Kiss The Bricks Release Week: Last Giveaway!

My 5th book, Kiss The Bricks, releases tomorrow, and with that, I'm wrapping up my 5 weeks of 5 giveaways each week!

This Week's Prizes

This week is all about my protagonist, Kate Reilly, and fellow female racing drivers.

• Grand prize: a Team Kate polo shirt (if I have your size!), a mini-helmet from the release of Avoidable Contact, a breast cancer awareness can koozie, a signed hero card from Indy 500 driver Pippa Mann, a copy of Sarah Fisher's Getting Behind the Wheel of Your Dream Job, and a Team Kate stuff sack to hold it all.
• Runner-up prizes: assorted caps and a commemorative tile from a race at the Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.

How to win? 
By 12 midnight on Wednesday, May 3, do one of the following:

• Comment on this post.
• Comment or share my Facebook or Twitter posts.

I'll announce and contact the winners by the end of the week. Thanks so much for entering this and other weeks. I hope you'll check out Kiss The Bricks!

Red Flags—Updated!

That's right, we zazzed up the back-of-the-book copy a little bit (what? it's a word). Still the same great cover and release date (coming next April)!

And look, major links are up: Poisoned Pen Press, IndieBound, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.
__________________________

When Kate Reilly arrives in Long Beach, California, a week ahead of the Grand Prix, she’s immediately plunged into a new social scene—as well as a murder investigation. Her cousin Billy is found dead, with Kate’s card in his pocket. The cops want to know why, and sponsors and race organizers—anxious to keep racing’s image clean—want Kate to investigate. Doubting she can solve another murder, especially that of a relative she despised, Kate reluctantly agrees.

At the same time, coaching a gorgeous and talented actress for a celebrity race brings Kate into the orbit of Hollywood’s hottest bachelor. And then a local FBI agent takes notice of more than her driving and sleuthing skills. She goes from Sony Studios to Venice Beach and from Rodeo Drive to the Hollywood Hills, attending parties, power-shopping, and dodging unwelcome paparazzi. Kate’s ballooning media exposure generates national commentary, testing her composure and forcing her to get ahead of the stories—whether critical or flattering.

Kate’s professional dreams are also coming true. The upcoming Grand Prix is her first race with a new sponsor that’s also funding an IndyCar test drive and a ride in next year’s Indy 500—along with future possibilities in NASCAR. The downside? New sponsor Frame Savings is owned by her family, and its management, outside of her long-estranged father, is unfriendly to her…even rivalrous.

Kate must stay on her toes as the Long Beach race weekend begins. She’s negotiating the next steps in her career, driving two racecars and coaching a third, discovering more about the disreputable members of her father’s family than she wanted to know, and juggling questions and suspects. On track, red flags fly to warn her of danger. Off track, Kate struggles to interpret warning signs and stay out of a killer’s grasp.

RED FLAGS Cover Reveal!

The book is done, the summary is written, and the cover is designed. Here are the details to tide you over until April 2016!

RED FLAGS

Professional racecar driver Kate Reilly arrives in Long Beach, California, to promote the upcoming Grand Prix, not expecting to identify a dead body or solve another murder—especially when the victim’s a relative she didn’t even like. Her new sponsor and the race organizers apply pressure, wanting to keep racing’s image clean, and Kate reluctantly agrees to investigate.

From Sony Studios to Venice Beach, from Rodeo Drive to the Hollywood Hills, Kate plunges into the Southern California scene. She parties with movie stars, “takes meetings,” and shops with rich housewives, all while trying to uncover a motive for murder. At the same time, she’s negotiating the next steps in her professional racing career, including testing a new racecar on an oval track.

In the flurry of excitement, neither Kate’s murder inquiries nor her personal life run smoothly. She discovers more about the disreputable members of her father’s family than she expected or wanted to know, and her temper frays. She publicly juggles two attractive men, drawing intense and unwanted attention from paparazzi. And worse, this ballooning media exposure generates national commentary about her career choices, talent, and femininity.

