Paperback Hot-Walker Life on the Fast Track

This novel took 30 years to complete... and 30 minutes to publish online.
Inspired by true events.

Check it out and enjoy the years of alternative lifestyle young adults during the 1960s Toronto in Yorkville Village. Watch the trailer, read the blog and step into the path of an innocent young woman, Hot-Walker Franne Harrison, as she struggles with denial and complicated relationships following the murder of her American draft-dodger fiance at Woodbine racetrack.
The murder trial that shocked Toronto community. Book Trailer for your viewing.

Available online.

Crime Sports Romance
Novel

1960s Racetrack
Murder Trial

Interview with Author: Hot-Walker Life on the Fast Track

Book Clubs: Interview with Author

My personal favourite way of marketing my books is to get first hand information from my readers and how better way than to let them interview me, and be honest about what they read. Before going to self-publish, I offer proof-copies of the book to several different book clubs who in turn provide questions, feedback and other information that I find very important when editing and preparing for publication. 

I search for book clubs that are interested in the genre... mystery-crime for Hot-Walker... and then present the proposal. This is a sample of one idea that I used. 

Invitation to Participate in Author Event

Searching the web, your city or bookstores for particular type of book clubs is the author's most important element so the group knows about the product and genre you are offering them. The meeting place can vary from a home, bookstore or library.

The groups that respond are offered the books at cost before you do your final edits. Usually, they have 2 weeks to read after all the books have been purchased - before the meeting.

Sample of the final review/meeting:

HOST:  Welcome, and thank you for the opportunity to review your new book. The list you provided us with the five questions was helpful so we could get an idea of what you were looking for...

- does the cover represent the story? 

- were the characters believable?

- what points of interest held your attention?  ...and what parts you liked best.

- were there any weak areas that lagged or did not hold your interest? ....suggest changes

- what other comments would you give the author as an overall review?

- rate the book out of 5

AUTHOR: I review the question sheets that the Book Club received (handed out with the proof-copy of the book beforehand.) Discussion takes place with questions and answers.

HOST: We would like to know more about the story of your writing the book.

AUTHOR: For me, writing is always an expression of personal experiences, relationships that I have had over the years in regards to the people and the places I have traveled. Most of my books have been written about my profession and photographs from my travels. Two novels have been written based on life experiences and storytelling. Writers write about their life, dreams, experiences, fantasies and relationships while others create stories from the news, friends, ideas that have come to them over the years. Simple or complex, every minute of the day an inspiration touches someone to write about it.

(And then I give a detailed background about the novel and how it unfolded.)

This type of review is also a way to receive editing, as some readers have personal interest in participating in these types of events. If some readers do/did edit, offer them a free ebook and paperback copy once your book is finished and published in exchange for their edit-copy.

For this type of marketing to succeed, I aim for 50 book club interviews, but to be honest, I have not yet achieved that many, but almost.

Paperpack Edition

available online as well as ebook

Hot-Walker Book Club Interview

Canadian Horse Racing Novel, Hot-Walker. Court House - Toronto 1977

Hot-Walker - Horse Racing and Courtroom Drama

Court House

The saga of Hot-Walker; follows the path of four friends and Francine Harrison who spend years racing thoroughbreds and living in the village of Yorkville, Toronto as well as Montreal, London, and Den Haag. She returns to Toronto where the murder trial of her fiance, an American draft dodger brutally killed at Woodbine racetrack in 1969, is being held. As the only witness to the horrific incident, Francine struggled with relationships during the years awaiting trial, hopelessly making an effort to move on with her life, until the mystery unwinds in 1977 at the Court House...

During the years when Francine and her friends lived in Yorkville Village, the first phase of the complex, Toronto Courthouse, (Completed by Toronto firm of Marani, Rounthwaite and Dick Architects) was opened (1966) at 361 University Avenue and the corner of Armoury Street. It was originally known as Metropolitan Toronto Courthouse. Additions to the structure were completed with the South Wing (1985) and a two storey addition to the courthouse (1987).

