But for Tammy Kaehler, it’s a world she immerses herself in every day. Her readers and the auto-racing community don’t mind visiting it either, from the looks of it.
The American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) awarded Kaehler, a Bixby Knolls resident, the 2014 Motorsports Book of the Year for her work on the racing mystery novel Avoidable Contact the day before the Indianapolis 500 last May.
Founded in 1955, the AARWBA specializes in auto-racing coverage, and each year presents awards to those who have made significant and profound contributions to the sport, and Kaehler just happened to be one of those contributors.
Kaehler, who has been writing for 20 years, currently operates as a freelance writer.
“It feels pretty amazing, and it also feels like a relief,” she said. “The award is handed out by a group of people who write and broadcast about motorsports, so if anyone is in a position to judge the quality of writing about racing, it should be them. Meaning, if they’re telling me I’m doing it right, I believe them.”
This isn’t the first time she has received such a distinction from the auto-racing world, as she got the same Motorsports award for her work in the previous story in the series, Braking Points, the year prior in 2013.
Kaehler, a 10-year resident of Bixby Knolls, began writing the racing mystery series roughly 11 years ago, about the time she started developing an interest in racing. She got connected to the auto-racing sport through a sponsor, and after having attended all the races in that series that year, she was instantly hooked.
“I discovered a world I’d never known existed, full of drama, competition, big money, fancy cars and rock-star drivers,” she said. “But it was also, oddly and interestingly, a small, family-oriented community. That was the first intriguing contrast.”
Her work in the novels is also inspired by eliminating female stereotypes and instead introducing new themes that stray from that image.
“The stereotype we often see is young, beautiful women in spandex or skimpy outfits holding flags, standing next to drivers on the podium and so forth,” Kaehler said. “But when I got involved, I met women who were valued for their talents and brains, not only their looks. That was the second dichotomy, and the one that made me wonder how a young woman would fare in the racing world— especially if I threw some extra drama at her in the way of dead bodies and other crimes.”
The series stars Kate Reilly, a racecar driver, who in Avoidable Contact has to prep for the Daytona 500 but is plagued mentally by the mystery surrounding her boyfriend fighting for his life after a hit-and- run earlier in the day.
The string of novels has a growing following, Kaehler said. Both her mystery and racing fanbase have given her good feedback, capturing the attention of those who don’t even read for a hobby.
“The best comment I ever received was from a racing fan who picked up my book because of the racing focus but then enjoyed it so much, he was inspired to go renew his library card and keep reading,” she said. “There’s nothing better than that.”
When writing the series, she had made an effort to portray technical details about things like cars, equipment and driving functionality correctly, which required a lot of research and double-checking, as she puts it, even requiring on one occasion to experience the racing aspect of it first-hand like her main character Reilly does.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”200px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Author-award-1.jpg” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”Avoidable Contact” captionposition=”right”] “I’m not a driver, and I don’t race— which is what everyone asks me,” Kaehler said, citing that she takes the questions as compliments, regardless. “The biggest research effort, however, was attending racing school a few years back, because I needed to really experience the world inside the helmet and behind the wheel— since I write in first-person, from Kate’s perspective. Racing school was exciting and scary, as well as kind of ridiculous, because three budding NASCAR stars were classmates. There was no being top of the class with them around.”
Winning the award has prompted comments and support from loved ones about the achievement, such as Kaehler’s publicist Maryglenn McCombs, who has worked on the mystery series with her from the beginning and said that she is “extremely proud of her and cannot think of a more worthy recipient.”
Among the supporters, Kaehler singled out two women, her mother and female racing driver Pippa Mann.
Her mother would always tell Kaehler as a teenager that she should write stories for television for a living, which according to Kaehler, was when “I’d have sworn I couldn’t write fiction. So, aside from being Mom and thinking I can do anything, she clearly saw something I didn’t.”
Her other supporter, Mann, who drives a part-time schedule in the IndyCar series, has read her books and has been encouraging Kaehler to keep writing. In addition to that praise, Mann has also served as a resource of sorts, as the character Reilly herself is making the transition into the IndyCar world, and Mann can provide insider information, Kaehler said.
As far as what’s next for Kaehler— and Reilly for that matter— she is working on a fourth book in the mystery series entitled Red Flags, due to publish April 2016, and it is no coincidence it will be out just in time for Long Beach Grand Prix month, Kaehler said.
In the narrative, Reilly will be driving two different racecars in the Grand Prix, all while soaking in “the full Southern California experience.”
No doubt that Kaehler has been soaking in quite the experience herself.
“I’m just really gratified to know that what I’m putting out there is not only accurate but also a good story,” she said. “I’ve been having a great time writing about my hometown race, as well as this area where I love to live.”
