Former Owatonna People's Press sports editor Derek Sullivan will read some passages from his first book, Biggie, Monday, March 23 at 7 p.m. at the Owatonna Public Library.

The event is free of charge. And you might get a Kit Kat bar. One of the chapter titles of Sullivan's book is "Kit Kat." And he hands them out at his book readings. Sullivan covered sports in Owatonna from 2005-13. He now works at the Rochester Post-Bulletin and occasionally interviews authors.

His new young-adult book, Biggie, tells the story of a high school junior who is overweight and prefers the classroom to the sports scene. But one day in gym class he twirls a no-hitter in wiffle ball and is encouraged to go out for baseball.

While the book is a work of fiction, Sullivan talked of a personal experience in little league that left an impression on him.

"I struggled to hit. I sort of remember my coach coming up to me and telling me the story of this player ... who didn't get a hit at all until his last year. And one day he just happened to swing the the bat and hit it and the ball went over the fence ...

"... something random will change your life. When we look back on where we are today freaky, weird events play such a huge role."

 

 

Biggie is about 10 percent about baseball, Sullivan said. He says it started out with much more sports talk, but that was whittled down during the publication process. He says reviewers still call it a baseball book.

Sullivan is working on a book that has basketball as a part of the story.

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