Life can bring you some zany surprises, can't it? Two years ago, right after an unexpected death in the family, I was away from home, picking out a casket on my birthday because the next of kin were too devastated, when I got a call from Marsha Zinberg at Harlequin, asking me to be a part of the upcoming Harlequin NASCAR series.Her request, while something I told her I was completely unsuited for, was the one bright spot in a very dark day. I didn't tell her what was going on in my life right then, but when she urged me to consider the request and offered to send me more information, I reached for that ray of sunshine and said okay.
Even though, as I'd told her, "Not only do I know nothing about NASCAR, Marsha, it looks like a really dumb sport, cars just driving around in a circle."
Famous last words.
Fast forward a few weeks. I'm back at home, we're all trying to settle back into real life. I get the information and start researching. I find Nascar.com. Discover the Speed channel. Start filling up my DVR with pre-race shows—Trackside Live, coverage of qualifying, of practices, even wading my way through episodes of Performance, where crew chiefs talk about the innards of the cars (my mechanic granddaddy would have been so proud of me!!!) I pore through NASCAR for Dummies. Start absorbing terms like camber and tight and loose and downforce. I watch my first race (Bristol spring race, if anyone's interested.)
And get hooked on the continuing drama that is NASCAR—feuds and friendships, folks to cheer, others to boo, something new each and every week. At last, I understand just how complex the sport is, how much strategy plays a part, right along with skill and cunning and Lady Luck.
And then, I attend my first race, the Bristol night race—called the hottest ticket in NASCAR. And have to inform my indulgent honey, who is endlessly amused at this new fascination (okay, obsession) of mine, "Um...you know how I said all this was just research for a book? Hate to break it to you, darlin', but...I'm pretty sure I'm still going to be following racing even after I finish writing."
Of course, during all this, I have friends and family who think I've lost my mind. Who can't imagine anyone less likely to be a fan and think I'll outgrow it. I also discovered—in all sorts of unexpected places—interesting people who just happen to be race fans. (One in four Americans is a NASCAR fan, and nearly half of those are women, just so you know.)
So here I am, one Christmas novella and one 2008 book later, now unveiling the first of two books in the 2009 series, with two more stories coming in 2010...who knew?!?! The three series all have connected stories and a continuing cast of characters. Black Flag, White Lies, my February release, is about Will Branch, one of the twin driver sons of Maeve Branch, heroine of Extreme Caution, my December 2008 release. And in 2010, I'll be doing the story of Will's twin Bart.
But for those of you who, like I did, think you don't give a hoot about NASCAR, well, hey, that's your choice, for sure. You might turn out, like me, to need to eat a little crow, should you decide to check into it—or you might not. Regardless, rest assured that these book are, first and foremost, romances, so even if you're not a race fan, you'll find the same qualities in these books as my others—powerful emotion and complex characters I hope you'll root for to find love in the end.
And for those of you who were NASCAR fans long before me, well, what can I say? I came late to the party—
But I'm here to stay!
Jean
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