The Long Beach race weekend begins with Kate constantly on the go, fielding questions, involved in three separate racing series, and closing in on a killer. Red flags warn her of danger in the racecar, but off-track, Kate finds it hard to heed the signs and stay out of a killer’s grasp.

Kate's Cancer Warriors

I need names!

In Kate Reilly's next adventure, set at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, she's going to have a couple special guests on the pre-race grid. Other teams call them "grid girls," you know, the ones in skimpy outfits holding the car's starting position number or a country or team flag.

But Kate's going to have a couple extra special grid girls, but she'll call them her Breast Cancer Warriors.

And I need names! So, to blatantly copy how Kate gets her warriors, I'm asking you for your stories. Why should you—or a friend or loved one—be one of Kate's grid girls? What's your story? What battles have you faced with breast cancer or other diseases?

Share your story, give me a name, and you might be one of the lucky ones selected to stand by Kate's car on the Long Beach pre-race grid. Virtually, of course!

Post your story in the comments or email me at tammy@tammykaehler.com. Thanks for helping me and Kate out!

Deadlines Are Good for Me

The good news is that I've settled into this new lifestyle of mine well. I'm rested, more healthy, and more engaged with friends and life. I'm actually able to contemplate (and consider enjoying) coming events and family visits.

The bad news ... well, there isn't much, except for needing a little more income than I'm getting. But I'm working on that, too.

The best news, however, is that I'm actively working on the next Kate book again, and I worked out some deadlines with my editor. Yes, deadlines. Because they work for me.

It's that overachiever problem again. If I know a deadline is actually reasonable, I will meet it (and usually I'll be early).

(Side note: if I'm handed an unreasonable deadline, I'll just get angry. See: former day job.)

So now I've got deadlines, which is a good thing. Because now I'm accountable to more people than just myself, and I can set myself measurable goals every day. I think that's one of the problems for me with writing a novel.

The goal: write a novel. There's planning to do. Outlining. Character profiles. Plotting. And then the writing of somewhere between 90,000 and 100,000 words. Then editing that down to 85,000-90,000. Starting to write a book feels like staring up at a mountain and knowing I need to reach the top.

But usually, fortunately, once I get partway up, I can stop and find some structure. Make a plan. And know when I'll finish—necessary, since my publisher actually likes to plan for a release. If you can imagine.

Bottom line: Kate #4 (working on a title) should be out a year from now, April 2016. It's set at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, and I hope to do some fun promotion around the actual race coinciding with the book release.

I'm leaving you with some photos from the Long Beach race to hold you, including one of me and my friend Barb in the pits of the race winner, Scott Dixon.

One Surprise After Another

AKA, Phoenix, Part 2!

The entire weekend in Phoenix was one surprise after another ... and nearly all of them were Kate-themed, which  meant I was both in and out of my element! To explain:

Surprise #1. The presence of Bill Zahren, aka, Pressdog, who came in from Iowa to enjoy the weekend. He gets the "traveled farthest award" and my sincerest thanks for being there. Let me know when I can return the favor, Bill!

Surprise #2. A go-kart party! The Kate Reilly Avoidable Contact 28. There were 10 of us in total, and we had a great time in three sessions of electric kart racing. Sure I looked impressive:

But I'm really not very good (that's how I was out of my element). But we had so much fun, it didn't matter—so much fun that there was even a "turtle" award for the slowest (no, I didn't win).

Surprise #3. There was a pro in the field! (And a couple near-pros, but they're the next item.) Cassie Gannis races in the NASCAR All-American Series and in NASCAR K&N Pro Series West ... when she can get the funds together to do so. As Bill tweeted after hanging out with Cassie—someone get this girl a sponsor! She's got real potential.

So not only did Cassie show up, she brought her parents, and they all brought her racecar, which they showed us around and let us crawl all over. So cool!

