Hoop Mama

When talented hoop dancer and staunch introvert Lily Black meets hoop instructor James Baker, her first instinct is to retreat. James sees possibilities within Lily that she had never imagined for herself. He encourages her to train for and enter a national hoop dance competition called The Circle. But Lily struggles with not only four decades of stage fright, but the recent loss of her husband due to cancer. Both cause pain for herself and her teenage children. Lily must fight to discover the confidence buried within herself and open up to the possibility of finding love and her true self- both with and without the hoop. Amy Thornton Shankland is the Grant Coordinator and Sustain Noblesville Chairperson for the City of Noblesville, Indiana. She is a graduate of Indiana University and has taught Dale Carnegie courses and written columns for the Noblesville Times. Amy volunteers at her church, her sons' school, and for her local Boy Scout pack. Most importantly, she is a wife and a mother of two 'tween boys. She is also obsessed with writing, reading, and hoop dancing.