The project architect, Ronald A. Dick noted it as an important example of late 20th century Modern design, the largest of its type built in Ontario ... featuring an eight-storey complex for courtrooms and offices connected to the three-storey South Wing. This features a 12-sided plan with an open passageway in the lower level. Covered by a copper-clad roof, the structure is faced with limestone.

The north and south elevations feature fin walls that organize the horizontal grid of metal-framed window openings and limestone spandrels with beveled edges. The courthouse structure was among the last complexes in the province clad with local limestone. Amongst the landscaping, planter boxes, flagpoles and shallow pools with fountains, you would find limestone benches.

 But ... there is a hidden ancient mystery held in the construction of such 'temples' as those within secret societies were aware of, which is limestone is calcite that is formed by rainwater filtered through sand; a sedimentary stone and holds basic properties essential to life, namely the attribute of attracting atmospheric water vapour, condensing it into water, and then letting it pass out into streams and springs. 

Limestone works like a crystal; it is in constant motion emitting a vibrational frequency that amplifies the energy of the surrounding area and matches the electromagnetic field of the Earth and its human occupants. It also has the crystalline property to absorb, store, and transfer life-force energy. Limestone was used for construction because of these crystalline properties ... which are those of resonance, rhythm and vibration ... it is alive, holding the memory of information and like crystals, healing vibrations.

Hot-Walker, Life on the Fast Track  
Click:  Book Trailer for your viewing.

Racetrack History - Hot-Walker Life on the Fast Track

Horseracing at Greenwood and Woodbine, Toronto: Racetrack History

Hot~Walker begins its racetrack ventures in 1965 at Greenwood Racetrack, a horse racing facility in Toronto, inaugurated in 1874 as Woodbine Race Course located at the foot of Woodbine Avenue and Lake Ontario. The novel tells the story of the murder trial of Francine Harrison's fiance, an American draft dodger, John Mencini who trained thoroughbreds. 

Racing has had a long history in the Toronto area. In the early 1880s, Duggan founded the Ontario Jockey Club (OJC). Thoroughbred racing continued at Old Woodbine on a shortened six furlong (1,207 m) track and Harness races were conducted on the thoroughbred track, but serious problems with mud (including the starting gate being immobilized) led to the construction of a five-furlong (1006 m) stone dust harness track inside the thoroughbred track. This track was known for its tight turns and long back and homestretches.

In the early 1950s, the Ontario Jockey Club, led by directors E. P. Taylor, George C. Hendrie and J. E. Frowde Seagram, undertook an acquisition and consolidation program for southern Ontario racing. By 1956, the OJC operated a new facility for Thoroughbred horse races, which was constructed in Toronto suburbs, and given the name New Woodbine Racetrack. This was the location and setting for the racehorse, SnoMann, and his big win in 1969,

The Old Woodbine facility was completely renovated and renamed Greenwood Raceway in 1963. It held both harness racing and thoroughbred racing meets until its closure at the end of 1993. Steeplechase races were held at Woodbine/Greenwood for a few years. 

In 1994, the thoroughbred and harness operations were moved to Woodbine. The stadium was demolished and replaced by residential and commercial development, including a betting parlour. Half of the property became Woodbine Park. It is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging,thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day. A bit of racetrack history.

Women Jockeys, Women Heros

Women Jockeys in Canadian Horse Racing 

Hot-Walker Life on the Fast Track, the sports-crime romance novel, explores the ins-and-outs of thoroughbred racing, including the introduction of Karen Sharp, woman jockey. A sports-romance-crime novel about Life on the Fast Track during the 1960s, and the relationships of  those living in Yorkville and working on the racetrack.

Looking back over the years when racing experienced a time of introspection and growth, Jockeys' rooms at virtually every racetrack were described as dark, dingy, overcrowded, lacking in recreational areas, without proper reducing facilities, no eating and resting spaces, and very little room to move about and work. The jockeys' rooms were not a priority to management but the Jockeys' Guild and its representatives set about a campaign to improve conditions both on and off the track. Jockeys still had very few rights when dealing with stewards. If a steward did not like a rider's looks, they could, and often did, tell that rider to go somewhere else to ride. There was still widespread abuse of a jockey's rights to work his trade.

