Bal Khabra has always been fascinated with sports and loves ballerina and hockey romance stories, so she wrote, "Spiral."
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
I’ve always been fascinated with sports, and since I have a solid foundation in hockey, I wanted to challenge myself by incorporating something that felt like its opposite: ballet. I’ve always loved reading ballerina and hockey player romances, so it felt natural to write my own, especially with these two characters in "SPIRAL," whose dynamic complements each other so well.
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
Reading Rainbow means embracing books without judgment. It's fully accepting what draws me to stories and being unapologetic in my love for them. It’s also about recognizing how stories expand our worlds, offer new perspectives, amplify diverse voices, and educate us in ways that matter.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
It’s how the world we live in is, so it would only be right to reflect that in my fictional world. I grew up in a multicultural city, and have friends and family from so many different backgrounds that my life experiences have been created through that lens. If I wasn’t representing that, it wouldn’t be authentic to me. It’s a reflection of the world we live in, so it only makes sense to mirror that in my fictional world. Growing up in a multicultural city and having friends and family from a variety of backgrounds has shaped my life experiences through that lens. If I didn’t represent that diversity, it wouldn’t feel authentic to who I am.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
I loved the idea of taking two worlds that seem so opposite and throwing them together. Ballet is all elegance and grace, while hockey is fast-paced and intense, but both require high levels of discipline, strength, and passion. I think having these professional careers add weight to the plot. The two worlds also lets us see how a graceful ballerina could be as strong as a hockey player and how a burly hockey player could become softer. It makes for a sweet, unexpected dynamic.
What can fans expect from your book?
It’s summer break at Dalton, so we get to follow Eli as he navigates his tough rookie year in Toronto. Of course, a bubbly, kind of chaotic, and unfiltered ballerina just so happens to be the only one who can help him out. The entire friend group readers know from Collide make an appearance, bringing their found family dynamic and banter to Spiral. Plus, readers will get to meet a few new faces who add fresh energy (and maybe a little drama) to the mix.
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
Right now, I’m working on book three, "REVOLVE," and having so much fun crafting these two characters. I have many more stories filling my notes app, just waiting to be completed, but for now, we’ll be in the hockey universe for a little while longer.
