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ONI THE BOOKqHELF

Perfect Score

Alina Adams' mystery trilogy nails the
cutthroat world of competitive ice-skating.

Alote--41-

Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News

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lina Adams has glided
into just about every
aspect of figure skating
except one — figure skating
itself.
Adams, afraid of falling, has
assisted her younger brother as
he competed, worked as a
.
researcher for skating broad-
casts, written nonfiction and fic-
tion books with ice shows as the
focus, volunteered for an organi-
zation promoting rink skills
among inner-city girls and been
a nonstop fan.
As her third figure skating
novel, Axel of Evil (Berkley;
$6.99), is being released, she is
especially excited about the Feb.
10-26 Olympics in Torino, Italy,
because of the presence of
Jewish athletes.
"I think it's a fun fact that
we're sending the most Jewish
figure skating team ever to the
Olympics this year:' says Adams,
36, whose first book editor
invented the pen name that
replaced her maiden name,
Sivorinovsky.
"Not only is Sasha Cohen in
the women's competition, but in
the ice dance, we have three
teams in which at least one
member has Jewish heritage.
While Jamie Silverstein is Jewish
[on both sides], Ben Agosto has
a Jewish mother, and Melissa
Gregory has a Jewish mother?"
(See next week's Jewish News for
a profile of Bloomfield Hills'
Jamie Silverstein.)

Alina Adams' figure skating

Jewish Detective

mysteries feature amateur

Adams, who immigrated to the
United States from the former
Soviet Union when she was 7,
has a Jewish main character,
Rebecca "Bex" Levy, as the crime
solver in her series. Levy, whose
fictional career as a sports
researcher is based on the
author's own work history, set
her third adventure in Moscow,
where a coach is murdered.
Murder on Ice, which takes
place in San Francisco and

sleuth Rebecca "Bex" Levy.

48

February 2 6 2006

launched the series, features
Levy looking for the criminal
who killed a skating judge. On
Thin Ice sends the skating sleuth
after the killer of a past champi-
on.
"These books give me a
chance to tell all of the stories
that happen behind the scenes of
figure skating without the fear of
being sued," says Adams, who got
the idea for the first mystery
after Skategate in 2002, when
there was a judging scandal that
resulted in a Canadian team
winning a second gold medal. -
"I wrote two nonfiction books
– Sarah Hughes: Skating to the
Stars and Inside Figure Skating –
and had to make sure everything
could be vetted and cleared.
Fiction frees me from those
respects and is a lot more fun.
"While murder is very serious,
the world of television and figure
skating can't be taken 100 per-
cent seriously because it has its
ridiculous moments, so I hope
the novels are more humorous?"
On the serious side, the issues
addressed in her mystery series,
in order of publication, include
manipulation of the news, part-
ner abuse and the old Commu-
nist sports training system.

Writing Career

"The resolution of Axle of Evil
hinges very much on Jewish
moral values," Adams says.
"Because I'm Jewish and know a
lot of people who are Jewish
from various backgrounds, I
have a Jewish lead character. I
write about what I know?'
Adams' mom, a computer pro-
grammer, and dad, a San
Francisco Jewish Federation staff
member, say their daughter's
first words were "pencil and
paper?' Always interested in writ-
ing, she earned a bachelor's
degree and a master's degree in
broadcast communications at
San Francisco State University.
"While I was in college, I
wrote six or seven novels that
were rejected:' recalls Adams,
former president of her school's

Hillel chapter.
"Then I sent
one novel to
Avon
Publishing and
was told they
only use new
authors in the
Regency
Romance
genre. After the
editor asked if
I could write
one, I went to
the library, got
seven Regency
books and read
them. I had
three chapters
Aline Adams, right, and 1988 Olympic Champion
written within
a week and fin- Brian Boitano at the 1997 U.S. Nationals
ished the book
within a
Semitic campuses in the United
month?'
States. Every other week, there
Adams' Avon books include
were anti-Israel demonstrations,
The Fictitious Marquis, Thieves at so I've written a lot on that sub-
Heart and Annie's Wild Ride.
ject."
Day jobs advanced her from
Adams, who was in Detroit
writing for the E! Channel's Pure
with her brother when Nancy
Soap to researching for figure
Kerrigan was injured in 1994,
skating divisions at ABC, NBC,
has two Web sites.
TNT and ESPN. She was associ-
Her Nvww.alinaadams.com tells
ate producer for NBC's StarSkates about her work and has a novel
series, ESPN's A Skater's Tribute
with a link to Kidsave, which
to Carlo Fassi and ABC's Skates of brings Russian and Columbian
Gold III. Television assignments
orphans to the United States. She
have taken her to skating events
asks that people who like the
in other countries.
novel donate to the organization.
The author currently works
Her site www.figureskat-,
full time as a creative content
ingmystery.com offers a daily
producer for Procter & Gamble.
blog on skating (including com-
She wrote a book, Oakdale
mentaries on FOX's new show
Confidential, to celebrate the
Skating With the Stars, airing 8
50th year of As the World Turns.
p.m. Mondays), as well as infor-
"I do my personal writing in
mation on her second charitable
the early morning, and I've writ-
commitment, Figure Skating in
ten for Jewish publications:' says
Harlem.
Adams, wife of computer sys-
"My fascination with skating
tems developer Scott Wickham
took off from my brother's inter-
and the mother of two sons. "I've est, and it continues because of
had a short story published in
the sport's combination of ath-
Lilith, and I've written a lot of op leticism and art:' says Adams,
ed pieces for what used to be the
whose family belongs to a New
Northern California Jewish
York temple. "I keep Web sites
Bulletin.
because they seem to be necessi-
"When I was in college, San
ties for writers like me. The sites
Francisco State had a reputation
are the equivalent of hanging up
for being one of the most anti-
shingles?' ❑