Sharpen Your Edge is a powerful memoir about a little girl who had a big dream. On that journey, she lost her Dad, her chance at the Olympics, and her health.

This novel, being part biography and part how-to guide, brings hope to the defeated. If you should ever find yourself tripping over your toe pick and falling on your face (metaphorically speaking), there is inspiration in these pages that will help you stand up and keep going. This story is a gentle reminder that you can't always control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude towards it. It is an occurrence, not a description. No matter what, never give up and never be out of the fight.

Sharpen Your Edge is real, raw, and unrelenting, but Val's humor and inspirational spirit are enduring. She is unapologetic about the way she has crafted her navigation through these trials and tribulations. As she laments, "No one ever said it had to look pretty."