I, Hannah, got to sit down with A.C. Wonderland over the web and talk to her about her series, Wyverns Hockey. Both One Shot and its sequel, Summer Shot, were released this year! This hockey romance series is the perfect add to the Christmas reading list!

• What got you into writing?

Writing has always been a passion of mine since I was little. When I was eight, I wrote and drew an entire twenty-page book for school. . . but the assignment was to write one page.

When I was younger, I shared a room with my sister. I used to tell her stories growing up. My older sister is a psychologist and when she was in grad school, she would have me take various tests for her to compile reports and essays on. Her classmates always said, “that person is so creative. I bet they are a writer” or “that person has a job in the creative field”. Story telling has always been a part of me.

The reality is, life isn’t easy. Writing gives me an outlet to share the hardships of everyday life in a way that helps readers, and myself, escape our own hardships. I have always been drawn to creating worlds that provide that escape, whether it’s a whirlwind romance or an entirely new magical world.

Throughout my life, I stopped and started writing many books. Truthfully, I am awful at grammar and spelling but I continued to write prior to starting One Shot, my debut novel. I have written everything – from songs and poems to short stories and novels – but I never published or shared them on a large scale.

In the summer of 2024, my first book came pouring out of me. I created a thirty-six chapter outline and wrote the first three chapters of One Shot – all in less than two hours. This story was begging for me to share it with the world.

As cheesy as it is to say, you only have one life to live. I took my “one shot” at pursing my dream of becoming an author.

• What is your story about?

A devastating tragedy, a dark secret, a former teammate’s sister, and golden boy hockey captain that will make you question why you love morally grey men.
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Laur is trying to navigate moving forward with her life after a life altering tragedy. She gets the opportunity to attend West Michigan University and join the PR and marketing team that supports the West Michigan Wyvrens hockey team, which her brother used to play on.

She’s sworn off love, and focused on trying to find herself again. But Lucas Donato, the captain of the Wyverns, proves to be a distraction.

Lucas is focused on bringing his team to the championships and proving himself as captain – he doesn’t want any distractions, either, but finds himself drawn to his former teammate’s sister.

Does Lucas let the sparks between him and Laur turn into an ice melting flame?
Can Laur keep her promise to herself to swear off love and avoid falling for the captain?
Will Lucas bring the team to victory?
Find out in One Shot, a slow burn hockey romance.

• What excites you most about your story?

My hockey romance is unlike any other. It’s not all about spice – it has real elements of hockey, mental health topics, and spice that supports the plot. There are witty light hearted moments but also dark, heavy topics – it’s a blend of every emotion.

• What made you want to focus on a hockey team for your romance series?

I had never read a hockey romance before – I had no idea that it was such a big genre! I wrote the story rooted in the question: I could do college over where hockey is the prominent sport what would it be like?”

I just genuinely love the sport. It was the perfect fit to marry my love for romance books, writing, and hockey all into one thing!

• I noticed you have songs that go with each chapter. What made you think to do that and what inspired your picks?

Music is one of my favorite things (up there with hockey!). I love how a song can make you feel heard or capture a specific mood. I wanted to capture the mood of what I was thinking and feeling when writing the book by tying music into it. I will say it’s 99% country music since that is what I listen to, but hopefully by listening to the playlist you get an even deeper emotional tie to the big moments throughout the book.

• What’s something you love about your characters?

I love that my characters are witty, quirky, and relatable. They grieve. They struggle. They have stressors in their life – just like in the real world. But their whirlwind romance story helps to take away the real world and allow readers to escape into their story.

• The beginning of the book we find Laur at her lowest, and you discuss substance abuse. That’s not often seen in female characters in romance. What made you decide to have her show that type of grief?

I kept it very subtle – not wanting it to be a main focus of the book but knowing when someone goes through grief you work through it in different ways. When you go through difficult things in general, people work through them in different ways and it’s not always the healthiest or best option. You are just trying your best to make it through.

I wanted to briefly hit on substance abuse because it impacts 1 in 10 Americans (according to the American Addiction Centers). It’s something that is very prominent in our society today and something that is easy to turn to when coping.

