By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–Can Justine Kwong become the first-ever female Formula 1 champion and navigate her feelings for teammate Cameron Evans?

The answers to these questions are in “Fast Track,” the young adult novel that hits bookshelves on Aug. 4. But for author Angelica Cheng, the novel has already delivered one happy ending; it caps the Westport resident’s childhood dream of becoming an author.

A native of China, Cheng moved with her family to Storrs, Connecticut, when she was seven or eight. The story of “Fast Track” began during COVID, when she was living with her partner in a one-bedroom apartment in New York City.

The pandemic lockdown left many people with time on their hands, and Cheng used it to work on her long-held goal. Holding a job in finance, she worked on the novel before work and at the end of the day, when she found writing to be a great way to wind down  with a glass of wine.

“It was either that, doomscrolling or watching Tiger King for the fifth time,” joked Cheng, 39.

Also at that time, she took a keen interest in Formula 1 racing, one of the first sports to come back after the pandemic. Watching it on TV, reading books about it and viewing  videos taught her what she needed to know.

“There are a million YouTube videos out there that explain the sport, everything from what the track setup is like to what the car setups are like. So it’s quite easy to educate yourself about it.”

While she was writing, Cheng and her partner also joined the COVID exodus from New York City, moving first to Stamford, then to Westport a few years ago. They live with two young sons.

For some real-world experience, she raced carts at RPM Raceway in Stamford.

“That was really fun to see what it felt like to be strapped in and thrown around (while) racing against your friends,” she said. 

Cheng loves young adult fiction because it taps into such a pivotal age, filled with larger emotions and major decisions to be made about the future.

Her protagonist, Justine, was formed by the racing scene that Cheng inserted her into.

“I started thinking…I wonder what it would be like if there was a girl coming up in this world,” Cheng recalled. “What would her day-to-day be like? What would her goals be? What would she feel like? And that kind of dovetailed with my desire to write a novel.”

She was happy with the character that emerged.

“I love how fierce and ambitious she is,” Cheng said.

Cheng also loves the rivals-to-lovers trope. Throw in a high-stakes competition, and it’s even more her speed.

Think “Today Tonight Tomorrow” by Rachel Lynn Solomon, published in 2020, about two rival overachievers who fall in love over the course of one night. Or 2023’s “Check & Mate” by Ali Hazelwood, with a similar theme, but centered around chess.

While Cheng waits for the novel to debut, she is already planning her next, but she won’t be quitting her job in finance, which gives her the creative liberty to write without the pressure of relying on it.

She’s not planning on centering the next one around F1 racing. But readers can count on similar major themes, she said, meaning, “high stakes and a swoony romance.”

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}