From a Thrift Store Find to a Love Story on Ice by Mary Van Winkle

I want to share the story behind Bellerose & Blinov On Edge and how I ended up writing a figure skating romance in just two years.

In June 2024, my family and I were casually treasure hunting at our local Goodwill. I’ve been a lifelong fashion doll collector, but that day I was actually looking for books. My dad pointed out a doll still in her box. My first thought was, Where am I going to put another doll?

Still, I took a look. She was an ice skater in a white-and-lavender box, dressed in a delicate white skating costume with an almost alarmingly realistic face sculpture. I couldn’t even pronounce her name.

“I don’t know her. Maybe she’s Russian?” I dismissed. Back on the shelf she went.

My dad immediately responded, “Are you kidding? She’s still in the box and only three dollars — get her and look her up!”

Before we even left the parking lot, I discovered who Ekaterina (Katia) Gordeeva was. And discovering Katia means discovering her skating partner and first husband, Sergei Grinkov — their extraordinary partnership, their real-life love story, and Katia’s resilience after his shocking loss. Though it has been 30 years since Sergei’s passing, their story captured my heart before I even brought the doll home.

By July, after reading Katia’s memoirs and watching G&G’s performances, I felt inspired to write a story about pairs skaters. I wanted to explore a sport I had always casually enjoyed, and the intense trust between two athletes performing dangerous feats within a discipline often seen as only graceful and beautiful.

By August, I had an outline. Five months later, I finished the first draft. This is not my first book, but I have learned countless writing and publishing lessons bringing Marie Bellerose and Dmitry Blinov to life and on the road to the Winter Olympics. Their journey has been mine.

Bellerose & Blinov On Edge is not Gordeeva and Grinkov’s story, but it was inspired by them — a modern love story about two athletes whose dreams depend entirely on each other.

Mary Van Winkle

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