Have a look at the free chapter Nemo, you will find it is an accurate description of driving a single seat racing car. The plane he flies is the same make and model I flew, the yacht that is his refuge is the same as mine except twice the size, his problems in Central America is similar to what I went through. The women of course are all disguised. If you decide to read it let me know how you make out. I would be very interested. The general response is that people love it.
I read the free chapter, Richard, loved the driving sequence. Have you read Niki Lauda's book Protocol? In it, there are some gems about particular races he drove. You will like them and perhaps even recognise yourself in it...
Okay, and here comes my criticism (if you appreciate it, otherwise, don't read it!)
I have published books myself (two novels), and I teach professional writing at an university for professional learning. If I would have been your editor, I would have made the reader work a little bit harder. You write good, very well composed prose, and you describe the frantic, quick decision-making behind the wheel very well. But I think that as you go further in the driving sequence, you could have even used less verbs, so the reader would plunge deeper and deeper in purely visual input. You already did that very well, but it could have gone even further.
Furthermore, in the dialogues, I would say: less is more. I think that this rival Carlos is quite too eloquent on the podium. Remember that famous sequence of film at the Glenn, when Cevert died there? There has been an accident. Chapman walks up to, I think, Maurice Philippe. 'Who is it?' 'Cevert.' 'Cevert...' He walks away. 'Cevert. Bloody hell.'
For the rest: a must read!
Edited by Nemo1965, 18 September 2014 - 15:48.