Surprise #4. More friends showed up to race and celebrate. Thanks so much to (top row) Barb, Kathy, Jenson, Cassie, and Bill, along with (bottom row) Randy and Lorrie, Allison, and Mary. 

Surprise #5. Kate gets a helmet! Thanks to Barb, Mary, and Steve of Paint by Steve. Be sure to check it out at my next booksigning! Or at Kate's next race....

Surprise #6. We all got Kate-helmet prizes. Yes, those are mini helmets, and we all got one as a prize for our finish in the overall standings. Last place also got the coveted "turtle" award, and I'll not embarrass anyone, but I'll say it wasn't me. Barely! 

After the official awards presentation, I signed everyone else's mini-helmet and, in turn, got everyone else to sign mine, so I had a memory of that fabulous day.

No surprise? One excited author, who's really grateful for all my wonderful friends who made it such a fantastic book event and birthday.

Taking a Break

With my blog tour and two great bookstore events, I've been talking about myself and Avoidable Contact for two weeks straight, so I'm going to shut up for a few days!

But before I go quiet, just a little bit of recap...

Saturday, I was down in San Diego at the fantastic Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, sharing an event with my fellow Poisoned Pen Press author, Ken Kuhlken. We had a great turnout, thanks to my San Diego friends and family who turned out to tailgate (yes, really) before the event and then stayed to hear me and Ken talking about writing.

Thanks also to surprise guests Barb and Mary, all the way from Scottsdale, AZ! (Call it the "San Diego 350"?!)


In other news, my "two weeks of promotion" wrapped up on Saturday with a couple last posts:

• A post from Kate herself, about her visit to the Indy 500--and her plans to get there in the future.
• A thorough and thoughtful review from my favorite racing blogger, Pressdog.

I still have a couple guest-blog spots coming in the next few weeks, as well as at least one more bookstore event (a big Poisoned Pen Press party in Scottsdale next month). Thanks for reading along!

An Award From the Experts

I discovered something amazing over the weekend: I won an award from an organization for motorsports journalists!

I've belonged to the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association—the oldest and largest organization dedicated to auto racing coverage—for a couple years now, but I'm not very active aside from reading their newsletters avidly. Last November, I saw a notice to nominate or submit work for the 2013 AARWBA Contest in a variety of categories—one of which was Motorsport Book.

I thought, why not? and submitted Braking Points, the second Kate Reilly Racing Mystery. Then I pretty much forgot about it.

I did consider trying to attend the AARWBA breakfast over the Indy 500 weekend, but it was Saturday at 8 a.m. at the track. I saw they'd be giving out awards at the event, but, frankly, since I hadn't heard a single thing about the contest, I didn't think I was a real contender.

Imagine my surprise when I opened the recent AARWBA newsletter this weekend, and discovered my name as #1 under "Motorsport Book." The organization's Facebook page verifies it: I WON!

(see the full AARWBA Facebook post)

I'm still in shock, mostly because one big worry for me in every book is whether or not I get the racing right. Whether racing insiders will scoff or approve. This award tells me I'm doing something right.

So thank you, AARWBA. And thank you friends and readers! I'm going to go write the next one now....

Avoidable Contact: The Cover Reveal!

The cover for Kate's third adventure is here! And it's gorgeous! How's this for evoking the mood of the 24 Hours of Daytona?

And to whet your appetites, here's the summary:

Racecar driver Kate Reilly is suited up and ready for the start of the legendary 24 Hours of Daytona. But what’s ahead will test her will and nerve more than any other endurance race.

Even before the green flag waves over Daytona International Speedway, Kate receives word her boyfriend Stuart is fighting for his life after a hit-and-run earlier in the day. Still reeling from that news, Kate must absorb other shocks in the race’s opening hours, including an on-track accident with tragic consequences and an eyewitness who claims Stuart was run down deliberately by someone from the race paddock.

