How long did it take you to write Brace for Impact? Gabe Montesanti, author of Brace for Impact. Her essay “The Worldwide Roller Derby Convention” was recognized as a notable essay in 2020’s The Best American Essays. Her work has appeared in Belt Magazine, Brevity, the Offing, and Boulevard. She teaches creative writing at the University of North Texas and serves as a mentor for the PEN America Prison and Justice Writing Program. Publishers Weekly calls Brace for Impact a “spirited coming-of-age account” that “brims with joy and resilience.” Montesanti holds an MFA from Washington University in Saint Louis. As Montesanti embraces the physical pain of competition, she comes to understand the more harmful psychic damage caused by swimming, which-along with her troubled relationship with her mother-contributed to her body-image issues and lack of self-confidence when she was younger.

Montesanti’s body gets badly bruised in the process, but her spirit swells as she finds a place among the players and within roller derby's queer community. Readers follow Montesanti as she becomes “fresh meat,” learning to play at the dilapidated Skatium in Saint Louis’s South City. Although she had been a dedicated swimmer growing up in a conservative Catholic family in Michigan, Montesanti finds herself thrillingly unprepared for the wild sport of roller derby. The narrative follows Montesanti through her early twenties in Saint Louis, where she decides to try her luck at roller derby. This week’s installment of Ten Questions features Gabe Montesanti, whose debut memoir, Brace for Impact, is out today from the Dial Press.

Brace for impact gabe montesanti