Contact Info
ABRAMS: Taryn Roeder
Literary Agent: Laura Yorke
Publicist: HMI East
Author: Clare Frank
Author Bio
After 30 years in the fire service, Clare Frank retired as California’s first female chief of fire protection and launched her writing career. Her debut book, Burnt: A Memoir of Fighting Fire (Abrams Press, 2023), was long-listed for the 2023 Outstanding Works of Literature Awards and received critical acclaim from the San Francisco Chronicle, Kirkus Reviews, Christian Science Monitor, Library Journal, New York Post, Shelf Awareness, Booklist, and more. Frank has also written for the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN Opinion, and FireRescue1. She holds a BS in fire command, an MFA in creative writing, and a Juris doctorate. Her second book, Just One More Game: A Pickleball Quest (Abrams Press, 2026), is a humorous look at her obsession with America's fastest growing sport. Frank lives on the eastern front of the Sierra-Nevada Mountains with her husband, many pickleball paddles, and always a dog or two.
New Release!
Highlight Pix
*Photo credits for pics 1-4: Brad Cockman
Pickleball's birthplace, WA.
Pacific Northwest Classic, Bend OR.
At Donovan State Prison, Ca.
Sunny's Day, Los Barriles, Mexico
Halloween at Desert Storm, Gardnerville, NV
Sunny
g.o.a.t.s in the pickleball capital of the world, Naples, Fl
Glow-in-the-Dark, Kansas City, MO.
120° in Sacramento, CA.
The Mitch Park Bangers . . . where it all started
Hanging with next-gen picklers
Book Info.
AN ENTERTAINING LOOK AT PICKLEBALL'S METEORIC RISE AND ONE PLAYER'S JOYFUL OBSESSION WITH THE GAME
Just One More Game is writer Clare Frank's account of abandoning herself to a sport loved by millions (and hated by plenty of others). Both pickleball and Clare Frank were born in Washington State in 1965, but she didn't encounter the sport until after she’d retired as a career firefighter and got roped into joining a game at the local community center. Despite being mystified by the court dimensions, the equipment, and the lingo (whose kitchen was being violated?), the game triggered her competitive drive. Then she was in deep: joining "underground" games, shaking off injuries, and eventually committing to a year-long quixotic quest to try to understand pickleball’s hold on America . . . and herself.
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Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in North America and has been for five years running. In 2017, three million Americans played pickleball. In 2025, over 22 million played. The sport is now in over 80 countries and played on all seven continents. With burgeoning professional leagues, collegiate play, and a target on the 2032 Olympic Games, it shows no sign of slowing down. Frank takes readers far and wide, from PickleCon to the US Open to a pickleball town in Baja to pickleball in prison, as she explores the sport's roots, its viral rise, and a penchant for leveling up her own game. This fun read will be welcomed by pickleballers old and new.
ABRAMS PRESS, PUBLICATION DATE APRIL 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781419782862
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Excerpt
I PERFORMED MY FIRST, and only, Nasty Nelson in a church. Creg had invited a small group to play inside his church gymnasium on a day too rainy to play outside and too crowded to play inside anywhere but this hideaway with hymnals on the shelves.
Remember how I told you I get the yips if I don’t warm up my serve? That’s what happened here. Without warming up, I gave the ball a good whack from the baseline—a bullet serve. Instead of traveling deep to the crosscourt receiver, the ball smacked into the ribs of the player straight across from me up at the net. That player was Marcy, the elementary school principal married to Alan, one of the best players in the region and someone who could take out either of your shin bones anytime he hit the ball to you.
Marcy let out a screech, then a laugh to let me know I hadn’t cracked anything and I could relax my face, frozen in mortification.
My partner, Creg, and I won the point from my errant ball. It’s a legitimate serve called a Nasty Nelson, named after Tim “the Puppet Master” Nelson, who regularly took advantage of Rule 4.A.3 . . .
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What, exactly, is pickleball and has it been around for a long time?
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For those not yet familiar with JUST ONE MORE GAME, can you give them a quick overview of it?
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Tell us about the year-long quest; was it planned, spontaneous, or both?
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Did you draw any parallels between your life in firefighting and your pickleball adventures?
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Let's talk about pickleball injuries.
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There's some pickleball haters out there. What is it about the sport that draws fire?
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Your husband doesn't play pickleball. How did you abandoning yourself to the sport impact your marriage?
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In your book, you talk about pickleball evolving. Where do you see it going from here?
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What do you love the most about pickleball? The least?
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What made the biggest impression on you during your year of research and writing JUST ONE MORE GAME.
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What's your best advice for pickleball newbies?
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Do you now consider yourself a "pickleball snob," or a "pickleball missionary"?
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Is there a backstory about why you chose to write this book at this time?
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What surprised you the most in writing JUST ONE MORE GAME?
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This is both a sports book and a memoir with deep family threads. What made you want to combine these two aspects?
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Can you share a little about your writing process? Your writing journey?
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Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
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Can pickleball solve world hunger, prevent climate change, erase income inequality, cure cancer, and protect puppies?
And just for fun:
Pickleball by the Numbers, a Clare Frank Index
Fastest-growing sport in the United States:
Pickleball (Five consecutive years)
Estimated worldwide number of people who have played:
Over 100,000,000
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Continents with pickleball:
7
Countries with pickleball:
80+
Number of Americans who played in 2025:
Over 22,000,000
Cities where public pickleball is banned:
1 (Carmel-by-the-Sea, California)
Average decibel level of pickleball play:
70 dBA (Think: vacuum cleaner)
Average frequency pitch of pickleball play:
1.2 kHz (Think: garbage truck back-up alarm)
Year pickleball originated:
1965 (Same year Clare Frank originated)
Year pickleball participation began its meteoric rise:
2020
Fastest-growing age segment of players:
25–34
Age group with the highest overall participation rate:
55+
Age of the oldest active pickleball player:
96
Hours it takes a former high-school basketball player to become a competitive intermediate:
2
Years it takes a former high-school basketball player to become competitive advanced:
4
Years it takes a former high-school tennis player to become competitive advanced:
0.25
Celebrities associated with pickleball:
Taylor, Serena, Dax, Kristen, Leonardo, George, Tom B., both Drew Bs, Justin B., LeBron, Dierks, Seacrest, Foxx, Gates, Colbert, Phil, Shaquille, Emma, Ellen, Melissa M., Ripa, Cuban, both Jennifers, both Bens, Klum, Katy, Owen, Pratt, Ferrell, Orlando, Braff, Reese, Billie E., Hart, Brené (And counting.)
Where Ryan Reynold’s new themed pickleball courts in empty Warner Bros. Studios:
91522
Largest outdoor pickleball facility:
60 courts (Naples, Florida — home of the Pickleball U.S. Open)
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Largest indoor pickleball facility:
400,000 square feet (PickleCon, Kansas City, Missouri — roughly seven football fields or 225 pickleball courts)
Estimated cost of building a home pickleball court:
$25,000–$50,000
Number of pickleballs produced annually:
500,000,000
Percent of tennis courts in the U.S. repurposed for pickleball:
10%
Percent of pickleball courts in the U.S. repurposed for tennis:
0%
Average number of steps per hour of play:
Approximately 4,000
Estimated minutes of warm-up before recreational competitive play:
2
Most lucrative profession following pickleball’s surge in popularity:
Orthopedics (with ophthalmology a close second)
Estimated U.S. pickleball-related emergency room and outpatient visits annually:
432,000
Percent of players who agree to “just one more game” despite fatigue or injury:
100%