THE STONE OF MERCY HONORED AGAIN!

I am so honored to be awarded the Silver Medal by the Literary Classics Book Awards for "The Stone of Mercy-Book 1 of the Centaur Chronicles." (You might remember that last year "In the Heart of a Mustang" was awarded the Gold medal by CLC as well!)

Each year Literary Classics looks for the best in children's and young adult literature in various categories, both fiction and non-fiction. They have a team of reviewers who evaluate each book on a 100 point scale. Those that receive 80 points or above move on to the award level and are reviewed again.

I love writing fantasy, especially stories about horse-related fantasy characters! The Stone of Mercy is the first of a four-book series about the fantasy land of Crystonia, home to Centaurs, Ogres, Cyclops, Fauns and the little author-created race of Duende. (That is part of the fun in being an author...you can create what you want so I created the Duende who are half human/half fairy!)

Here are some of the other awards this book has received:

The Stone of Mercy is available on the website or Amazon or Barnes & Nobel.

www.dancinghorsepress.com

Amazon

Barnes & Nobel

FALL IN LOVE WITH FELL PONIES

Last year I was doing a book signing in Loveland Colorado. At that event, I met Jenifer Morrissey a fellow author and breeder of Fell Ponies. I had fun visiting with her about her love of Fell ponies. She breeds them at her home in the Colorado Mountains. She calls her home, Willowtrail Farm. She mentioned that she became interested in Fell ponies as a way to help with her husband's logging business. It turns out that at 9,000 feet and very rocky terrain, the ponies were perfect for pulling logs off the mountain in areas that trucks could not go.

I went to the Fell pony society website to learn more about these ponies that have so captured Jenifer's heart. I learned that these ponies are some of the ancient breeds that come from the north counties of England and have probably roamed through hill and dale in that area since pre-historic times. From the iron age, onward, Fell ponies have been work animals for mankind, hauling logs, mining materials, fabric and everything else from the north to the markets in the south. The vikings (that I wrote about in one of my fantasies North Mystic) used the ponies for draft horses as well as for riding. 

Since the 1950's when horses became primarily 'recreational vehicles' as I call them, the ponies have become increasingly popular for their dependability and sure footedness. That makes them great for trails on rough ground. They are also loved for driving and even jumping. 

Black is the predominate color for fell ponies but they also come in brown, bay or gray. They do not exceed 14 hands in height. 

If you would like to learn more about Jenifer Morrissey's breeding program, you can go to her website and see all the fun things she has to say about Fell Ponies. Click here: http://fellponiescolorado.com/html/contactus.html  The pictures are from her website.

Have fun reading the award winning series: The Mist Trilogy. It's about the noble and great horses that are chosen to become unicorns when they die.

DENVER POST COVERS LITERARY AWARD

Most of the time, news is bad...sometimes VERY bad. However, the Denver Post included a good news article about the literary award I was given for my book: North Mystic.

The end of June, North Mystic was awarded first place in the Purple Dragon Fly award for outstanding children's literature in the sci fi/fantasy division! I am so excited!

You can read the article here:

http://yourhub.denverpost.com/blog/201407/local-author-awarded-prestigious-purple-dragonfly-award-for-outstanding-childrens-literature/52084/

 Now, I know there are no horses in this book but you would enjoy it anyway! It is a fun allegory of the revolutionary war but with trolls and leprechuans.

The best place to get it is on amazon or its website: www.northmystic.com  If your local library doesn't have it, just put in a request and they can get it. 

It is nice to read something good isn't it?