Sonya Elliott

Back on the Court

AUTHOR & BASKETBALL FANATIC

Book Review: The Improv by M.J. McDermott

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I met M.J. working on the book trailer for my memoir “Back on the Court”. She too is a writer and what a story she has to tell. Her novel, “The Improv” is based on her personal experience as an actress in college . After I finished her book, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had to talk to my teenage daughter about it.

As an athlete and fashion model I grew up witnessing predators in action. A coach that dated his, much younger, players, photographers that suggested bras or panties be removed, agents that asked young men to remove ALL their clothing while they were measured. But what is revealed in “The Improv” brings the predators manipulation to a whole new level.

“The Improv” is a thought-provoking, oh-so-relevant, must-read. The novel (based on a true story) flawlessly weaves college life, youthful innocence, and a predator’s perversion, into a suspenseful, entertaining and at times haunting story. A story that needed to be told. Thank you Ms. McDermott.

From the back cover:

A novel based on a true story. For mature young adults. It is 1982 at a New England university, and drama major Margo Laughton is thrilled and terrified to be cast as “Sheila” in the rock musical Hair. The show’s director, Professor Harrison P. Adler, is known for his daring productions. Rumors have circulated for decades about how Harry gets actors to break through their inhibitions. He prefers working with boys, encouraging them to become violent and explore their sexuality in carefully guided improvisations or “improvs.” In 1969, an actor in one of Harry’s plays committed suicide. Is Harry a brilliant ground-breaking acting coach, or is he a manipulative voyeur who has found an academically and artistically sanctioned way to indulge his perversions? Margo and her leading man enjoy a playful rehearsal relationship that is shattered after a highly secretive, males-only improv. Margo is determined to find out what happened in the improv and the 1969 suicide, risking her romance and her hoped-for acting career in order to make sure that Harry never directs another play at the college.

FRIENDSHIP III – Support

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“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ”

~Albert Schweitzer

My husband threw a book release party for the launch of my memoir Back on the Court. (well, he did have help from Heidi and Kathy) Friends and family gathered to celebrate. Models, basketball players & coaches, fellow writers, and friends I’ve met over the years through my kid’s preschool, elementary school and middle school days were there. Even a childhood friend who played with me in the sandbox when I was 3 years old suprized me. I wanted to cry. Okay, I did cry. But it was good to shed those tears and take a moment to focus on the friends that have helped support me through this thing called life.

Take a moment…think about those who have helped support you through life?

Just be

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I’m too old for Cattle Calls. That’s what we in the modeling industry call a casting for a job with tons of people trying out. I’ve been modeling long enough now that by the time I see a client they have narrowed their choice down to two or three possible models via the Internet. But last week I watched as one by one, girls half my age, strutted into a casting and I thought, “What the hell am I doing here?”

I have learned to ignore my initial reaction. This is another area in my life where basketball has helped me by teaching me to be courageous in times of nervousness or fear. With modeling it’s not so much the competition as the fear of not being good enough, young enough, thin enough, tall enough. Being too muscular, too small, too blonde, not blonde enough. Over the years I have learned that I cannot be what every client wants me to be, so it’s better just to be me. (okay, well maybe a dressed up version of me) J

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” ~Judy Garland

Basketball helped rekindle her life

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Spokesman Review “THEN and NOW” article


BASKETBALL HELPED REKINDLE HER LIFE 
by 
Dave Trimmer 
Sonya Elliott was flying home from a modeling assignment in Hawaii last month, husband and two children waiting for her at home in Seattle. 
Staring into the darkness from her window seat, many thoughts crossed her mind. 
“I remember thinking how thankful I am, from where I cam from,” she said choking up at the thought.
She wasn’t reflecting on her All-Greater Spokane League basketball career at University, her four seasons at Eastern Washington University, highlighted by an appearance in the 1987 NCAA tournament her junior season, or her modeling career.
She only thought back to when her second life started, when she woke up in the hospital after a train hit the car in which she was riding and killed her fiance’ just days before their wedding.
It was October 20, 1991.
“Like anybody that’s going through the loss of somebody they love, when you’re in it you don’t see that it can get better,” she said. “To me, it’s unbelievable where I’m at now.”
Through a love a basketball she learned to live life, and love again.
to read the entire article follow the link below:

Step into Style Fashion Show

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I had another opportunity to be a part of a benefit fashion show. The Step into Style Luncheon and Fashion Show presented by The Assistance League of the Eastside was filled with fashions from the Newport House and was a lot of fun for myself and the crowd. 

The Assistance League of the Eastside provides many services to the community. Operation School Bell furnishes new clothing to students in need, Assault Survivor Kits supports rape and assault victims by providing them with a sweat suit and personal care items, and the Assistance League Outreach works in collaboration with other community services. I look forward to working with The Assistance League of the Eastside in the future.

Project Red Dress

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A photo of me in Macy’s Project Red Dress fashion show/student designer contest to benefit the American Heart Association. The student, Abigail Pleiss, who designed my dress won second place in the contest. (…not my choice in shoes) 

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