I’ve finished the first draft of Book 2 in the Black Water Magic series. And in doing so, took a few weeks off before launching into revisions (we hope to release Book 2 by May).
Taking a break doesn’t mean that I stop writing, just that I work on some of my other romance projects. One of which is the Playmakers series. A super steamy romance series that I will probably release sometime in 2023. Yes, I know, its a long time off but I’m not releasing them until the entire thing is complete. I’m just a pain in the ass like that.
All of this to say, that I shifted my focus to research for this hero (who is an up and coming QB). So for a week now I’ve been engrossed in QB Cadences (all those sing songy things they shout when at the line of scrimmage, that call the plays and signal the snap). I have learned that there are QBs in the NFL that are surprisingly superior at using these cadences, compared to the rest of the league. (Not so surprisingly that the two BEST I’ve listened to ended up in the 2021 Super Bowl … looking at you GOAT Brady).
But through my bizarre research I’ve started picking up on what certain calls mean when they are made under center. For instance, one NFL QB (ever run into me in person, I’ll tell you who it is) is a king at drawing offside calls on opposing offenses. How?
I’m going to tell you how. Because this random factoid is one of those things I Need to share with everyone. Said QB’s normal cadence, for almost every play is “White Eightyyyyy White Eightyyyyy set set!” The ball is snapped to him on that second set. So the defense becomes accustomed to that call and with almost always launch on the second “set.”
Fast forward to halfway through the fourth quarter, third down with only three yards to a first down? And very quickly he says “Green Eightyyyyy White Eightyyyyy set set hut!” One of the D-line jumps across that line of scrimmage on the second set like he has every play before. But no, the ball isn’t snapped until “hut” on this particular cadence. He’s offsides. They just drew a five yard penalty and get their first down plus two.
I don’t watch the NFL, its not my cup of tea (I’m a college football girl, Roll Tide!). However, this feels almost scientific and now I can’t wait until next season so I can figure out other tricks at the line of scrimmage.
Someone stop me. Send help. I don’t think I can crawl out of this rabbit hole.
Oh! And speaking of losing myself in research. I basically became a race car when writing The Arkadia Fast series. And this month, FULL TILT BOOGIE is on sale! Check it out. https://amzn.to/316cgpZ
