are the shared memories and our ongoing interest in Green Bay Packers football.  That’s enough to bring us together every year and to make our time together almost friction-free.  In our sixties, we’re still looking for new adventures together.

How would you like the reader to feel as they read the last word of your book?
I’d like the reader to be smiling–both because of the funny stories and because I think I end the book on a note of hope.  I went through a time when I was very fearful of aging, and that’s one of the themes in the latter part of the book.  My friends are helping to get me through this.

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
I have a novel in progress, but it won’t be ready for some time.  I recently had a piece published in an e-book, a BlogHer anthology titled “Roots:  Where Food Comes From and Where It Takes Us.”  My blog post is called “The Kneecap,” and it’s about me and my BFF Pam, who was featured in “Incomplete Passes.”  I’m proud to have my work featured along with pieces by some of the country’s best food bloggers.

We know about your love for the Packers and your friends, but we don’t yet feel like we know you.
I’ve lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, for the past thirty years.  I like it here–in some ways it’s like Green Bay on steroids.

Before I moved here, I was in Washington, DC, where I worked for U.S. News & World Report.  I didn’t write content for the magazine; I created presentations and flyers to help the sales staff sell advertising.  In Cincinnati, I’ve done some freelance writing, but my main focus since 1990 has been volunteer work at an animal shelter, Save the Animals Foundation.  Since we’re a no-kill shelter, we’ll treat a cat or dog that becomes ill, rather than putting it down. That has been my main job, administering pills and injections to sick cats as the veterinarian directs.  At one time I was working 50-55 hours a week at the shelter, but I’ve cut back in order to devote time to my writing and marketing.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
I have a website at http://www.incompletepasses.com and a blog at http://lindalange.authorsxpress.com/

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
Twitter:  @linda_lange

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Incomplete-Passes/277798228904875

What’s next?
I’m in the very early stages of writing a novel.  It’s set in an animal shelter like the one where I volunteer.  Working title is “You Can’t Save ‘Em All.” 

Will it be Boomer Lit?
It will be Boomer Lit because it follows the lives of two sixtyish women who work in the shelter.  But it also will focus on some of the issues that animal rescue organizations face–hoarders, animal abuse, people who refuse to spay and neuter.  I hope to educate as well as entertain, and I hope to temper the sad situations with some humorous ones.