Please enjoy this author interview by "AllAuthor"
Q.What is one lesser-known fact about your childhood?I bought my own horse when I was 13 and had to support him myself. I babysat, cleaned houses, and walked polo ponies between chukkas (the play period.) I loved that horse, and I was so busy taking care of him, I never had time to get in trouble!
Q. Who is the most supportive person in your life when it comes to your writing?
My grandkids!!! They always tell me how much they love my books. That keeps me going.
Q. How would you describe your experience as a former teacher?
I loved teaching teens and pre-teens. I enjoyed the depth I could get into with my high school students, but I loved the energy of the younger teens in Junior High. I also learned that a good teacher is kind of like being on stage and entertaining an audience.!
Q. Why do you mostly write about horses or horse-fantasy creatures?
I have been a horse-lover since birth...I call it "being born with manure in my blood!" I started taking riding lessons when I was eight. When I wasn't on a horse, I war reading both fiction and non-fiction books about them. Thus, I developed a love of reading as well. Fantasy has always been a favorite genre of mine so combining fantasy and horses seemed like the perfect fit. have expanded my horse stories to include "coming of age," and "historical fiction" to challenge myself.
Q. What developed your love for horses?
As I mentioned, I was born loving horses. Owning my own horse and sacrificing to take care of him served only to deepen my love. Your love increases as you serve and sacrifice.
Q. What inspired your first original story? Did you share the tale with anyone?
My first book was a non-fiction book titled: "Riding Colorado." it is an equestrian trail guide book and is the first of a now, four-bok series about trails to ride in and around colorado. I researched and wrote those books for the selfish reason that I wanted to find all the cool trails to ride. I had five other horse friends testing the trails with me, so, yes, I shared the experience with them.
As we would drive to the trailheads, I would tell them the fiction story I was creating that became "Behind the Mist-Book One of the Mist Trilogy."
Q. What is the significance of the title of your book, "In the Heart of a Mustang?
For several years, I worked for PATH, Intl,., The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship. There I witnessed the healing power of horses not only for disabled and handicapped people, (I write about that in "PERCY-The Racehorse Who Didn't Like to Run,") but I was also touched by the effect horses have on troubled teens. I coupled that with my interest in the bands of wild mustangs running free in ten western states and came up with "In the Heart of a Mustang." People who have adopted these wonderful horses love them so much.
Q. How much did you research about the longest Horseback ride in history while writing your book, "PINTO!"?
"PINTO!" took me two and a half years to research and many miles of travel. I started doing research on the internet. I found a little...just enough to pique my curiosity. I traveled to Oklahoma City to visit the National Western and Cowboy Museum. the research librarian didn't even know they had a collection of material. But, after searching in their basement, they found a box of original photographs and a few articles from the time. I went up to Bainbridge Island, Washinton to their little historical museum and was greeted like royalty. They were so excited that I was going to write about their hometown heroes. They have a permanent exhibit of the Overland Westerners and a driftwood sculpture of Pinto. In their collection are all the original journals still in existence that two of the men kept. I was able to take home a flash drive with the transcriptions of the journals. I read every word and highlight the events that Pinto could tell about. It was so much fun!
