Month: January 2023

As we count down to the publication of The Foxes of Belair, I wanted to revive a series I started over at the Sir Barton Project in 2019. Each month, I profiled a book I had on my to-read list and the author behind the words. I am kicking off the 2023 version of this series with The Fast Ride: Spectacular Bid and the Undoing of a Sure Thing by Jack Gilden.

Jack Gilden has worked as a marketing strategist and messaging expert for nearly four decades, recently adding author to his resume. Both of his books, The Fast Ride: Spectacular Bid and the Undoing of a Sure Thing,(2022) and Collision of Wills: Johnny Unitas, Don Shula and the Rise of the Modern NFL (2018), were published by the University of Nebraska Press.

I had the great fortune to ask Gilden a few questions about his new book, his writing process, and more. Enjoy!

Continue reading “Author Answers: Jack Gilden” →

For this first installment of Books of Note for 2023, I went through my to-read pile of books and looked for ones that I knew were recent additions to the world of books about the sport of horse racing. 2022 had its share of new books, which I collected here for America’s Best Racing, and this new one on Spectacular Bid, The Fast Ride: Spectacular Bid and the Undoing of a Sure Thing by Jack Gilden, caught my eye. Familiar with the story of the Bid, I decided to start here.

What Gilden’s take on the story of the Bid adds to the pantheon of work already out on this Hall of Famer is an exploration of the behind-the-scenes drama rather than a rehashing of this great gray’s many celebrated performances, a look at the who and where behind a familiar name and a familiar time in racing.

Continue reading “Books of Note: The Fast Ride” →

In 2013, after years of teaching writing at the college level, I contemplated what I would do if I weren’t teaching. I had two young children and the idea of working for myself gave me the ability to be flexible with my time and complement my husband’s working schedule as well. That’s when I got the idea to write my first book, Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown, and, in the process of making that book a reality, I learned a few things. I’m going to share one of them now.

If you ever thought about writing a nonfiction book, here is a bit of what I learned about the process. The first step toward making that idea a reality is something simple but helpful: writing a book proposal.

Continue reading “This Book Started Here: Book Proposals” →