I love that you mention this because it’s not something that many people notice!

• Lucas is also trying to navigate a lot as a student athlete. Was there any special considerations that went in to building that part of his story?

We see a lot more about Lucas navigating his stress and future in the second and third book!

• I’m also always fascinated by dual POV romances because you have to build on both the female and male voices. What was that like?

I love writing dual POV and its something I think I will continue to focus on. For me, there was always two sides to the story. If I only wrote one POV, I would have this entire other side of the story created that wouldn’t get to be shared. I love being able to show how they both react to things in different ways. I love being able to show their thoughts and feelings for each other! I like being able to share more of the story through different character’s eyes.

• Romance is such a unique genre because it is hopeful, but you can have so much hurt in it. I see that a lot in this book. Was that a hard line to walk as you wrote this?

It was definitely a hard line to walk. As a reader, I want to feel a little broken, but then put back together with a happily ever after by the end of the book. As a writer, I want to convey real, difficult, raw emotion into my writing, but still make it lighthearted and something that people want to gravitate towards. Ultimately, I want to write something that you can get lost in, relate to, and have characters you can root for. For One Shot, it flowed pretty naturally just based on the story I originally planned.

• What’s something you struggled with about your characters?

Other than wishing I was them?!

I think the biggest thing I struggled with was only focusing on my main characters. Every character – no matter how big or how small – has a backstory that I have fully flushed out and that is screaming at me to share it with the world. But! It will make for a lot of fun opportunities to expand the series beyond what I have currently planned!

• I know that you had book two come out this year (congratulations!). Can you tell readers who enjoyed the first book what to expect in book 2?

Book Two is now available! It was released on September 30th so is still very new.

Summer Shot is a different look at the characters. It’s more fun and lighthearted mixed with drama that isn’t as traumatic. It takes place over the summer and you really get to learn more about the side characters and see Laur and Lucas get ready for their senior year.

Best Shot, Wyverns Hockey Book Three, will be the end of Lucas and Laur’s story. It will be released in 2026.

• What made you decide to go into Indie Publishing for your series?

I decided to go the indie publishing route because of the various hats I get to wear, all the new things I needed to learn and continue to learn, and the opportunity to build out my own team.

I have the final say in the timelines, the cover, the marketing plan – everything from soup to nuts (what a funny saying). I love the business and marketing side of self publishing – which most writers seem to shy away from. My background is in digital marketing so I thrive on creating marketing and business plans for myself – it’s honestly so fun for me!

I also chose the indie route because I wanted to build out my own team. I want to work with editors, cover designers and other artists, influencers, PR teams, and more that genuinely care about my work and the story I have to share. I don’t want to be another “client” – I want the passion, excitement, and love I have for my books to be felt and shared across everyone I work with. I am insanely lucky that I have made such incredible connections to have a team that I truly feel embodies exactly that.

• What books inspire you as a writer?

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas I would say is the book that most inspired me to become a writer. This answer is going to be very different then expected, because it actually has nothing to do with the book.

When reading ACOTAR, I found the booktok/bookstagram community because I wanted specific stickers so badly. I couldn’t find them, so I created them and found a community that inspired me to follow my dreams.

• What are you reading, watching and enjoying right now?

Reading: I am currently procrastinating reading Brimstone… so I’m reading a different stand alone fantasy called “A Throne in Every Heart”. It’s a beauty and the beast retelling but unlike any I’ve read before – I won’t give too much away but it’s a 4.5 out of 5 stars for me.

Watching: I recently finished watching Love is Blind UK. You probably can tell by now that I am a sucker for a good love story. I feel like the UK version of Love is Blind is more wholesome and sweet! I absolutely loved it (plus the accents are wonderful).

Enjoying: Kelsea Ballerini’s new EP! f you don’t want to breakdown and cry, then I don’t recommend it. It’s so raw and emotional and relatable. There is a lighthearted song or two but the emotional songs just really hit home for me. I connect with it so much and I am OBSESSED!