The popular ‘big names’ and leading riders of the 1940s were Adams, Arcaro, Atkinson, Meade and Longden, who continued to dominate in the early 1950s but were joined by a new name; Shoemaker. After completing his sophomore year of racing with 388 victories, good for a tie in the leading rider standings, Shoe­maker topped all riders in earnings in 1950 with over $ I-million.

Another fact to be reckoned with for jockeys was women entering their ranks. Although women jockeys were barred from riding at registered race meetings, in the mid-1900s, Wilhemena Smith rode as Bill Smith at north Queensland racecourses. She was nicknamed Bill Girlie Smith because she arrived on course with her riding gear on under her clothes and did not shower on course. It was only at the time of her death in 1975 that the racing world was officially told that Bill was really Wilhemena. Subsequent inquiries revealed that William Smith was actually a woman who had been born Wilhemena Smith in a Sydney hospital in 1886. In an era when women were clearly denied equality, she had become known as a successful jockey in Queensland country districts as 'Bill Smith'.

The modern era of female jockeys began as Kathy Kusner successfully sued the Maryland Racing Commission for a jockey's license in 1968 under the Civil Rights Act.  In late 1968, Penny Ann Early became the first licensed female thoroughbred jockey in the US, and entered three races at Churchill Downs  in November, but the male jockeys announced that they would boycott those races. On February 7, 1969, Diane Crump was the first female rider to ride in a Thoroughbred race in the United States at the Hialeah Park Race Track in Florida. She made history again, the next year, when she became the first female jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby, finishing 15th aboard Fathom. Even though the male jockeys fought the presence of females in the irons, the barrier had been broken. Two weeks later on February 22 at Charles Town in West Virginia, Barbara Jo Rubin became the first woman to win a race and went on to win 11 of her first 22. Others soon followed suit and over the years American women jockeys have proven their ability. Julie Krone has the most winning races by an American woman. 

Jockeys must be light to ride at the weights which are assigned to their mounts. There are horse carrying weight limits, that are set by racing authorities. The Kentucky Derby, for example, has a weight limit of 126 lb (57 kg) including the jockey's equipment. The weight of a jockey usually ranges from 108 to 118 lb (49 to 54 kg). Despite their light weight, they must be able to control a horse that is moving at 40 mph (64 km/h) or more, and weighs 1,200 lbs (540 kg). Though there is no height restrictions for jockeys, they are usually fairly short due to the weight limits. Jockeys typically stand around 4 ft 10 in (1.47 m) to 5 ft 6 in (1.6m).

For the most part Canada has generally followed the U.S.'s lead in the area of opportunities for female riders. Canada has far fewer tracks than the U.S. and has only two female jockeys with 1,000 wins. However, in both actual and relative numbers as well as overall success rate, Canada has far surpassed its southern neighbour in opportunities for women at the highest level; namely their respective Triple Crown series.

Starting with Joan Phipps in the Canadian 1973 Breeders' Stakes, 9 different women have competed in 27 Canadian Triple Crown races, 34 times with a combined 2 wins, 3 places, 3 shows. By comparison, since Diane Crump rode in the 1970 Kentucky Derby, only 6 different women have competed in 18 total U.S. Triple Crown events with a combined record of 1 win, 1 place, 1 shows. Moreover, while no US Triple Crown race has ever featured more than one female rider, that feat has occurred on 7 occasions in Canada. Most impressively, 3 different women - Francine Villeneuve, Chantal Sutherland and Emma-Jayne Wilson (twice over) - have each raced in all three of the Canadian Triple Crown races. Women Jockeys in Canada are supreme riders!

Hot-Walker Life on the Fast Track

Mallory Neeve Wilkins
Sports Crime Romance Novel

Hot-Walker, Life on the Fast Track (youtube) Book Trailer ... ebook online .

Hot-Walker novel (Book Trailer) for your viewing,

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