Alternating stints behind the wheel of her Corvette racecar with stretches of quizzing colleagues and searching for clues, Kate taps every possible source—friend, foe, and family—to find out who’s after Stuart and why. As the race clock counts down to zero hour, Kate must come to terms with her own fears about the past and decide who she’s willing to trust. Only then can she identify who’s willing to kill to keep a secret buried—and stop them before they lash out again. 

_________________

Avoidable Contact will be released in August 2014. Pre-order on Amazon or Barnes & Noble (I know it's got the old title, we'll fix it).

Prizes for COTA

It's ALMS (and WEC) racing on the fabulous Circuit of the Americas, and that means more chances to win Team Kate gear!

What you can win:

• Team Kate book bag
• Team Kate bookmarks, earplugs, bookplate 
• Team Kate shirt OR signed copy of Dead Man’s Switch

Team Kate Prize

Number available: 3
What you need to do:

1. Take a photo of yourself with someone in a Team Kate shirt (two female crew are around, one of them pictured here)
2. Tweet it to @katereilly28
   OR
   Post it to Facebook and tag me (Tammy Kaehler)

Women in Racing Prize 

Number available: 3
What you need to do: 

1. Take a photo of yourself with a former or current female racing driver, or any other woman involved in racing in a professional capacity (e.g., working on a crew, driving a pace car, reporting from pit lane, etc.)
   (bonus prizes for a Woman of pressdog® or for my friend Pattie here)
2. Tweet it to @katereilly28
   OR
   Post it to Facebook and tag me (Tammy Kaehler)

Time to Win Prize*
(*win the prize pack above, as well as a Kate Reilly limited-edition Kreisel Timepiece)
Number available: 1

What you need to do: 

1. Take a photo of yourself with a Team Kate crew member (above) AND either a woman in racing (defined above) or a member of the Corvette Racing team
   (bonus prizes for a Woman of pressdog®, for my friend Pattie, or for a Corvette Racing driver or team manager)
2. Tweet it to @katereilly28
   OR
   Post it to Facebook and tag me (Tammy Kaehler)

Good luck hunting down that mystery crew member!

BeatByAGirl.org to Sponsor Kate Reilly

For Immediate Release

BeatByAGirl.org to Sponsor Kate Reilly in ALMS Corvette

Indianapolis, IN  – Glass Hammer Racing announces new sponsorship of (fictional) race car driver Kate Reilly, competing in the GT class of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in the #28 Sandham Swift Racing Corvette.

“From the first chapter of Dead Man’s Switch, I knew we had to bring Kate Reilly on board,” exclaimed Greg Gaich, founder and owner of Glass Hammer Racing (GHR). “Rising through the ranks to a full-time racing career sometimes requires stepping over the dead bodies of lesser racers, but until Kate, I’d never heard of doing so over an actual dead body,” continued Gaich, barely able to contain his enthusiasm “I can’t wait to see what she’s got in store for us in Braking Points.”

While Glass Hammer Racing has had a long-standing interest in open-wheel racing, both on the short-track midget circuits and on the formula car side, it has recently been expanding into sports cars. In addition to driving, solving mysteries and dodging bullets on race weekends, Kate will also be responsible for advising GHR drivers on career paths in sports car racing and, more importantly, how to avoid being the cold, dead body of a racer who has a habit of showing up in the early chapters of her books.

“I’ve learned a lot the hard way, and I’m thrilled to be able to pass on my wisdom to young female drivers—though I hope I don’t have to mentor another driver in how to solve a race-day mystery and still make the podium,” comments Reilly, whose Corvette will feature the Glass Hammer Racing logo and BeatByAGirl.org URL. “Glass Hammer Racing is a great organization that helps give up-and-coming female drivers a chance to make their mark on the racing world. I’m excited to work with young women and help them develop into racers—and someday we’ll get even more than four women on the grid for the Indy 500 and for every race on every track.”

