Tim Bouvine always has been a Midwestern guy. He’s spent his life in the area, with the exception of a few years in Texas. Bouvine is also a family man, with two adult kids and now two step kids (after marrying his wife Trish last summer).
He’s also a man of many hats. He works primarily as a social media manager for his brother’s telecom business. Bouvine also drives for Northwest Transportation, as he says it, “picking up and delivering at-risk youth to Northwest Journey in Siren and Hayward, Wis.” But Bouvine always has been a writer at heart, a hobby he pursued in any creative means possible until 2010, when a friend named Howie Hanson, creator of Duluth’s online Howie Blog, asked him to write regularly for his website. Bouvine began writing more than ever before, focusing on sports blogging until writing a novel became his main objective. Catching Lightning Without the Bottle was published in 2014 by Savage Press out of Superior, Wis.
The book follows protagonist Blake Benson, a fictional Chicago Cubs player, who is confronted by challenges stemming from his alcoholism. “Blake deals with all of the many troublesome details of the sudden sobriety, all the while trying to lead his team to great heights,” Bouvine says. The story was inspired in part by Bouvine’s own struggle with alcoholism, which he says he combatted with the support of family and friends. He also drew on a love of baseball, and his relationship with his son, Timothy Jon.
Bouvine also finds inspiration in the St. Croix Valley itself. He says the area, like the rest of the Midwest, provides “proper perspective on many issues.” He says the values of our area provide “a solid basis for reflection and relationships with community.”
According to Bouvine, the responses have been positive, and it has particularly resonated with fans of baseball or others who have experienced alcoholism or self-recovery. “I have heard from so many people fighting their addiction battles and from family members who have struggled with the problems of addiction in their own families,” he says.
Catching Lightning Without the Bottle is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, $9–$14.
