Greetings and welcome to Anne in the Stands.

In my family you had to love baseball. I grew up in a suburb of Chicago and attended lots of Cubs and White Sox games with my parents and my grandfather. My mom was even more dedicated to her teams than my older brother Bill. When I'd come home from school, she'd be ironing with the game on. "How was school, dear?" she'd call. "Oh, wait, Hank Sauer's up at bat."

Our allegiance shifted instantly the day we moved to Milwaukee in 1957, just as the Milwaukee Braves were humiliating the New York Yankees in the World Series. When the Brewers came to town, I adopted a new team again. These days I try to see about 30 Brewers games a year. Some of my friends think that's unusual, but I patiently explain that a double play is as beautiful as a pas de deux.

News: I used to end this introduction this way: "Just as I hope one of my novels will be published some day, I remain hopeful that the Brewers will return in the World Series."

Buried Heart, my romantic suspense novel (by A. Y. Stratton), was published by The Wild Rose Press in October, 2009 and is available now. (Note the date is the same as the World Series.)