I’d love to be a hotshot as an author
Shooting star set to have first novel published after starting to write to cope with pressure
Jenny Morrison An Olympian who turned to writing in a bid to reduce stress during competitions tions is about to have her first novel published.
Jen McIntosh won two Commonwealth Games gold medals in shooting but took up p writing to escape the e pressure of competing.
Her debut book Blood od Of Ravens is an epic ic fantasy story which she he hopes will be the first inn a series of related novels.
Jen, 29, who retired in 2018, 018, said: “Writing was a form orm of escapism when I was competing – as well l as something to do duringng the many, many hours I spent waiting around in airports, ports, on planes and in hotels.
“Growing up, I alwaysys had two dreams – competingng at the Olympics and becoming an author. In many ways, it ’ s becoming an author that’s been more challenging.
“When I was a little girl, the bedtime stories I loved were things like The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and one of the first books I read myself was The Hobbit. I was part of the Harry Potter generation and loved the
escapism of such amazing fantasy stories. “I probably started dreaming up the scenes and characters in my book as long ago as when I was in my late teens.”
Jen, who is the daughter of four- times Commonwealth shooting medal list Shirley McIntosh, has spoken openly about the mental health pressures of being an athlete. In recent years, she battled it out in
comcompetitions against her shootinshooting world champion younger sister Seonaid, 25, who was recently seselected to compete at this year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Jen said: “Fear can be crippling, fear of failure particularly so. My worst nightmare was coming home empty-handed from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.
“More than once during the months leading up to it, that prospect had me waking in a cold sweat. One time I even
woke up screaming. It terrified me that much.
“My entire self-worth was tied to my achievements. If I came home with nothing, I would be worthless, cast aside for younger, more successful athletes – one of whom was likely to be my sister.”
Despite being defending European Champion at the time and having won Commonwealth championships on that same range six months earlier, Jen failed to win any medals at what was to be her last Commonwealth
Games. Her sister won a bronze. Jen said: “I lived through my worst nightmare. But I had fun. I made friends. And I did all of that without winning. Medals are nice but they’re no replacement for the important things in life. It was only by failing that I was able to understand that.”
Jen, who is performance and pathways manager for Scottish Target Shooting, is married to Scotland rif le shooting coach Andrew Ross, 32. Her book will be released in June.