Author Guest Post with M.T. Bass: Racing the Dream

“If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.” ~Mario Andretti

Welcome to the October 6th stop on the blog tour for Racing the Dream by M.T. Bass with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.

Author Guest Post

Limitless: Justin Meaders

While I was at the Reno National Championship Air Races this year, I met so many great racing pilots wandering through the Formula 1 Pits.  All of the folks were extremely friendly and engaging.  But meeting Justin Meaders was truly awesome.

Justin won Rookie of the Year in his Reno debut in 2016. In 2018, 2021, and 2022, he was the Formula 1 Gold Race champion, reaching 242.444 MPH last year.  He is the Vice-President of the International Formula 1 Air Racing Association.

In the photo above from the back cover of Racing the Dream, Justin is flying on the right. What you cannot see is that the former motorcycle racer and firefighter/EMT lost the use of his legs in a 1999 high-speed road racing accident.

“Yes, I am a paraplegic. I have a disability. But as with any issues that you have, whatever they may be, your own limitations — something you placed on yourself — are a huge factor that can be overcome,” said Meaders.

Justin’s father was a pilot and took him up in his Cessna Skyhawk when he was only 6 years old.  Though interested in aviation, his father sold the plane before he could get his pilot’s license. Later, after his accident, he connected with Mike Smith, an experienced pilot and flight school operator with paraplegia, who became his mentor.

Justin built his airplane, Limitless, a Snoshoo SR1, with special hand controls to take the place of using feet to control the rudder and the brakes.

“When you’re in the airplane, you can have fun — not tied down by anything. There’s freedom in it, and I think that’s a big part of it for me,” added Meaders.

Justin is a great guy and it was an honor to meet him, bearing in mind that great obstacles can be overcome—if you have the will to do it.

“[Just because] someone has told you, ‘No,’ doesn’t mean that that’s not possible, he said.

“[Triumph] doesn’t just happen. You have to make it happen.” Here’s a YouTube interview with Justin.

About the Book

Racing the Dream
White Hawk Aviation Adventure Series Book Three
by M.T. Bass

Published 28 August 2023
Electron Alley Publications

Genre: Action and Adventure
Page Count: 332
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

“If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.” ~Mario Andretti

Strap down the 5-point harness in the cockpit of a Formula 1 air racing plane and join Hawk as he chases victory! First on their amateur make-shift course over Antelope Acres, then on the re-emerging pylon racing circuit in the early 1960s. And finally, as Hawk battles 7 other top-level pilots at the very first National Air Racing Championship event in Reno!

Abandoning the cloth and his African mission, Father Bob returns to his slide rule to design Hawk’s racer. Sparks, his loyal yet surly mechanic, built it and wrenching both on the engine—as well as on Hawk—keeps them at the front of the pack. Home again in Los Angeles from behind the stick of a T-6 Texan as a mercenary in the Congo civil war, air racing is a new aviation adventure for Hawk. Ride along as he tangles with fellow pilots in “uncooperative formation flying” at two-hundred miles per hour a mere fifty feet off the ground!

And then one day cruising home to Van Nuys airport, Hawk spies Allison, a beach-blonde surfer girl, insanely wing walking on the top wing of a Stearman PT-17 bi-plane. He quickly sets his sights on her.

Fly low…Fly fast…and Turn Left…

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

Excerpt

Chapter 2 — The Wing Walker

“Hey, Scotty…” She climbed down out of the cockpit, hopped off the wing, and walked our way. “Who’s your friend?”

“Him? Oh, just Hawk. He’s got a green Goodyear racer over in the D hangars.”

“Yeah. I’ve seen it.” Allison came over. I’m only five-eight which put me in a fighter pilot’s slot, so her dark emerald eyes met me eyeball-to-eyeball. She held out her hand. “I’m Allison. Nice to meet you.”

“Pleasure’s all mine,” I said, taking her hand, trying hard not to crack a lecherous smile. I looked over at her plane. “This is a nice-looking ride. Really clean, too.”

“Have to keep up appearances for the crowds,” she said.

“Yeah, Scotty was telling me. So, who does the wing walking? You or Doug?”

She gave me a coy smile. “That would be me. No one wants to see my stupid brother risking life and limb, now, would they?”

“You know what they say about skydivers: fools jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. And here you are climbing out on the wing without a chute.”

“It’s a living.”

“I was telling Scotty, I haven’t been in one of these since primary training.”

She looked me up one side and down the other. “You don’t look so old.”

“Ouch!” Scotty shook his head and covered his eyes.“That’s got to burn a bit.”

“What a maroon.” I glared at him. “I’ve got a few hours on the engine, but I’m nowhere near TBO.”

“I mean—” Allison sputtered. “I—ah…”

“Come on, he’s ancient.” Scotty grabbed my shoulder and squeezed. “Damn near an aviation fossil. How many Fokker’s did you shoot down in the War—World War One, that is?”

She hung her head and blushed a bit. “Hey, I’m sorry.”

“No worries. Just take me for a ride sometime,” I said.

“Sure.” Allison looked up and smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Good. Let’s get your plane back in the hangar.”

Scotty and I went back and grabbed the tail to push it inside.

“You dog, you,” Scotty muttered at me.

“More like a cat,” I said, “with nine lives.”

“Whatever…”

About the Author

M.T. Bass is a scribbler of fiction who holds fast to the notion that while victors may get to write history, novelists get to write/right reality. He lives, writes, flies and makes music in Mudcat Falls, USA.

Born in Athens, Ohio, M.T. Bass grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, majoring in English and Philosophy, then worked in the private sector (where they expect “results”) mainly in the Aerospace & Defense manufacturing market. He is the author of twelve novels, two novellas, and a book of verse. His writing spans various genres, including Mystery, Adventure, Romance, Black Comedy and TechnoThrillers. A Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor, airplanes and pilots are featured in many of his stories. Bass currently lives on the shores of Lake Erie near Lorain, Ohio.

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Giveaway Alert!

M.T. Bass will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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