Its two protagonists, Connor Storrie - about to turn 26 - and Hudson Williams (25), went from being waiters to become stars, as reported in LOC.
However, the success of this queer romance between two ice hockey players belongs to Rachel Reid (her real name is Rachelle Goguen), the Canadian writer author of the series Game Changers (2018), whose first two books have been adapted.
Born in Halifax, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, in 1980, since her early childhood she has had a fascination for this winter sport, becoming a fan of the Montreal Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes. When asked in school what she wanted to be when she grew up, Rachel was clear, a writer about hockey. Mission accomplished.
But before debuting in the novel genre, she wrote about this sport in the newspaperThe Coast. Some of the traits that best define her are perseverance, ambition, and wanting to do things perfectly. For almost 25 years, she has shared her life with Matt Reid, whom she married in 2008. The couple has two children, with whom they reside in Bedford (Nova Scotia).
In one of her Instagram posts where she congratulated her husband on his birthday, the author revealed that she doesn't mention Matt much there, "but he deserves a lot of credit, not only for making me a better person, but for supporting me a lot with my writing, for listening to me read my first drafts. He is also a great father and a role model for our children. I look forward to many more adventures with him. I love you, Matt!"
In 2023, she participated in her first public event with readers in London, she was nervous, but everything went perfectly. She has always been characterized by not being very present as an author on the internet and had also stayed away from spaces where numerous readers gather.
Less than a month after succeeding in England, she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In her blog, she wrote that what the specialist told her "wasn't a shock, but still, it was, you know, bad. The curious thing about early-onset Parkinson's is that it can generate a wide variety of symptoms ranging from annoying to devastating. It's full of surprises. When I was diagnosed, I wondered if I could continue doing events, or if I could even continue writing. Would I lose my memory? My ability to speak fluently?".
Gradually, the first symptoms appeared. Rachel doesn't mind talking about her illness and how it is evolving. In one of her recent conversations with Variety, she stated that Parkinson's is "making it difficult for me to write because I can barely control a mouse," and that she can't "write for long periods" because "it's very hard for me to sit in a chair for a long time. I need to find new ways to write. I don't know if that will be through voice-to-text. I don't know if I can write like that. It doesn't feel natural to me, but I need to find something because now it's taking me a lot of time to write."
Living in a small rural community, she experienced firsthand the long delays in receiving specialized care, so she was put on a five-year waiting list to access the appropriate specialist.
Rachel has never given up and remains optimistic about the future. For now, the seventh book in the seriesGame Changers titled Unrivaled will be published on September 29th of this year.
The second season of the queer love series is in pre-production and filming is expected to start this summer.