Jennifer Comeaux's Blog, page 46

U.S. Nationals Nostalgia: Spokane 2010

2010 Nationals in Spokane is my favorite Nationals of all the ones I've attended. Even though I sadly missed the men's and pairs competitions because of the dumb two-weekend schedule cooked up by NBC, the five days I spent in Spokane were full of memorable moments.

The fun started the night I arrived in Spokane and I had dinner with Meryl Davis and Charlie White. A friend and I had won the dinner at a Friends of Figure Skating reception at the 2009 World Championships in Los Angeles. Another g...

U.S. Nationals Nostalgia: Cleveland 2009

2009 Nationals in Cleveland gave us another great setup with the host hotel connected to the Quicken Loans Arena through a mall. I literally did not step outside for four days. Everything I needed was contained within the complex. Even the McDonald's in the food court was open before dawn when I needed breakfast-to-go for the 6:00am dance practice.

Ah, yes, 6:00am practice. I woke up before the sun to see Meryl Davis and Charlie White practice their Samson & Delilah free dance, and they didn't...

Six Sentence Sunday - 1/15/12

Today is Six Sentence Sunday, where both published and non-published writers share six sentences from their work. I'm sharing an excerpt from my debut novel, LIFE ON THE EDGE, released this month by Astraea Press.

In this week's excerpt, Emily and Chris have just finished their free skate, and their coach Sergei is waiting for them at the boards.

As Chris and I approached Sergei, he banged our skate guards together in celebration. I hopped off the ice and threw my arms around his neck.


...

U.S. Nationals Nostalgia: St. Paul 2008

Today's look back at Nationals past takes us to the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota. The setup in St. Paul was fantastic because the host hotel was connected to the Xcel Energy Center by a series of winding corridors that also connected shops and offices. We nicknamed the route the "habitrail" because we felt like mice zigzagging through the maze. But it was awesome not having to go out in the icy temperatures all week. My sister and I only ventured out once to c...

U.S. Nationals Nostalgia: Spokane 2007

Spokane was an extremely successful host of the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, earning the city the nickname of "Skate City USA." Everywhere I went in Spokane, there were signs welcoming the skaters and fans, and the locals came out in droves to the events. I've never seen an arena so populated for junior competitions.

Spokane had one of the best and most inexpensive transportation systems for a skating event. They let us use their normal public transportation buses but made special r...

U.S. Nationals Nostalgia: St. Louis 2006

Nationals 2006 in St. Louis had some never-before-seen moments that brought even more excitement to the already highly-charged Olympic year competition. One of those moments was the reunion of all the American Olympic champions, as seen in the photo to the left. This was a very emotional scene, seeing all the greats together for the first time.

Another moment of history came in the pairs free skate when Rena Inoue and John Baldwin completed the first throw triple axel. I almost leaped out of m...

Six Sentence Sunday - 1/8/12

Today is Six Sentence Sunday, where both published and non-published writers share six sentences from their work. I'm sharing an excerpt from my debut novel, LIFE ON THE EDGE, released this past week by Astraea Press.

In last week's excerpt, Emily realized she was having more-than-friendly feelings about her coach Sergei. This week, Sergei is a guest at a dinner party Emily and her best friend Aubrey are hosting for some friends.

We had long finished dinner, but everyone remained around the...

U.S. Nationals Nostalgia: Portland 2005

Today's stop on the U.S. Nationals memory lane - Portland 2005, one of my favorite years! The MAX, the city's light rail system, made it easy to get around town, and it was free in the downtown area. Made hopping between the arena and the Lloyd Center mall for lunch breaks very quick and convenient.

2005 Nationals was the last year the 6.0 system was used, and the judges were handing them out like candy. However, they didn't give any to one of the programs I thought deserved it most - Matt...

RELEASE DAY!

Today is a day I've dreamed of for a long, long time! It was a wonderful surprise when my book was released a day earlier than expected. I'm so excited to finally be able to share this story with everyone! The book is available as an e-book right now and will be available in paperback in the near future. You can purchase on a few different sites:

AstraeaPress.com

Amazon.com

Barnes & Noble.com

For international readers:

Amazon UK

Amazon France

Amazon Italy

Amazon Germany

U.S Nationals Nostalgia: Atlanta 2004

So far in my series reflecting on past Nationals, I've covered Boston, L.A., and Dallas. On to Atlanta 2004! A nice, easy trip for me since I live in the South, and I'd vacationed there before so I didn't need to plan much tourist time.

I arrived in town shortly before the original dance, missing the compulsory dance which had taken place that day, also. We were barely in our seats at Phillips Arena when Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev withdrew, leaving Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto as the odd...