Hello blog faithful. I have returned from Route 66 Raceway and my first foray back into the NHRA Mello Racing Drag Racing world unscathed, and very happy I went, for many reasons. Much like last year, when I’d venture out to an event after having left the sport in order to write the book, there was always a sense of trepidation as I drove toward the track the first day. What if no one remembered me? What if there are so many new PR and NHRA people that I’m now a complete stranger?
Greetings blog faithful, and welcome to another Thursday in the seemingly endless parade of them. Not to be a downer, but every one of these Thursday Blog Days means we’re another week older. Not necessarily wiser, but certainly older. And for this one, I think it’s going to have to be one of those rambling “odds & ends” types of a blog, because I don’t have a major theme in mind.
I learned a lot of things in the 16 months it took to write “Bats, Balls, & Burnouts” and those teachable moments came in a variety of shapes and sizes. I learned how to be a better writer, and through that I believe I earned the title “author” as well. I could always write. Press releases are one thing, as are blog installments, but they’re just bite-sized chunks of words that start and end in mere minutes. By the end of the book, I was seeing the much bigger picture and it pleased me enormously to see the way the book flowed and stayed connected. I didn’t want it to be 33 chapters that all seemed separate and disjointed. I wanted it meander, but like a river it had to flow to a conclusion.
Just like I didn’t really have a clue as to all that went into the writing of a book, on the day I started, and just like I wasn’t even all that aware of how much time, focus, and dedication would go into the editing once the writing was done, the publicity side of the process was all kind of a fog to me, as well. That’s why I hired Elon Werner to represent me. Had I tried to do this myself, the results would’ve likely resembled the Hindenburg upon its fateful arrival at Lakehurst, New Jersey.