“In all seriousness,” Gaich remarked, “GHR was founded to help open up the joys of motorsports to little girls like my daughters. We can do that by offering classes geared just to young women and by supporting female drivers who can serve as role models. Kate can do that by capturing the imaginations of her readers and opening up possibilities they might never have imagined. We are delighted to partner with Kate, Sandham Swift Racing, and author Tammy Kaehler to help share what we love with an even broader audience.”

# # #

About Glass Hammer Racing, LLC 

Founded in May 2010, just a mile-and-a-half from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during Indianapolis 500 practice, Glass Hammer Racing conducts introductory racing experiences geared to just young women, exposes young women to role models in all areas of motorsports and supports the advancement of young women in their motorsports careers through scholarships and sponsorships. For more information, please visit Glass Hammer Racing on the World Wide Web, http://www.beatbyagirl.org, or follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

 

About Kate Reilly

Kate Reilly is known to readers and fans through the Kate Reilly Racing Mystery Series—Dead Man’s Switch (August 2011) and Braking Points (April 2013)—written by Tammy Kaehler and published by Poisoned Pen Press. The two novels are available wherever the American Le Mans Series competes, in local bookstores, and online. The next Kate Reilly Racing Mystery (due Summer 2014) will feature Reilly and the Sandham Swift team racing their Corvette at the 24 Hours of Daytona. More information and links at www.tammykaehler.com. Follow Kate Reilly on Twitter.

Win Team Kate Prizes!

If you're at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, you could win one of three fantastic prize packages. Details, photos, and requirements to win below:

Team Kate: Basic Prize

Number available: 3

What you need to do: Tweet a photo to @katereilly28 and @GlassHamrRacing of

  * You
  * Someone in a Team Kate shirt (see right)

What you can win:

  * Signed Dead Man’s Switch
  * Signed Braking Points
  * Team Kate book bag

Team Kate: Premium Prize 

Number available: 2 

What you need to do: Tweet a photo to @katereilly28 and @GlassHamrRacing with #beatbyagirl of

  * You

  * Someone in a Team Kate shirt

  * Someone in a Glass Hammer Racing shirt 

What you can win: 

  * Team Kate shirt

  * Signed Dead Man’s Switch 

  * Signed Braking Points 

  * Team Kate book bag

  * Team Kate bookmarks, earplugs

Team Kate: Grand Prize 

Number available: 1 

What you need to do: tweet photo to @katereilly28 and @GlassHamrRacing of

  * You

  * Someone in a Team Kate shirt

  * A Glass Hammer Racing–sponsored driver (in race or street clothes)

What you can win: 

  * Kate Reilly Special Edition watch (man’s or woman’s)

  * Team Kate shirt

  * Signed Dead Man’s Switch 

  * Signed Braking Points 

  * Team Kate book bag

  * Team Kate bookmarks, earplugs

 

Tweet away and good luck!

Team Kate in Indy

by Kate Reilly (guest blogger)

This is unexpected. I didn’t realize at the beginning of this week that by the end of it, I’d be in Indianapolis. But here I am.

I didn’t even realize that Jack (that’s my boss at Sandham Swift Racing, Jack Sandham) had planned to be here to “check things out,” as he put it. But he called me Monday and told me to get my butt on a plane Tuesday, so here I am.

Turns out, Jack’s always dreamed of bringing a team to the Indy 500, so he’s at the Racing Capital of the World to talk to Series officials and teams. I’m here because “I have buzz” (Jack’s words). I asked him if that meant I’d be part of a team he brought to the Indy 500, and he told me anything could happen.

But I’m also here because of Corvette. You see, the new (gorgeous!) 2014 Corvette Stingray is the official pace car this year, in honor of the car’s 60^th anniversary. And, well, let’s just say that there will be a lot of other Corvettes putting rubber down on that oval this weekend and next—and I’m not supposed to say much more….

Just keep your eyes peeled at the track this weekend. You never know who you might see!