Hi everyone!  I am rapt to have book number one of the Insular series edited and ready to go for publishing.  I just need to get the covers designed!  I have been sourcing appropriate images for the covers of this trilogy.  I have a general idea in my mind, I just hope my (lack of) Photoshop skills are up to creating something that looks similar! 😉

I have recently finished rereading and editing the second book in this trilogy and will get it off to my beta readers perhaps even before this post is live!  I still aim to use the rest of September to complete the book covers and of course the third and final Insular book.

On a slightly different writing topic, did you know that I also write horse related non fiction?  I have a couple of books published but also write horse articles for the Farrier Guide.  Knowing I was due to have a baby in August, I wrote a few articles in advance so that I wouldn’t be shirking on my monthly writing responsibility.  I have just finished penning the November article and will endeavour to get the last for this year finished in September, also.

It is easy to run with momentum and get ahead – and to keep doing so – once a little ground has been achieved.  I plan to finish 2018, meeting my many writing goals!  If you’re curious about my non fiction pieces, you can take a look at some of them here:

• https://www.thefarrierguide.com/2018/horse-facts-communicates-lives/
• https://www.thefarrierguide.com/2018/where-do-horses-live/
• https://www.thefarrierguide.com/2018/thoroughbred-pedigree-traits-origin/
• All articles – https://www.thefarrierguide.com/author/christine-meunier/

So now that we’re in September and the glorious spring season here in Australia, I wanted to be able to share with you about my writing goal for the month of July. As you would be aware if you read this blog, I had set myself a goal to pen the 3 books of the Insular trilogy in the month of July. This coincided with the July Camp NanoWriMo.

I anticipated the books spanning about 90,000 words for the total of the three and was rapt to have finished books 1 and 2 about 2/3 of the way into July! Of course, I had a head start in that I’d already penned about 10,000 words in late June with lots of ideas for chapters / sections of the book/s.

I fell behind in my writing goal by about 9,000 words.  This was about halfway through the month.  So I worked hard to keep on top of things – and even to catch up! I was rapt to pen my last lot of words to hit the 90,000 word goal.  This was late on Tuesday evening of July 31st. I knew if I didn’t make myself sit down and finish, then I would have lost the opportunity to achieve what I set out to do.

After all, it was the last day of July! I’m sure you can imagine my relief – and sense of satisfaction – when I penned those words that allowed me to hit my target goal!

The great thing is, once you complete your project goal and put it in for a word count on the site, you’re then deemed a winner for that particular camp. And the prizes on offer included some freebies! So I’ve received these – some are online video courses relating to writing and publishing. I’ll look forward to getting stuck into them as I’m able!

Book number 3 isn’t yet complete.  However, I do know where things are going and have a large chunk of it written. Life is super busy with a newborn and a young family to focus on.  But I do aim to finish the last book by September. In this way I should be able to aim for a planned release of one book a month.  This will be over October – December of 2018. Stay tuned!

National Novel Writing Month is in November, so I’ll plan to get a new writing goal then; perhaps the next Free Rein book? 😉

It’s close to the end of June as I put this piece together and I wanted to keep you up to speed on my writing projects.  As I explained in a post back in May:

“I have also started a Christian story for adults.  It will explore three different classes of people within society and how man made rules and preconceived ideas can result in a very unjust world!  So perhaps a little deeper than I usually write, but I promise there’ll be romance involved, too 😉  I am not yet sure if this will be one novel or built into a trilogy.”

I am leaning towards turning this novel idea into a trilogy.  The plan is to finish all three and then release them over 3 consecutive months for readers.

Although I had hoped to work on my children’s books aimed at primary age readers with the focus on the Fruit of the Spirit, it seems that the above mentioned adult novel has taken on a life of its own!  I’m not great when it comes to planning a book; I find that often they write themselves and I just work to keep up when the ideas flow!  This seems to be happening for my new Christian trilogy idea that I plan to name Insular.

So at the end of June with CampNano coming up in July I have decided to focus the month on penning (typing? ;)) as much of this story as I can, whilst it is flowing freely.  Recently I have had a lot of time to think and write due to some unforseen circumstances in my life.  I am grateful for the chance to have given the outline of this story quite a bit of thought.  And I have also had an idea for book covers!

Let’s consider the accountability side of things.  Now that this post is live and CampNano is well and truly in action, why not give me a prod and ask how I’m progressing with these plans? 😉

In line with the start of another month, I want to look at another focus area of horse books: equine authors that create mysteries for adult readers.  So below is a list of four equine authors that you may or may not be aware of that fit into this category 🙂

You can also take a look at the previous post, 19 Fantasy Books that Feature Horses.

1. Bev Pettersen is an author I have only recently had the pleasure of reading.  Perhaps over the past year I have gained access to electronic copies of her horse romances that contain a mystery threaded throughout them.  What I really enjoy is the way she makes a believable story out of flawed characters.  Bev then weaves in a credible mystery and also stays true to horse information.  The stories I have read tend to revolved around the thoroughbred racing industry.  This is where my background lies, so it’s nice to read another lot of horse books that contain factual information regarding racehorses.  And it’s nice at times to read a story that is aimed at the adult reader!
2. Many people in the racing industry have heard of Dick Francis and know his background as a jockey.  This seasoned horseman has many, many mystery novels to his name and they tend to feature horses!  He’s worth a look if you love the mystery genre and love horses.
3. Michele Scott has written some horse related mysteries aimed at adults, too.  You can look up titles such as Tacked to Death and Saddled with Trouble.
   
4. Now if you’re a fan of Dick Frances, then you may have had John Francome recommended to you, too.  Like Francis, he focuses on horse mysteries within the thoroughbred racing industry.  Be sure to check him out if you love a good mystery with the added bonus of equines being involved.

You may feel this is a short list – only four authors!  But they have plenty of books between them 😉

Have I missed your all time favourite equine mystery author?  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know!  It’ll help other fans of this genre potentially discover a new author that they love 😉

*on a side note, please note that these authors are individuals and the content they share within their books doesn’t necessarily fit in with the ideals/Christian emphasis that I portray in mine 😉

Sometimes the best way to learn about another horse author is through someone else.  I thought it could be nice to explore various horse book authors in 2018.  These posts will focus on a particular aspect that the books have in common.  It may be the age group they are aimed at or the country in which it is based.  Or perhaps both like the authors in this post!  So let’s look at 5 horse books based in the US for YA readers.

1. Valerie Ormond has some books titled Believing in Horses and Believing in Horses, Too that are set in the United States.  They are for young adult readers.  Why not check them out at www.believinginhorses.com?
2. Laura Wolfe writes the Dark Horse series that is also based in the US and aimed at young adults.  You can read about them at her website, http://www.AuthorLauraWolfe.com/.
3. Lisa Trovillion has the Maryland Riders series that is for young adults and based in the United States.  Take a look at http://www.lrtrovillion.com/books/.
4. Ann Hunter has a series titled North Oak that focuses on the thoroughbred industry.  It too is US based and aimed at young adult readers.  Check them out at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072PCSGBH.
5. Kim Ablon Whitney writes a series around the show jumping circuit for young adults that is also based in the United States.  You can find out about it at her website http://www.kimablonwhitney.com/.

This list is far from exhaustive.  In fact, if you have a favourite series that fits under this category, why not reply and tell me about it?  And if you’re an author of a book that fits into this category, I’d love to know about it!

*on a side note, please note that these authors are individuals and the content they share within their books doesn’t necessarily fit in with the ideals/Christian emphasis that I portray in mine 😉