The Car that led to The Book

When you write a book, a lot of people ask where the idea came from.

Is it based in personal experience? The materialization of a long-held dream? Did the story kind of write itself? Or, was it simply an epiphany?

Well... kinda, yes, yes, and kinda.

My novel, HIDING BEHIND THUNDER, grew from the seeds of another project, itself the result of a 30-year dream. It started with a car. And my wife.

Pictured above is my 1964 Ford Galaxie that I built as a tribute to NASCAR legend Fireball Roberts. The car is a (barely) street-legal recognition of NASCAR's tumultuous Golden Age, driven (never trailered) to car shows and events near my home town. The car was the realization of a long-held dream, itself based upon witnessing cars kind of like this in the mid-1970s and beyond.

How "The Dream" of "The Car" began

Pretty much since I started walking, I've been a fan of stock car racing, and in the NASCAR Grand National Series in particular. A little over 30 years ago, I was walking back to my job when David Pearson's 1975 #21 Wood Brothers / Purolator Mercury drove right by me on the street!

Well, despite my surprise, I was still pretty confident that it was NOT the REAL car. But I still thought it was pretty cool. I mean, imagine driving what was essentially a race car on the street! It would be a while before I would learn about these promotional cars and how they were simply a factory vehicle with lookalike paint schemes and graphics. Still, I thought it pretty awesome!

Over the next couple years I would also chance upon a Gatorade Olds and later a Skoal Oldsmobile. But, like the Mercury I had seen earlier, they were simply flashy street cars. Sure, I wanted one of my own, but as the dream grew, I also wanted it to be a little different.

Enter "Project Fireball"

Fact is, I really didn't start out intending to build Fireball Roberts' old car. For nearly 15 years I tried to talk my Uncle Ronnie out of his old metallic blue '64 Galaxie that had sat idle in a mass of weeds on his horse property gathering layers of dust and serving as a community housing project for field mice, wasps and black widows. My hope had been to turn that particular car into a replica of Ned Jarrett's 1964 #11 Bondy-Long car simply through fresh paint and decals, in the same vein as the promo cars I has seen in the past. It never happened, but the dream was never forgotten.

Then, in 2006 I came upon an eBay auction for a '64 Galaxie, located in Fresno, CA, only about 170 miles south of my home. The car was the victim of an arson attempt, with a serious dose of fire and smoke damage.

I mean, what better platform for an early NASCAR replica?

Damned if I didn't get it, despite my wife's perpetual eye-rolling!

I gutted the interior, installed a roll cage, and, after removing all of the chrome, filled 161 holes in the body. But then came the task of deciding which car to re-create. Enter my wife.

As flexible as she normally is, she was just not content to see a car in our garage painted in a hue that she found offensive, or the same color as any vehicle we already owned. In frustration, I finally handed her a picture book of 1964 Galaxies raced in NASCAR. She jabbed her finger at a picture and said, "I like the purple one."

Fireball Roberts.

My wife has good taste.

The idea for the book is spawned

So, while researching the purple Galaxie, I also researched further on Fireball Roberts. And there I really learned about the man, the competitor, the athlete, the mentor to young drivers, the legend, and the tragedy. The more I delved into everything that surrounded him, the more I wanted to tell his story from the perspective of one of the young drivers he could have mentored and befriended. And from there, the story did begin to write itself.

Thanks to a dream, a car, a legend, and an understanding wife.

Please check out HIDING BEHIND THUNDER, now specially priced at Amazon.com, and available for downloads to Kindle, Nook, and many other e-readers -- even your PC -- at Smashwords.com

By the way, if you buy the e-book through Smashwords.com, they are offering a 33% discount coupon code if purchased by October 15, 2011.

Download the first 15% of the book for free to get a flavor of the story. Then, if you wish to purchase it in its entirety, enter the code TV78Z at checkout, and instead of paying the normal price of $5.99, you pay only $3.99! Not a Smashwords.com member? It’s free to sign up with no obligation!

Oh, and to read the entire story about "Project Fireball", go to CarDomain.com and check it out!

Oh? The Book?

As I post about NASCAR events, both current and historic, I hint about my novel, HIDING BEHIND THUNDER. Well, I guess I should throw in another post in which the hints give way to out-and-out declaring its existence.

HIDING BEHIND THUNDER is a coming-of-age story set against the background of 1960s NASCAR.

Davey Sutherland is a fugitive, running for his life from a murder he didn't commit. Through a bizarre twist of fate, he finds sanctuary in the rough-and-tumble world of NASCAR. Now known as race driver Colt Kellogg, the young man hides behind his assumed name and identity. He builds a new life, gains trust and friendship, and even finds love. But, will he become a victim of his own growing notoriety? Now caught between the law and people dead set on revenge, Davey spends his new life HIDING BEHIND THUNDER.

There are many reference books available about NASCAR and its rich history. HIDING BEHIND THUNDER is a novel; a seamless blend of fact and fiction, sharing a story of love, loss, death and revenge, while incorporating a significant dose of NASCAR history. Both the famous drivers of the era and the events they raced in over the 1963 and 1964 seasons are portrayed here, intertwined with mystery and adventure.

HIDING BEHIND THUNDER can be purchased in paperback through Amazon ($16.99), my CreateSpace acoount ($14.99), downloaded to Amazon's Kindle reader ($7.99), and purchased for downloads for Nook, Kobo, and many other ePub formats through Smashwords.com (also $7.99).

Yes, it's my first "official" novel, and it's self-published. But, given the encouraging responses I've received about the book so far, I think I need to get started on my next book.

That's my two cents, your mileage may vary.

A Matter of Respect

When I wrote HIDING BEHIND THUNDER, I wanted to blend fact and fiction into an entertaining coming-of-age story. To do so, I felt it important to not only the flow of the story, but to the readers with even a half of a brain to not muddle the action with a host of "drivers" and "teams" that were simply made-up names and car numbers.

I wanted stories within the story, fleshing out historic moments with many of NASCAR's greatest drivers of that Golden Age. So, instead of tossing names like "Billy Mack Smith," or "Jimmy Joe Speedo," I decided to feature real events and real drivers, some still living and some passed on, such as Fred Lorenzen, Richard Petty, Ned Jarrett, David Pearson, Wendell Scott, Joe Weatherly, and, of course, Fireball Roberts.

One concern has been that the living drivers I have engaged in HIDING BEHIND THUNDER might take umbrage with their inclusion in the story. My response: Why? One of the most important attributes in my novel is that every driver mentioned in the course of the story, living or dead, is treated with respect. Respect to them personally, and respectful in the manner in which I portray them.

I feel I accomplished this. If there are still any doubters, then I suggest they purchase a copy of the book and prove me otherwise. I'm putting my money where my mouth is, too... a copy of HIDING BEHIND THUNDER is on its way to one of the greatest drivers of NASCAR's Golden Age.

I'll save that little tidbit for another blog post. Until then...