Former international Para cyclist Hannah Pascoe grew up dreaming of becoming both a sportswoman and a writer. Recently, she achieved the second of those ambitions with the publication of her three-book romantic suspense series.
The trailblazing Para athlete, who competed at the 2018 UCI Para cycling Track World Championships and became the first blind woman to cycle from Cape Reinga to Bluff, has turned her attention from elite Para sport to publishing, after revisiting manuscripts she first wrote more than 20 years ago.
The Invercargill-based author was speaking at a Southland Woman’s Club event when several attendees encouraged her to write a book about her life experiences. After discussing the idea with her husband, Nick, she learned that self-publishing had become a much more viable option than it was in the past. Inspired, she dug out a collection of stories she had written more than two decades earlier.
“When I glanced over the stories, I thought, ‘These are still really good,’” Hannah says. “When I showed them to my husband, he agreed and encouraged me to do some more work on them and get them published.”
The resulting three-book series, Falling Amidst Waves, explores how love can be used as a weapon and the consequences that follow. To make the stories relevant for modern readers, Hannah updated elements of the original manuscripts while working closely with her husband and a US-based editor.
“It was confronting at times,” she says. “But I come from an endurance sport background, so I have the patience to keep going and I’m very goal oriented. I never stop being a Para athlete when I’m writing. When I’m out on the bike, I’m often working through plot holes and developing ideas in my head.”
Before taking up Para cycling, Hannah was a marathon runner and completed two half-Ironman triathlons. Ten years ago, she transitioned to Para cycling on the recommendation of her cousin and began competing on a tandem bike. Her career highlights included finishing fifth in the Individual Pursuit B at the 2018 Para cycling Track World Championships in Rio and competing at two World Cup events.
Later, Hannah established the Chasing Dreams Fund to support blind and low-vision Para athletes in pursuing their sporting ambitions. Her Cape Reinga to Bluff charity ride in 2023 raised $30,000 for the fund.
Now a full-time author who also runs a paid reading business, Hannah says revisiting a manuscript she first wrote as a 16-year-old has been a fulfilling experience.
“I’ve been able to reconnect with my younger self, and the things that stressed me out at 16 no longer stress me out,” she says. “It feels surreal to be published. I don’t know whether it’s imposter syndrome, but to be published is a similar feeling to when I was a Para cyclist sitting on the back of a tandem.”
While Falling Amidst Waves marks the beginning of her publishing journey, Hannah has no plans to stop there.
“After this series, I hope to write more books,” she says. “I’d also like to tell the story of my journey as a Para athlete.”
Hannah also hopes to make the series available in accessible formats for blind and low-vision readers.
Copies of Falling Amidst Waves can be purchased via Amazon here with a portion of proceeds supporting the Chasing Dreams Fund.
