Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest Carol J. (C.J.) Carter author of JUNIOR DRAGSTER DREAMS: How Sam Found His Own Ride.

Carol is also a journalist and managing editor of Womenetics (www.womenetics.com). A native of Sikeston, Mo., she is an alumnus of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. In 1978, she was a founding staff member of Atlanta Business Chronicle where she worked for 18 years, serving as editor of the Chronicle and seven Chronicle special publications. In addition, Carol is author of the 125-year history of Saint Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta and was an on-air reporter in Atlanta for WXIA-TV’s Noonday show for two years, as well as editor of It’s For You: Thirty-One Years of Our Life on the Georgia Tech Campus, a book produced in conjunction with the Georgia Tech Foundation.

Norm:

Good day Carol and thanks for participating in our interview

What do you think over the years has driven you as a writer & journalist?

Carol:

You mean besides being the only thing I know how to do? We journalists get to be nosey, asking people all sorts of questions about things we otherwise wouldn’t know much about. It’s rarely dull.   

Norm:

What motivated you to write your children's book JUNIOR DRAGSTER DREAMS: How Sam Found His Own Ride?

Carol:

I started chatting via e-mail with a friend, Carl Fischer, from my college days. In the intervening years, he had spent some time as a professional drag racer. Being a journalist, I asked him questions about it, and I was surprised at the passion he feels for drag racing. I kept asking questions and kept being surprised. One day, the plot to Junior Dragster Dreams popped into my mind. I jotted it down in a simple outline, then wrote the book.  

Norm:

Can you share a little of your book with us?

Carol:

Junior Dragster Dreams: How Sam Found His Own Ride is the story of 10-year-old Sam McCormick. Sam is unhappy and feels that something is missing from his life, but he doesn’t know what. After  Sam and his best friend, Chloe, disappear in the middle of the night, Sam begins to discover long-held family secrets that change him from a troubled child into a boy with hopes and dreams he’d never imagined. 

Norm:

Who is your target audience and what do you want the book to do-amuse, teach ?

Carol:

Even though the target audience is children, ages 8 to 12, I have been surprised at the number of adults who have thoroughly enjoyed the book. As for what I want the book to do, all I ever wanted to do was write an interesting story and call attention to the very cool sport of junior drag racing. 

Norm:

Where did you get your information or ideas for your book?

Carol:

Remember that former professional drag racer I mentioned a few questions ago? His input was invaluable when it came to details about cars and drag racing. As for the setting, the book takes place both in Atlanta and at the Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia. I lived in Atlanta for 20 years, so I pulled from those years for the places mentioned in the book. And I visited the Atlanta Dragway several times in the process of writing the book. Of course, I spoke with some junior racers and others who are involved with the sport.

Norm:

I noticed you have worn several hats including being a journalist, on-air reporter, and non-fiction author. How does the writing of a children's book differ from your other writing?

Carol:

It was pure fun! Never felt like work. The hard thing was squeezing in time to write. I am working on the second book now (same characters), and finding time is tough.

Norm:

What was the most difficult part of writing your book?

Carol:

Writing the book was pretty easy. Reading the galleys 700 times was a chore.

Norm

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Carol:

Oh, I learned a great deal about junior drag racing. I just returned from a trip to the Eastern Junior Drag Racing Championships at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tennessee, where more than 500 kids competed. Every time I attend a junior racing event, I am struck by the degree to which junior drag racing is a family affair, by the passion of these kids for the sport of junior drag racing, and I am still amazed that kids as young as 8 race these little cars.

At Bristol, the entire time I was there, there were 12 lanes always filled with kids in their junior dragsters, flanked by moms and dads and various other family members. These 12 lanes fed into four lanes, then finally into the two lanes where the drag race occurs. The action was nonstop, the (extremely loud) rumble of engines constant, the friendliness ubiquitous. Just to cite one example of the camaraderie, I spoke with a dad who had brought his daughter to the Bristol championships every year since 1999. This was her last year because she “aged out.”  Early on, she met another girl from another drag strip when they both were competing at Bristol, and they have been best friends ever since. His daughter burst into tears after one of her passes this year, realizing she won’t be returning, but she and her friend have big plans: They’re going to become college roommates.  

Norm:

Can you tell us how you found representation for your book? Did you pitch it to an agent, or query publishers who would most likely publish this type of book? Any rejections? Did you self-publish?

Carol:

I tried for about a year to find an agent, with no luck. Since I had guided the Georgia Tech book through the publishing process, I figured I could also do it for my own book, so I did.

Norm:

How will you be promoting your book?

Carol:

Through drag strips around the country and the world, via Junior Dragster magazine, via radio talk shows, online newsletters and sites about children’s books.

Norm:

Where can our readers find out more about you and JUNIOR DRAGSTER DREAMS: How Sam Found His Own Ride?

Carol:

The book is available at amazon.com. Just type in the title. And there is an amazon e-store: https://www.createspace.com/3608569. Or they may e-mail me at juniordragsterdreams@gmail.com.

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

 Thanks once again and good luck with your future endeavors