See You in Daytona!

by Tammy

As some of you may know, I'm currently writing the third Kate Reilly Racing Mystery, this one set at the 24 Hours of Daytona. I attended the race once, in 2007, and I've watched it many times. But I've never really been inside the race before. But that's all going to change come January.

No, I won't be driving a car. But I'll be doing the next best thing.

Through the generosity of Kevin Buckler (with me, right) and The Racer's Group (whose friendship and support goes all the way back to 2004), I'm going to embed as part of the TRG team for the race weekend. That means I'll be sitting in the pits for as many of the 24 hours as I can manage (I won't promise not to sneak off to find a stack of tires to take a nap on), and typing just as fast as my fingers will allow.

Not only will I be doing research (I've got two pages of notes about questions to ask already), but I'll also be posting to Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, both for myself, for TRG, and maybe for other media outlets.

So anyone who wants a photo of a hard-working writer, let me know, and I'll send one. And feel free to send me (@tkaehler) or TRG (@theracersgroup) questions throughout the race. I'll be happy to give you all the inside scoop I can about what it's really like in the pits for a 24 hour race ... from the excitement of the start to the dragging, cold hours of the night.

Stay tuned for more!

What Success Requires

by Tammy

I'm writing, writing, writing these days (as is Simon; both of us are on deadline), so I'm pondering the whys and the how comes of racing more than I'm watching it. (Seriously, there's a moratorium on TV in my house until I finish this second manuscript.) And as I'm creating and exploring a multitude of characters in the racing world, I realized that in racing, as in life, it's not enough to only have talent.

Talent is a baseline, in racing as in any other endeavor. But you've got to have something else that gives you an edge. I heard a story about a guy who almost made it onto The Voice. He's a really good singer, but he had no story to bring tears to the masses. He had no hook. When it comes to selling a mystery, having a hook helps. I pitched myself as "The Dick Francis of auto racing, with a female racecar driver protagonist" (Simon will also claim to be the Dick Francis of auto racing, and I don't disagree. I think we can share the title).

When it comes to racing, you've got to have talent, but you've also got to have (forgive the pun) drive. Motivation, charisma. A story, connections. Something. I remember hearing a not-currently active driver who I'd seen race in years past described as "too nice to make it in racing." That's not to say you have to be a jerk to make it, but, let's be realistic. Willingness to win means a willingness to beat others. At some point, you've got to be willing to step on or bump aside the other guy to take the checkers first.

There's a business axiom that I quote often: Right, fast, or cheap. Pick two. 

Applied to racing, this might turn into something like this: Talent, story, or charisma. Pick two to survive. (By "charisma" I mean both the inner drive to succeed and the ability to communicate that to others.)

Of course, you won't do very well if you only have the story and charisma, but you'll still have opportunities. (Anna Kournikova, anyone? Admittedly, many will claim Danica falls into this category also.)

And if you have all three? Golden. Think Dale Earnhardt. Think Junior, if he can just start winning again (did you see the headlines from this weekend? NASCAR.com didn't feature "Kyle Wins!" No, it featured Stepping Up His Performance because Junior finished second).

Certainly there are different levels of talent among drivers, from so-so, to good, to great, to exceptional. But I also believe that in life many of us have the same talents, but some people will be wildly successful not because of raw talent, but because of undefinable extras. Charisma, hook, lightning strikes. This is true in racing as in publishing as in life.

A Non Starter

With a new book coming out set in the world of motorsport, the question that I’m asked on a regular basis is would I go back to racing? Like most drivers, I didn't quit the sport. Money quit the sport for me. And a lot has changed in almost twenty years since someone last asked me to start my engines. I’m married. I live in a different country. I have a mortgage. Writing is a full time career that sucks up a bunch of my time. The list goes on. And if I’m being really honest, I’m not sure I have the drive that I had twenty years ago to spend hours prepping a car, getting up at the arse crack of dawn to travel to some corner of the country and I certainly don’t have disposable income to underwrite a racing fix. But if someone were to say, “Simon, can you be at Infineon? There's a car waiting for you,” I’d be there in a shot.

Or so I thought.

The other week, the question of me returning to the track came up, but this time, it was said in front of my wife. I answered yes. My wife answered no. That was a shocker.

We hadn't met when I raced so she isn't aware of the life I led in those days, so I was little surprised at her reaction. To her credit, my wife has backed me in every damn fool venture I’ve thrown myself into over the last fifteen years, even when I’ve doubted whether it was a good idea or not. She was the one who suggested I junk my career so that I could write full time. Her vetoing my motor racing dreams seemed more than a little out of character. So I asked her why no on the cars. Her answer was simple. She didn't want the stress of race days. She didn't want to be hoping the phone wouldn’t ring to tell her something had happened to me. Aw, she cares. I saw that she was pretty adamant on this issue, so I kinda didn't take the conversation any further.

The problem is that racing is an addiction and I’ve been clean and sober for 18yrs, but if someone offered me a fix, sobriety would go out the window. I’d jump at the chance that to climb behind of the wheel of a race car, any race car.

So I’m faced with a tricky problem. Would I go against my wife’s wishes? She's never stopped me from doing anything my heart has desired and I more than owe her for it, so I should honor wishes on this one. I don’t think the circumstances would ever arise where a return to racing would ever be in the offing, so it’s a moot point, but should that unlikely situation strike, what would I do? I think I know. I think I would do the right thing. The only problem is I don’t know what the right thing is. :-)

Yours on the fence,
Simon