GALLOPnyc--I'm volunteering, are you?

(7/5 note--this is a pre-scheduled post for today and I just wanted to add that I hope everyone had an amazing 4th of July. I'll share details from my sparkly weekend (with pics!) this week. But my first 4th in NYC? Total win.) :)

Hey guys!

So, I found out about this super cool equestrian program on a neighborhood message board and wanted to share it with everyone.

Read this first:

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Hi! We are offering an EAP/Therapeutic Horseback Riding group in conjunction with GALLOPnyc (www.gallopnyc.org) for 7-10 year olds from August 24th through August 28th, 9:30-12 PM. This is an innovative (and FUN!) form of therapy for kids and can benefit many, including those who are simply shy, or anxious, depressed, struggling with divorce, ADHD, issues with peers, or could could otherwise benefit from learning horseback riding and socializing with peers in a therapeutic, non competitive environment. This group will be 1/3 riding, 1/3 grooming, and 1/3 group activities.

The group will take place in Kensington Stables, adjacent to Prospect Park.

For more information, questions, and to sign up for the group, please feel free to contact Susie Gersten, L.M.S.W. at EAP.BKLYN@gmail.com.

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All right, so if you live in NYC or close by, they need volunteers to lead horses, help with the kids, etc. You do NOT need experience with horses to help. If you don't want to work with horses, then there will be plenty to do with the participants. I'm going to be volunteering at least one day to lead, groom, tack up and work with the horses and I'm so, so excited.I just sent an email for more details about volunteering, so I'm waiting to hear back to find out what I'll be doing. If you want to come and volunteer with me that would be GREAT! Shoot me an e-mail and we'll coordinate a day. If you've never been around a horse, I can teach you my skillz. ;)

If you don't live nearby but want to support the program, they're also accepting donations since some kids need sponsors. Contact Susie about that.

Weekend wrap up

What a weekend!

First, I made a goal I was sure I'd keep on Friday--4000 new words before midnight. Author Paula Yoo joined me and dubbed it "Friday 4k."

Well, I gave up around 1300 words. Epic fail. The chance to go out came up and I took it. And for once, I didn't feel bad about it! Usually, I'd beat myself up over not making my word count goal. But instead, I ended up going out with BFF and doing exactly what was needed for a ridic week.

I worked a little on Saturday and focused on the end incentive--a night out in my neighborhood with awesome friends. It was sooo nice to be in my neighborhood and not have to get on the train after a night out. There are lots of interesting places yet to be explored...

Today, I pulled the plug on the Internet and got serious. For real. I wasn't messing around, LOL. I got 4049 words down today, so I feel good about it. Better than yesterday's measly total!

Tomorrow, I'm going out with the Melissa Walker and Sarah MacLean. Fun!

Also, I've been getting blurb requests lately and I'm flattered, thank you! Please feel free to send me an e-mail and I can give you an address where to send your book. My rule, though, just FYI--I won't blurb a book unless I love it. I think that's what you're supposed to do...right?

AND! I found out through a neighborhood message board that...get ready...there is a stable near my park! Kensington Stables. OMG! I about died. I'm going to email them to see if I can come observe a few lessons, talk to the riders, maybe groom a lesson horse--anything! I'm insanely excited and would love to go and spend even a little time in the horsey environment. The killer? They offer trail rides in the park.

The park I adore.

That's where it's complicated. I had a spinal fusion for super severe scoliosis. So, if I rode a horse and fell, I could break or snap my rods and have to go through a spinal fusion *again* or become paralyzed. High stakes, right? But there are moments, every so often, where I want to risk it, get on a horse and RIDE! This is one of those moments.

People have argued to me that I could ride a "bomb proof" horse and would have nothing to worry about. But IMO, there's no such thing. Accidents happen and no horse is bomb proof. I don't believe it and I've met/ridden dozens of horses and have yet to find a BP horse.

*sighs* Tough decision.

And I also got a super quick rejection today. Sent the query and got a nice note back within hours. It's a mag I've been trying to crack for years and they had just assigned the topic I pitched to someone else. Getting close I think...it's just about timing! But that's a better rejection than "Um, hello. Have you read our mag before? Why are you pitching us something off topic?!" I haven't gotten one of those--I'm just saying that if you have to get a rejection, I got a nice one today.

And now to tackle e-mails from my reader girlies. :) Hope everyone had a fab weekend!

Scrap driftwood horses

My aunt Lola sent me these pics in an email. Aren't these AMAZING? These women (I don't know who they are--I wish I did!) create these horses out of scrap driftwood. So. Cool. I think they're gorgeous. I want one. :)

Today, I've got my interview for Tallahassee Magazine at Starbucks. Yay! I don't want to scare the woman, so I *won't* have an espresso before she arrives. 'Cause I'm nice like that. ;) But when I email people later, they'll be like, "Uh-oh. You're hyper. Coffee. I can tell."

Visiting Girls Horse Club

Just a quick note! An announcement went up at Girls Horse Club about my visit. I'm so, so excited! On February 7-14, I'll be answering questions from horse crazy girls. It'll be so much fun and I'm honored that I was asked to visit. Terri Farley was a previous guest, so I'm kind of nervous. :)

I'm also just starting to organize trip pix and will get them up soon. Likely on Monday or Tuesday. Woo!

I'm in super draft mode at the moment and am doing the I-can-barely-pull-myself-away-from-the-laptop sort of thing. I just broke 30k. Yep. More coffee.

It's horse picture time! :)

Since I missed blogging for a while, I thought I'd double post today.

I felt like sharing pics! I hope you can ignore my annoying look-at-me attitude and enjoy the pretty horses. ;)

The pic above is Sallie and her foal, Misty. I was sooo shocked when I got a white (technically gray) foal! Aren't her eyelashes super adorable?

