Here’s an excerpt from my latest release, Breakover (Thoroughbred Breeders #4).

Craig kept his gaze fixed on the road in front of him. It was late in the afternoon and he had finally managed to get away from the Jenkins home.
That was after a hearty meal, desert and two more rounds of coffee and tea. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep.
Or drive out to Nev’s and see Savannah. I definitely don’t want to be doing this.
“Thanks again for offering to drive me back to Lynbrook. I really appreciate it,” Katie said from beside him in the car.
Offering?
Craig had only been able to get out of the Jenkins’ house after agreeing to escort Katie back home. He wondered how she had gotten there in the first place.
I assume she drives? She is old enough…
Although he wasn’t keen to spend any more time with Katie, Craig knew there was no way he was getting out of the Jenkins’ home without their grand daughter in tow.
Craig shrugged in response to Katie’s comment, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.
“No worries. I guess you start early tomorrow?” he asked, knowing he couldn’t be rude.
“Half past six like usual. It always comes around so quickly!”
Craig nodded in response, pulling into the second driveway on the farm. He knew the staff quarters were off to the right, while the stallion area and holding yards were down to the left. He hadn’t been to this part of the farm before.
And I don’t want to be here now.
With relief Craig pulled up out the front of a house, leaving the car idling. Katie had indicated that the first building was where she lived.
“Would you like to come in for a drink?” Katie offered, undoing her seat belt.
Craig felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise in warning.
No way.
“I think I’ve had more than enough drinks this afternoon! I really should get going, I’ve got a bit to do before work tomorrow,” he responded staring straight ahead and hoping the decline came out politely.
When Katie didn’t reply he turned his gaze to her.
Why isn’t she getting out of the car?
“I really had a nice afternoon, Craig. Maybe we could catch up again without the oldies,” she said, smiling at him as she leant forward to stroke his arm.
Craig shook his head.
“I don’t think that would be such a good idea, Katie. Your grandparents truly are lovely but I am not-”
Craig found himself cut off when the brunette woman leant forward and kissed him. He froze, amazed at her forward nature. A second later Craig pushed her away, none too gently.
“Katie, I have no interest in pursuing something physical with you. Goodbye.”
The brunette considered him in the shade of the car for a moment before getting out of the vehicle and slamming the door shut. Craig let out a relieved sigh.
He didn’t wait to see that she got inside the house safely. Instead he quickly turned his car around and headed off the property at the designated 20 kilometres per hour.
I don’t think I can drive quicker just because I want to get away from that woman!
Craig was thankful when he hit the bitumen road and was able to pick up speed. As he made his way back into town and to his home, he thought of Savannah.
I have to tell her. I have no idea if she wants anything from me other than friendship, but I can’t let her hear about this from Katie.
He frowned as he considered how to tell her.
I can’t just text her. But can it wait until Tuesday? And even then, will I get a chance to talk to her or will she be doing medications again?
Craig sighed, tapping his hand on the steering wheel impatiently.
“What do I do? I don’t know what to do.”

Like what you’ve read?  You can purchase Breakover at Amazon.

Hi everyone!

I’m excited to be able to share details with you of a new project of mine: Equine Authors. I’ve set up another site that focuses on helping horse book authors to develop a book, publish it and promote it.

The site focuses on tools and services that you can use for free to publish and promote your book/s. It also provides a directory of horse book authors with links to their sites and some of their books for sale.

The blog aspect of the site will be made up of short articles that are helpful to establishing authors. They may be how-to articles with regards to setting up an account somewhere – such as on Goodreads as an author. Or the post may focus on good places to find horse stock photos for book covers. These are just a couple of examples.

Either way – if you have a desire to write a horse book and get it published, I encourage you to check out Equine Authors. You can follow along on twitter @equineauthors and check out the website to see what ideas are there that you may not yet have utilised to promote yourself as a horse book author. From time to time there will also be guest posts from other authors, offering advice or how-to’s.

In time there will also be the opportunity for horse book authors to cross promote each other with a logo and a little bit of coding. Enjoy!

Here’s an excerpt from my debut novel, Horse Country – A World of Horses.

Glancing out of the school window across the green oval the bored sixteen-year-old sighed, admitting to herself that it would be a lot more exhilarating racing her palomino gelding around the emerald surface, rather than sitting in a stuffy room while their teacher marked the roll.
Calling her name he gained her attention, marking her off before addressing the class.
“Morning everyone. Over the next fifteen minutes or so, I want you to have a think about what you’re going to do after year twelve.
“Because you’re in year eleven, I know most of you have already picked subjects that coincide with what you plan on studying in University. But, today I’d like you to have a think about what you want as a job after your studies and list five different possibilities for me. This year you’re going to do two bouts of work experience, so we will try and line these up with your preferences,” a balding fifty something pedagogue informed the general consensus of bored teens before him.
She smiled to herself, mentally correcting the teacher as she stared at the blank piece of paper in front of her. She didn’t want a job – she wanted a career.
And she wouldn’t spend fifteen minutes deciding on one either, she’d spent just short of fifteen years deciding on horses. Flicking through the University/TAFE guide before her she stopped on the letter E, her eyes scanning the page until she came across the word she was looking for.
Finding a list of seven or so careers, she mentally crossed out those that didn’t appeal to her, writing down the few that did before her attention returned to the green surface outside the classroom.

Replaying in her mind the conversation with her “Careers Teacher”, she smiled ruefully, more than aware of how she should have handled the conversation.
“Horses aren’t a career, dear. Every girl goes through a stage where she wants a pony; you’ll grow out of it. Aside from that, it’s too dangerous working with these unpredictable animals.”
It’ll be even more dangerous me working with them if I’m not initially trained to do so.
“Girls that want ponies do quickly grow out of it, generally by the time they’ve discovered the male population. I own a horse, have had this infatuation for the past ten or so years and don’t believe I’ll be growing out of it anytime soon. Though, if I am going to do so, surely I’d tire of the animals more quickly if I was put to work with them?”
Aware that this response from her could have turned the conversation either way, she was curious to know if it would have worked to her advantage.
Thankful she had a mother whom was insistent on her following her heart, there’d been no need for her to have a follow up conversation with the older male however, and it was all thanks to her mother’s “little conversation” with the man. She’d managed to convince the teacher to agree to let her daughter work with horses, at least for the first lot of work experience and that’s all that mattered to the teen.
Grinning, she scanned the list of horse properties in the phone book before her, highlighting those that were close enough for her to consider working at and therefore send a letter to.

Like what you’ve read? You can purchase Horse Country – A World of Horses at Amazon.

Hi everyone!  If you’re not on my email list (pssst… you can subscribe on this page, look for the subscription box on the top right of this page), it may be news to you that the fourth book in the Thoroughbred Breeders series is now available for pre-order on Amazon!

You can click to pre-order it right now!  The book will be delivered to your Kindle on the 17th of this month, US time.  Alternatively, click on the image below 🙂

Another big thanks to wonderful friend and photographer Cait O’Pray for her photo for this cover! And especially thanks to those who took part in helping me choose a cover photo over at Facebook! 🙂  You can head along there and check out the four photo possibilities that were posed for voting.  Some of them I like so much, I think they’ll be making an appearance for future covers!