Charleston, SC, June 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Palmetto Publishing has released Billy’s Wish, a new sports fiction novel by debut author Levi Fiel. Based on a true story, the book tells the story of an arrogant professional baseball player and a young cancer patient whose chance meeting sets both of their lives on an unexpected course.
Jack Owens is a celebrated baseball player with a penthouse condo, a Porsche, and an ego that barely fits inside either one. He drinks too much, treats the people around him like inconveniences, and has sorted all of humanity into his own personal taxonomy of assholes. He has never pretended to be anything other than what he is, and the world keeps rewarding him for it. Then he crosses paths with Billy, a kid whose body is being wrecked by chemotherapy but whose bedroom walls are covered in posters of his hero: Jack Owens.
When Billy gets the chance to meet his idol, the encounter cracks something in Jack that he did not know was there. Jack’s career is in a tailspin. His talent, once enough to excuse every selfish and reckless act, is no longer protecting him. Billy’s fight against cancer is far from over, and neither of them can answer the question that comes to define their unlikely bond: who is really saving whom? As their relationship deepens, inspiration begins to flow in directions no one predicted, forcing Jack to confront the person he has become.
Billy’s Wish is positioned for readers ages 16 and older who gravitate toward character-driven fiction with sardonic humor and emotional weight. The novel sits comfortably alongside titles like The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. With its morally grey protagonist, grumpy-sunshine dynamic, and redemption arc rooted in an unlikely friendship, the book speaks to a growing New Adult readership that values flawed, self-aware characters and stories that balance sharp wit with genuine heart.
Billy’s Wish is available for purchase online at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.
Fiel’s debut novel, Billy’s Wish, grew from a fascination with the unlikely connections that change people’s lives. The story, inspired by real events, follows a boy battling cancer who meets his idol, a professional baseball player mired in a slump, and asks a deceptively simple question: who is really inspiring whom? Drawn to commercial fiction that moves fast and hits hard, Fiel weaves subtly crude humor, sharp social commentary, and the messy reality of family dysfunction into a narrative that is, at its core, a love story about the way caring for someone transforms you from the inside out.
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Available for interviews: Author, Levi Fiel