A racehorse is an animal that can take several thousand people for a ride at the same time. — Anonymous

What I know about horse racing will fit in a thimble.

When I lived in the Chicago area many years ago, I knew some people who were into horse racing. We all went to the track many times. In my ignorance, I lost about as much money as they did–and they had been going to the track for so long, they knew all the vendors.

With this background, I felt perfectly well-suited for writing a comedy thriller about a missing race horse named Sea of Fire. Had I known what I was doing, it wouldn’t have been funny. My protagonist Jock Stewart doesn’t know anything about race horses either. He’s an old fashioned newspaper reporter who learns what he needs for a story by asking questions.

For example, when somebody mentions a product called “Race Ready,” Stewart naturally assumes it’s a Viagra knockoff. But he checks his facts before he writes his story. If you own horses, you probably know “Race Ready” is a brand of feed.

Fortunately, Sea of Fire is stolen early in the story. I did that on purpose (a) for a bunch of complex plotting considerations, and (b) because had he been in the story, I would have needed to write scenes about him which would be real easy to screw up.

Tack is also easy to screw up both in real life and in writing about horses. It’s really best if your protagonist doesn’t know what tack is or why you need it because then when he says the wrong thing, it’s pretty much expected of him. Problem solved: no research needed.

This is my way of saying that a writer doesn’t always have to write what he knows, especially in the world of humor and satire.

As for Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire, the Kindle edition went live on Amazon today. Since I don’t own a Kindle, I’m happy to say that the trade paperback ought to be in stock on Amazon in a day or two.

If you’re a jockey, a bettor, or a member of a limited partnership with a stable full of Thoroughbreds, don’t expect to find horse racing facts or secrets in the novel. I dumbed down the subject for the author.

Malcolm