The Checkout Girl is the story of a young woman who works as a cashier, while dreaming of Bobby Orr and being a hockey player. The book is set in 1970 when such dreams, at least for women, were ridiculous and, predictably, she has a rough time. Yet, in the end, she does manage to find a way to make a living from the ice and she survives, even thrives. Zettell outlines some of the inspiration behind the book.”The first fragment of the story occurred to me while I was playing hockey, or shinny really, on an outdoor rink in Ottawa,” Zettell recalls. “I was part of a group of middle-aged women who formed a hockey team we called MAMMAH (Middle Aged Menopausal Mothers Attempt Hockey) to play shinny one night a week throughout the winter. I was terrified I’d end up dead or at least with a concussion (which almost happened even with a helmet). But from the first night out, the skating, the exertion, the laughter and good-natured competitiveness, the sheer joy at playing outside in the dark in winter was exhilarating. I couldn’t remember the last time I had had so much fun. So when I began to think about writing a novel in which a young woman was going through a sticky time in her life, I knew that hockey, but most particularly skating, some of it outdoors, would be at the heart of her life.