Vienna Author Earns Spot in New York Times Sunday Book Review

In the late 1990s Vienna resident Tim Wendel wanted to write a book.  

But with a hectic schedule— he was journalist at USA Today, raising two young children with his wife, Washington Post journalist Jacqueline Salmon—how could he squeeze in writing time? 

“Twenty-five minutes on the Metro commuting to work between Vienna and Roslyn,” Wendel said. “That is when I wrote my first book. It took a year and a half.”

The fruit of that commute was  "Castro’s Curveball," a novel that weaves a story about Cuban society, politics, and love by casting the Cuban dictator as a baseball player. 

Wendel’s agent pitched the manuscript to 20 publishers. 

The result? Strikeouts. 

“In fact, over three years, 33 publishers rejected it,” Wendel said.  But he persisted.

His lucky break came when George Mason University author Alan Cheuse taught a guest workshop during Wendel’s master’s studies at Johns Hopkins University.  Cheuse read excerpts of Castro’s Curveball, which eventually helped Wendel land a Random House-Ballantine associate editor, who went to bat for his story.   

Eight books and 11 years later, Wendel knows that writing, like baseball, requires hard work, talent and a little bit of luck. 

His most recent work, 'High Heat: The Secret Life of the Fastball and the Improbable Search for the Fastest Pitch of All Time' combines all three. It was recently named an Editor's Choice selection by the New York Times Book Review.

In tracking down the fastest of the fast, Wendel researched biomechanics at Dr. James Edward’s lab in Birmingham, Ala.  He conducted in-depth interviews with baseball stars Nolan Ryan and Bob Feller.  And he sought out Steve Dalkowski, the real-life model for Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh, the Bull Durham movie character portrayed by Tim Robbins.

One of Wendel’s lucky breaks in 'High Heat' was a blurb about the book from filmmaker Ken Burns:  “A blazing fastball of a story—compelling, relentless, riveting.”

Wendel covered Burns for a story, where they bonded over their mutual love of baseball and its importance in American history. 

“I'm always shy about asking him. He's so busy,” Wendel said. “But he's also been very supportive of my projects. He's a great guy to have in your corner because he's so well respected.”

Wendel—who holds a master's in writing from Johns Hopkins and a bachelor's in journalism from Syracuse University—is still as busy as he was 11 years ago. He’s teaching fiction and nonfiction writing at Johns Hopkins University, writing columns for the USA Today op-ed page, where he is on the Board of Contributors, guest writing for numerous publications including the Huffington Post, and promoting "High Heat."

And "Castro's Curveball"? It's in its second printing. 

 What comes next for Wendel? 

“Writing more,” he said, with a smile.