Showing posts with label Formula One. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Formula One. Show all posts

Sunday, May 25, 2014

A Hero Worth The Risk #SPeekSunday

It has been a while since I did a Sneak Peek Sunday. If you're not familiar with this weekly blog hop, it's simple. Authors post a six paragraph excerpt from a published story or a work in progress.

This is Memorial Day weekend, which around my house means auto racing weekend. My husband is a life-long motor sports fan, so he will be glued to the TV most of the weekend. Indycar is his favorite venue, but it's not the only race this weekend. Formula One is running the fabled Monaco Grand Prix this Sunday, with cars racing through the streets of Monte Carlo. So I thought I'd post a peek from Worth The Risk, the contemporary romance I co-wrote with my friend Anne Farrell.

If you're not familiar with Formula One, it is the premier world-class racing circuit, also known as Grand Prix Racing, as every event in the circuit is called a Grand Prix. Very upper class, jet-setting kind of circuit with races all over the world, from Europe to Australia to China to Abu Dhabi. Last year I wrote a short post about auto racing, if you're interested in some background. The hero of Worth The Risk is a former Formula One driver who retired after a bad crash that left him with a bum knee. 

In this scene, Mitch has taken Amanda to a sports bar for lunch:

He leaned close to her so he could be heard above the noise of the televised World Series game. “Well, what do you think? Quite a place, isn’t it?”

Amanda nodded. It was quite a place indeed. Six large-screen televisions were placed strategically so that every customer had a clear view of the action. Football helmets and jerseys lined the walls above them, and what looked like an actual racecar hung on the brick wall in the far corner.

“Is that real?” she asked Mitch.

“Yep, it’s real all right,” he replied. “It’s part of the body of a Formula 1 car.”

Amanda stared at it, thinking how incredibly small it looked. She wondered if this was the kind of car he’d been driving when he had his accident.

For the first time Amanda was glad Marcia had made her read all those articles about Mitch. Two days ago she wouldn’t have known the name of the premier international racing circuit. Though Mitch had spent most of his career in the States, his last season had been with Formula 1, until the day his car spun out of control on a wet track in Belgium. The accident had ended his racing career and almost taken his life. According to the article she’d read, he had been in a coma for nearly a week. Now the only visible reminder of his trauma was the small scar between his brows, and the slight limp she’d noticed when he first came into the library. A sudden feeling of compassion washed over her.

Blurb:

Children's librarian Amanda Lloyd values privacy above all else. Three years ago her wedding ended in disaster when her groom was arrested at the altar and the story of the 'Embezzler's Bride' appeared in the supermarket tabloids. The experience has left her determined to avoid being caught in the public eye again. Until she meets a sexy single dad with a scandalous past.

Ex-racer Mitch Delaney is a public figure whose life has been plastered across the tabloids more than once. But he believes that anything worth doing is worth a risk. After the death of his ex-wife, he moved to Southern California to take care of his son Josh. He doesn't need the complication of a woman in his life, especially since Josh's grandparents have filed suit for custody. But Josh is on the hunt for a new mother and he has his heart set on Miss Amanda, and Mitch can't fault his son's taste.

Against her better judgment, Amanda finds herself falling for both of the Delaney men. When she agrees to accompany Mitch to a high-profile movie premiere, they draw the attention of the tabloids. Overnight Amanda’s private affair becomes very public indeed, threatening her job and Mitch’s custody suit. She’s waited twenty-eight years for the right man. But will happiness come at too high a price?

Worth The Risk is available from Amazon Kindle, Apple, BN/Nook, Kobo, and Smashwords.

Linda

Use the linky list below to hop to another Sneak Peek Sunday blog post.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Start Your Engines!

It's Indy weekend!

The Indianapolis 500 is a big deal in my household, since my husband is a life-long motor sports fan, so he will be glued to the TV most of the weekend. Indycar is his favorite venue, but it's not the only race this weekend. NASCAR has two races: the Nationwide on Saturday and the Sprint Cup on Sunday afternoon from Charlotte, NC. And Formula 1 is running the fabled Monte Carlo Grand Prix Sunday AM. 4AM on the West Coast, to be specific. That one will get recorded, of course.

The Indy speedway was built in 1909 and the first 500 mile race was run on Memorial Day, May 30, 1911. In those days, there were two men in the cars: a drive and a riding mechanic who checked oil pressure and kept an eye on other traffic. The winner that year was Ray Harroun, who was considered a hazard on the track because he was the only driver without a mechanic. The photo to the right shows Joe Dawson winning the 1912 race. (Photo from Wikicommons via Wikipedia)

Auto racing has been around almost as long as automobiles, and the early races provided a chance for the carmakers to show how well their products worked (or didn't) and built public enthusiasm for the new horseless carriages. Nowadays, race cars are designed for racing and most are not street legal. The days of racing in production cars are long over.

Unlike most racing circuits, which started as gentlemen's competitions, NASCAR has its roots in bootlegging, with moonshiners souping up their cars to outrun the federal revenue agents. It's the common man's motor sport, which probably accounts for its continuing popularity. It's also a darn good show, and the drivers are highly competitive and not always gentlemanly, including the occasional after-race fist fight. In most racing sports, the announcer says, "Gentlemen, start your engines," but at NASCAR, it's more often "Drivers, start your engines." Which is a good thing since women are finally making inroads into auto racing, Danica Patrick being the best known woman drive.

The premier racing circuit is Formula One, also known as Grand Prix Racing, as every event in the circuit is called a Grand Prix. Very upper class, jet-setting kind of circuit with races all over the world, from Europe to Australia to China to Abu Dhabi. For a long time, there was no American GP but there will be a US GP in Austin, Texas this coming November.

The hero of Worth The Risk, the romance I wrote with Anne Farrell, features a former Formula One driver as hero.

An ex-race car driver's life spins out of control when scandal hits a small California town. Will love come at too high a price?

I won't be watching all the races with the hubby, since that is prime writing time, but I'll catch some of it. What race, if any, will you be watching?

And if you're one of the millions on the nation's highways this weekend, drive safely!

Linda