Here’s an excerpt from the third book in the Thoroughbred Breeders series by Christine Meunier.

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Savannah had completely forgotten that Rick and Jay would be coming out on Thursday to do some trims. Because Nev had wanted a light day on Cup Day, he’d asked the men in advance if they could do the Thursday instead.
So it was with surprise and eagerness that she worked with Kathy to bring in a group of horses for trimming. The horses were mainly made up of dry mares that were housed in the nearby vetting paddocks.
Savannah felt the all too familiar butterflies in her stomach as a well-known broad frame stepped out of Rick’s beaten up Ute and made his way over to the yard of horses to trim. He gave Savannah a smile and slipped between the rails, heading straight for the horse she was holding.
She stood quietly until the other two men were preoccupied with the horses they were trimming. Kathy and Jack were holding for them. Savannah was relieved to find that Flynn wasn’t with the men.
Unable to help herself, Savannah blurted out what had been on her mind for the past couple of days.
“So you all made it safely home then,” she said, realising after she’d spoken that Craig had a right to not understand what she was talking about.
He glanced back at her as he continued working on the mare’s hoof.
“I told you I would drive,” he said with a smile, “There’s no way I would have let any of those three behind a wheel after the amount of alcohol I saw them consume.”
Savannah breathed out a sigh of relief, causing Craig to chuckle.
“Were you concerned, Savvy?” he asked softly, causing her face to grow warm.
“A little…” she admitted, “and I had no way of knowing that you had gotten home safely.”
She cleared her throat and amended her statement.
“That all of you had gotten home safely.”
Craig glanced back at her and gave her a wink, a small grin teasing his lips. Internally Savannah sighed.
Don’t think I can take that statement back!
Craig continued to work diligently, his movements efficient. Before too long he had finished the mare’s four feet and was glancing at the group of horses that were left. Savannah released her mare and caught another. As she walked back to Craig she saw him scribbling on a small piece of card.
What is he doing?
She took the card offered to her when she led the mare back to Craig. Savannah realised the numbers written on it were a mobile number. She looked up at him in question as she stopped the mare before him.
“Next time if you’re concerned, you can text me,” Craig explained, “I’ll reply as soon as I can.”
He got to work on the next mare’s feet, not waiting for a response from Savannah. The card felt warm in her hand and she placed it in her pocket, smiling at his thoughtfulness.

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

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Equine Authors United – have you check out Deanie Humphrys-Dunne’s Books? She writes uplifting horse stories for children.

Whatever your profession or goals in life, it is important to make note of your successes. I don’t believe we should rest on one success for the rest of ours lives. I do believe however, that it’s important to make a note of successes so that you can review these over time. They can be a great encourager!

Recently New Blood, book #1 in the Thoroughbred Breeders series received a delightful review over at the Equestrian from Crete. Reviews whether full of praise, constructive criticism or even negative comments can help an author to see how their works have been received – and where improvements can be made. But let’s face it, nice reviews are just that – nice!

Quoting from Christina’s review:

“With precise descriptions, clear language and an engaging story, Meunier has once more proven that she has exceptional creative writing skills. I truly felt that I was at a large stud in Victoria, Australia, watching a young lady take care of horses and gossip with her friends about a handsome young farrier. Meunier’s deep knowledge in equestrian is clearly demonstrated here, as she provides a plethora of details of the equine breeding practices. The reader can literally feel that they are witnessing an equine birth.”

Wow!  This was such a lovely review to read.  If you take the time to make a note of your successes, this can help you in many ways.

1. You can put together quotes to show potential clients (in my case, readers) what others think of your product.
2. Or you can use these notes to help yourself bounce back from a negative occurrence. It’s important to always keep pushing forward – to create more and try again. Documenting successes can help to motivate you to achieve more. They are a good thing!

What success have you documented and why?

A writing update – Thoroughbred Breeders #4 is nearly finished! I hope to complete it in March and have it edited shortly after.  If you want to be one of the first to know about it’s release, be sure to sign up to my author updates.

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Equine Authors United – have you check out Kate Lattey’s books? She writes some great descriptive novels about the show jumping world in the eyes of four teenage girls in New Zealand.

It’s an interesting thing to read reviews and find out what your readers ‘see’ when they take in your words. I recently received my first review for New Blood, book 1 in the Thoroughbred Breeders series. This was by a fellow equine author, Ann Hunter. Ann also writes a series that focuses on the thoroughbred breed – North Oak.

Ann’s review on Amazon made reference to the male lead – Craig Pieters. She stated:

“…fetch the horses and bring them to hottie farrier Craig (who I picture looking like Curtis Stone 😀 )”.

Now I have to plead ignorance in this area – the name meant nothing to me!  It wasn’t until I saw his image that I thought he’s familiar. It’s amusing to me that he is a fellow Australian. Especially when I consider that Craig’s character is South African. However, when you consider the description of Craig’s character from Savannah’s point of view:

“She nodded politely as she took in the scruffy brown hair, small amount of stubble and curiously green eyes.”

I love with stories how it’s possible to picture characters how you would see them. Often as we read, we’re given descriptions of build, height, hair colour, eye colour, etc. But these are general and we can conjure an image that is quite different to the next person who reads the same story. And so it is interesting for me to see Craig and how he looks to Ann.

And I’m further curious. Have you read Horse Country? How do you picture the Irish male lead, Declan?  Or Lise? What about the red headed twins who make up Melanie and Madeline?

If you’ve recently delved into the Thoroughbred Breeders series, how do you picture Craig and Savannah? If you’ve read beyond the first book, has your image of Savannah changed?

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Equine Authors United – Are you familiar with fellow equine author Ann Hunter? You may like to check out her series North Oak.

Recently I received a new review for B and B. I have been investing my energies in writing more of the Thoroughbred Breeders series and promoting Contagious (Free Rein series) and Recessive (Thoroughbred Breeders).

B and B hasn’t received any promotion since it’s release in August 2016. At that stage I was able to line up many forms of promotion online. Recently I had a late reply from someone who received a review request from me. She said the blurb of the story intrigued her and she’d be interested to read and review this Christian fiction.

The recent review has left a lot of room for thought. There is plenty of constructive criticism to go alongside the 3/5 star review.

As an author, it can be disappointing to find that there are aspects of your story that just don’t work for other people. What is unique about this review is the closing statement:

“a solid story that is gentle, and clean, and definitely appeals to Christian audiences. It has a sense of warmth and is a kind piece, especially being a horse fiction. I believe Meunier is a writer who will prosper in Christian fiction and I am very happy to have read her work.”

Yay! This last line is a positive one to end the review on. It took me a little while to focus on this.

I believe it’s important to consider all of a review. There may be aspects you can use to improve further writings. Or perhaps it just clears up for you as an author, what you want to get across in your novels. I do know that I am happy to be determined by this reader as one who will make it in the world of Christian fiction – this is one of my aims!

Always look for the positive, but use the constructive to improve your writing, too.