Indianapolis author writes Indy 500 romance novel

• So is their life together, traveling the country on the IndyCar racing circuit.
• It served as the inspiration for Shoup's first romance novel.

Driving the news: "Overtaken" tells the story of Cam Wexford, a race car mechanic with her own dashed racing dreams who falls for the wrong guy — a Formula 1 driver (and her brother's bitterest rival) who comes to Indianapolis to chase glory in the Greatest Spectacle of Racing.

What she's saying: "Part of my objective in writing it was to see if I could," Shoup told Axios, "but also I really love this sport. I felt like this was a way that I could contribute to its growth."

• "If people read this book that weren't interested in racing and then it made them interested in racing, I would be thrilled by that."

State of play: Shoup grew up in Indy and remembers riding her bike through the neighborhood during Memorial Day weekend, hearing the race on everyone's radio.

• She went to her first 500 with her dad and, while attending college in Colorado, may or may not have waited to break up with a boyfriend until after the 500 because he had a TV.

Marrying Olivier Boisson, though, turned Shoup from a fan to a bona fide insider.

• "On the people side, it's been a really remarkable experience," she said. "We've had these wonderful experiences, but also really scary and sad experiences."
• Like when one of their drivers was in a bad crash and Shoup was the one on the phone with his wife.
• "So it's been an interesting dichotomy of good and bad. But when you're in close like that, you just have so much of an opportunity to observe how they operate, what it's like, and what it's like to be in their family."

The intrigue: All of that lends "Overtaken" a level of authenticity and accuracy that fans may not expect in a romance novel.

Some of the characters and the storyline are based on real people and real events.

• "It was just super, super important to me to get it right," she said.
• Not only for her friends in the garages and racing fans, Shoup said, but "because I want people who read it to actually learn something about the series."

Between the lines: Shoup's novel was published under the pen name Elisabeth Oliver to distinguish her new work from her previous.

• She's been a professional writer and editor for 25 years, previously working exclusively with nonfiction.
• She'd been thinking about the idea for "Overtaken" for a while, though, "just when I was walking our dogs or when I had free time."
• And she knew what it took to write a novel, having watched her mom work — local novelist Barbara Shoup.

"So I had a good sense of what that looked like, which was very helpful," Kate said. "Because I think people think it's going to be super fun all the time. And it is super fun, but it is also a lot of work."

• She wrote the book over six months in late 2023 and early '24.
• In March 2024, she hired an agent and began shopping the book.
• When it didn't take off the way they'd hoped, Shoup decided to self-publish last fall.

What's next: Her second book, a skiing romance, is already finished and is being shopped to publishers.

• Shoup is currently writing her third novel.