Real New Baltimore Events 'Plunge' into Fiction

Writer Linda Glaz honed her craft for 19 years with New Baltimore as her backdrop.

During that time, Glaz witnessed firsthand how volunteers unselfishly give their time to improve the community.

Local events like the and , as well as charitable causes and the sacrifices of servicemen and women across the country, have inspired Glaz's first published book that was released earlier this month.

Polar Bear Plunge, an inspirational White Rose Publishing 103-page electronic novella, is dedicated to those who give back, especially in the Anchor Bay area. It is available for 99 cents at www.amazon.com and is on sale for $1 for the remainder of this month at www.pelicanbookgroup.com. Reader reviews have been overwhelmingly positive on the sites.

Annual run, plunge into lake inspire story

"It's based loosely on New Baltimore, but it's all fictionalized," Glaz said of the novella that took her a week and a half to finish. "And, it's all centered around the Polar Bear Plunge and the Jingle Bell Run."

Those annual events, which take place on different dates in downtown New Baltimore, converge on the same day in the fictional piece centered on a nurse named Aleni Callan who encounters war hero Brice Taylor in a hospital emergency room. Taylor suffered a concussion and hypothermia during the plunge.

The two characters are going through their own hardships, including struggles with their relationships with God, Callan's loss of her husband and Taylor's flashbacks from serving in Iraq. But, another character and her young son conspire to bring them together.

Writing her dreams into reality

It may have taken nearly two decades for Glaz to get published, but she's no stranger to completed works. She has seven finished novels under her belt, many of them are suspense and are being shopped around for publication.

At age 60, she started a new career last spring as a literary agent at Hartline Literary Agency, where she previously worked as an assistant to agent Terry Burns. Hartline Literary Agency represents authors who write in various genres, many of them considered inspirational or Christian, she said.

"I never would have dreamed at this point in my life I'd be doing this, but I love it," she said.

Glaz, who served in the U.S. Air Force for three years, has lived in New Baltimore for approximately 35 years. The mother and grandmother has volunteered in the community in soccer, karate and physical therapy. She attends Living Word Fellowship Church in New Haven.

For more information, visit http://lindaglaz.blogspot.com/ or  http://hartlineliteraryagency.blogspot.com/.