This pic is from 1993 when I lived in Greenbrier, TN. I always talk about the stable behind my house and that was it. See that fence? It's electric. I shocked myself on it the FIRST day I moved in. Ow.

It wasn't Christmas without horse stuff. I wore that sweatshirt till it fell apart.

This gorgeous guy is an Arabian named Blue. He had a mysterious blue dot on his nose and no one knew how he got it. He was huge--over 16 hands high--but he was the sweetest horse at Triple Springs. I adored him.

The appaloosa is AJ! He was the first lesson horse that I rode. He knew I was green and pulled every trick he could to keep me off guard. But I loved him. Notice how my feet aren't even in stirrups? We'd run out of room to punch holes, so I had to ride like that for a few months.

If my brother sees this, he'll murder me. Ignore the cute blond boy and take a look at the bookshelf. Thoroughbred, Black Stallion and more! Plus, check out my collection of Grand Champion model horses. Jealous? ;)

Normal people don't put horses in front of their Christmas trees. My grandma got me that little tree and she was horrified to discover that I arranged my horses around it. I even put out their trophies. :)

Those are some of my favorite horse pictures! I have zillions more, but I think that gets my horse craziness across. That's why I'm rediculously excited that I have a horse book coming out! Soon! Yay!

Domestic horses being released into the wild

I read this article in the Las Vegas Review Journal about how the hard economic times are affecting some horse owners. Some people in Nevada are actually setting their domestic horses free in the wild. Maybe it's because they can no longer afford them, can't sell them or don't want them. Whatever the case, these are DOMESTIC horses. They're not equipped to survive on their own and the article says many of these horses will die from starvation or even be hit by cars.

Sad. It's just like people turning out cats, dogs, birds, etc. that they no longer want. That's why responsible pet ownership is sooo important.

Ocala's Horse Fever and lots of pics!

My favorite!!


Isn't that butterfly amazing?!

The Starbucks where I met the writer...


Marion County's INSANELY awesome library!!





Yesterday, I went to Ocala to be interviewed by an awesome magazine for a future issue. I completely lucked out because there were horses in the downtown square!! Marion Cultural Alliance produced this display, "Horse Fever," and it was sponsored by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association. These are fiberglass life size horses with acrylic paint. Just amazing! I almost DIED when I saw them in the square.

I also drove by the Marion County Public Library and WOW. The library's outside is covered in mosaics and one is "Misty's Twilight." How cool! I think I have a pic of it...I'll look for the next post.

Ocala was great and it was nice to go on a relatively short road trip. It was only a 3 hour drive to get there--so much shorter than the drive to St. Louis.

Hope you guys like the pics! :)

X-posted from Teen Fiction Cafe

Surviving Adolescence: Riding!

***The WINNER of the Daphne Grab giveaway is...LENORE! Congrats! You have 48 hours to email me with your name and info of where you'd like your book shipped so I can pass the info to Daphne. If I don't hear from you by then, I have to draw a new winner. Thanks, Daphne, for an awesome giveaway!***

For me, growing up in the 90s meant one thing...horses!


After school, I couldn't wait to get out to the stables and ride, groom and learn how to train horses. I lived in a small suburban part of Tennessee (Greenbrier) and was lucky enough to have this riding arena right behind my house. When I did homework after school, I could look out and watch boarders ride and train their horses. I often had to move to the front of the house so I stopped watching them out the back windows.

That Appaloosa, AJ, was my first lesson horse. Oh, he was old and yes, he was was stubborn. But he was the best teacher. He taught me how to be a rider and how to listen to a horse's needs. He was a great partner and he helped me learn how to impress the girls at my new school with my riding skills. :)


Before we moved to Tennessee, we lived in Ocala, FL. This was a horse from a horse fair my family and I attended. I made my parents sooo nervous because I was always walking up to strange horses (even the occasional stallion!) and talking to them. I was a tiny kid, but if you had a horse, I'd ask for a boost so I could ride.

One of my absolute favorite horsey things to do was trail ride. My friend Amy and I would take our horses into the woods and get lost riding. We guided our horses through people's backyards (Sorry!), over creeks (Kind of dumb, now that I think about it) and along roads that saw a car a day. That was in the mid-90s and before cell phones were so inexpensive. Imagine how far my mom would have let me ride if I'd had a cell!

Horses were my most precious thing during childhood. They gave me the inspiration to write Take the Reins and the rest of the Canterwood Crest books. Name something from your childhood that inspires your writing.

Diary of a Debut Author Video: Horsing Around

Here's a new video from Sundance Oaks Miniature Horse Farm! A very special thank you to Mary Lackey, Chance and the minis! :) Above are some outtakes from our day!

A weekend of horse movies

Ahhh, Viggo.

Never a better chick flick than something from Hallmark Entertainment.

And Zac Efron with a horse.

Over the weekend, I felt like I needed horsey inspiration before I dive into my next book in my series for Aladdin MIX. So, I got three horse movies, two of which I’ve never seen before.

The first, The Derby Stallion, came out in 2005 and stars Zac Efron. The film won several indie awards, but honestly, I just didn’t get it. The story was decent, but the odd camera angles and the fact that Zac couldn’t ride well, made for lots of cut away shots and not much horse action.

Next, I watched The Long Shot, from Hallmark Entertainment. It’s a made for TV movie and really, really good! There were lots of correctly done dressage scenes, which was perfect since dressage is my weakest area. Plus, I really liked Julie Benz and I don’t think I’ve seen her in anything else.

Finally, I watched Hidalgo (Viggo Mortensen, yum!) and loved it. It’s the second time I’ve seen it and I liked it more this time. The main horse, Hidalgo, is a Mustang and since my new YA is about Mustangs, it was good timing.

Anyone else use movies to give you inspiration for your latest manuscript?