Riders, writers, and a new book idea…

Our weekend wheels - the Starship Subie!

Great weekend…Susie and I hopped in the WRX and rolled up to Palo Alto for a seminar.  I don’t get to go to seminars too often, but when I heard about this one, I knew I had to go.  Not only was it on a topic in which I have a keen interest…it was on the Stanford University campus and it was taught by two real experts (more on that in a moment).

Carla King...rider, writer, and professor extraordinaire!

Another great thing about the Tahoe trip is that I met some very interesting people.  One was Carla King.  If the name sounds familiar to you, it’s because you might have heard of Carla from her solo motorcycle adventures around North America and China.  Just awesome stuff, and her book, American Borders, is a “must read.”   I read it several years ago and one of the reasons I wanted to make the trip to Tahoe was for the opportunity to meet Carla.  I felt like I already knew her from the magnificent writing in American Borders, but there’s nothing like actually meeting someone in person.  So, it was a quick blitz up the 395, and another two days of trying to keep up with Carla on her KLR.  Yep, she’s a real rider, and she’s fast!

I had a very interesting conversation about publishing with Ms. King on that Tahoe trip.  As you may know, I’m no stranger to a keyboard.   Most of you guys and gals know me through the CSC blog, but I’ve also done a few books (if you punch my name in on Amazon, you might be surprised).  Over a hamburger somewhere in the Sierras, I mentioned to Carla that I thought the publishers have generally done a poor job in marketing my books.  I’ve had some big name publishers (Chilton, Sterling, Elsevier, Wiley, and others), and none of them have impressed me.  Carla told me I needed to look into self-publishing, and she recommended an approach.

The latest book, now available on Amazon

Well, that idea really stuck in my mind.  I did what Carla suggested, and I had a question or two in the process.    I pounded out a manufacturing book on delivery performance improvement in pretty short order based largely on Carla’s guidance.  Carla knows the publishing business inside and out, and she gives seminars on this topic.  It turns out that Carla is also a great seminar leader.  I know that because she invited me to her seminar this weekend.   I didn’t have to be asked twice…and early yesterday Sue and I pointed the Starship Subie north.

We talked about blogs in the seminar, and Carla and her teaching partner Laurie McLean mentioned that blog writing is a great way to keep the writing machinery between your ears well oiled.  So hear I sit, tapping away on the California Scooter blog, keeping the literary levers lavishly lubricated (FYI, I also do a blog on some pretty sophisticated manufacturing topics, and you can read that one here).   Laurie and Carla said a lot of folks actually do books based on their blogs.   Hmmm.   That’s an interesting book idea…a book based on the California Scooter Company blog!  I would have thought people would just go to the blog instead of buying a book based on a blog, but Carla and Laurie told me blog books actually do pretty well!

The Gatling Gun...a great story on the original guns and their modern reincarnations!

And here’s another…I’ve been thinking about a Mustang/California Scooter book ever since I became one of Steve’s soldiers in the CSC squadron.   About 20 years ago I wrote a book about the history and modern applications of the Gatling gun (that’s a heck of a story…starting with the Civil War era Gatlings all the way to modern Vulcans used on high performance military aircraft).  When I first learned about the California Scooter Company and how it emerged from Steve’s purchase of his 1953 Mustang Pony, I immediately recognized how the Mustang/CSC story paralleled early Gatlings evolving into modern high-rate-of-fire gun systems.

I always thought a story about the original Mustang Motor Products Corporation and the current California Scooter Company would make a whale of a book.  I’ve got a lot of great photos of both Mustangs and CSC motorcycles, tons of great information on both companies, and I think this would make for an interesting book.

But what I think doesn’t really matter…it’s what you think that’s important.

So, folks, what do you think?  Would you be interested in a book about the original Mustangs and today’s modern CSC motorcycles?   Let me know with a comment here on the CSC blog, and if there’s enough interest, we’ll launch this project!

One of my favorite photos...a new CSC and our 1953 Mustang Pony!