From inspiration to real life...maybe...

Last summer, I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in a holiday romance hockey charity anthology. The task? Write a hockey romance story only 20,000 words long. 

I love pro sports and have football and baseball romance series. But hockey? I am not nearly as conversant in hockey as I am in the other sports. A dear friend volunteered to beta read it for me and correct all my hockey mistakes, so I decided to do it. 

Now, to find some inspiration! I searched the Internet for unique hockey stories and came upon one that touched my heart. The more I read about this retired player, the more empathetic and curious I became. 

"What would it be like to have to give up the game in your prime because of an injury? How would that affect a dating relationship? A marriage?" I asked myself questions like these, and lo and behold, a story began to unfold in my brain. 

The story, "The Final Slapshot", tells of a husband and wife searching to find their footing after the husband sustained a freak, career-ending injury.

In my story, the couple had a good marriage, but had struggled with keeping it together while spending too much time apart. What will this new wrinkle do? How will it change the balance of their relationship? 

I dove into the story with all my heart and submitted it. The anthology was released in November. Along with the 17 other authors participating in this tome, we promoted the hell out of it and made the USA Today best-seller list. We cheered the fruit of our efforts. But the best was yet to come. 

The book ended up earning over $4,500 for our charity, USA Warriors Ice Hockey program for disabled veterans. In December, our stories were released to us and I've put mine up as a separate ebook and paperback. 

Slowly an idea dawned on me. I looked up the man who inspired my book. I wondered if he'd like to know that his story inspired my story which helped to raise money for such a worthy cause? 

And the idea of sending him a copy of the paperback with a letter explaining this popped into my head. I found his address. I've been toying with the idea. 

Do you think he'd like it or be angry? The book hasn't made much money for me personally, but the story is still one of my favorites. What do you think I should do? Should I send him the book? Or leave the man alone? Opinions welcome. Please leave them in the comments section.