Fiona and the Water Horse, coming very very soon!

buy an e-book ($2.99!) - help a herd of rescued painted horses

This morning I read a story that touched my heart. Our local equine rescue league plus a very dedicated animal control office have partnered and worked hard to not only rescue an emaciated herd of painted horses, but did the additional painstaking work to bring charges against the owner for cruelty to animals.

When an entire herd has to be taken in, the resources of a rescue group are pushed to the limits, particularly in this case: all but one horse was emaciated and suffering from long-term lack of nutrition. A mare is pregnant, so her in utero foal is suffering too. The stallion had to be gelded. Several young horses had never been handled. They have already had to humanely euthanize a handsome but extremely weak medicine hat paint because he went into liver failure.

As many of you who visit here know, we live with a wonderful, spirited, smart as can be painted pony named Apache Moon. He brings such joy to our lives, every single day. It broke my heart to see these painted horses in such need of what all of us would consider the very basics of horse life.

Starting today through the end of April, I will donate 100% of the royalties earned on my middle grade (but a wonderful read for adults as well) e-book.

Jane's Transformation (book one in the Magical Pony School series) is available on Amazon. You can click directly to the product page by looking over on the sidebar to your right and clicking on the cover.

If you have a Kindle you can buy it immediately. If you have a smart phone, a computer of any kind, an iPad or other tablet, you can quickly and easily download the FREE software on Amazon that will enable you to purchase and read this e-book (and any other e-book).

I have Jane priced at $2.99, which means my royalty per sale is about $2.  What happens, though, is when the book sells on Amazon, it rises in rank. As it rises in rank, especially if sales are concentrated, it goes onto various bestseller lists based on its genre and subjects. When this happens, more Amazon viewers see the book and more of them tend to buy it. By participating in this it is entirely conceivable that we could create what my writer friend Dawn calls "the perfect storm." I would LOVE to write a big fat check to the NC Triangle USERL to help with expenses for these horses.

Full disclosure: Of course you can donate directly to Triangle USERL and that is definitely a good thing to do, especially since their Paypal button will get the money to them immediately. My royalties for April will be paid to me in June, so that is when I will write the check to USERL.

My suggestion is this: donate some directly and buy the book so they get a second donation later. By buying the book AND spreading the word, you make it that much more likely that we can together create a perfect storm and give a larger donation in June.

I also stand to gain if the book kicks up high and then STAYS high after the end of this month. All I can say is, if that happens, I will work on a way to continue donating, whether it be a percentage per book sold, or more 100% chunks of time. My intention with this series is to get more of the books written and published so that I can donate all the proceeds from this first one on an ongoing basis. I love the idea that Jane and the Magical Pony School ponies could be an ongoing source of funding for some needy equines. 

READ THE STORY OF THE RESCUED HORSES HERE.

If you scroll down you'll see the Paypal button to donate.

GO TO JANE'S TRANSFORMATION ON AMAZON HERE.

The current ranking is #313,510. You can track how we're doing by looking at the ranking. As sales happen, the number will get smaller as the book rises. The lower the number, especially if we get into the top 100 of paid sales OVERALL, the better. If we get Jane into that top 100 of all paid sales list, you'll know we are getting the exposure needed to make a very generous donation indeed.

I will post a screen shot of my sales page along with the check I write to the NC Triangle USERL group in June. Please help make it a big one.

Remember - on Amazon you can buy the e-book as a gift and send it to anyone you know. But the biggest part of making this go viral is spreading the word.

I realize this is one small herd among many who need help. But this is the herd that grabbed my attention today. A backyard breeder thought he/she could make money by breeding painted horses. Now there are a number of young horses who have not been handled, a pregnant mare, and a recently gelded stallion to show for it. All were starving. One has been put down. Maybe this case can be a lesson to anyone even thinking of breeding. There aren't homes for all these horses! There is no reason to think you can make money doing this. And even if you could, is it really an honorable profession?

Addendum as of Thursday at 8:08 p.m. - Jane is cantering up the charts!

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,713 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #48 in Kindle Store  Kindle eBooks Children's eBooks  Animals Horses                                                            
  • And at 9:08 p.m.!
  •  
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,647 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
    • #28 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children's eBooks > Animals > Horses

christmas eve surprise - free copy of book one in the Magical Pony School series

My middle grade novel, Jane's Transformation, book one in the Magical Pony School series, is free on Amazon until December 26th - if you have a Kindle, or download the Kindle software onto your Mac, PC, or any smartphone, you can get your copy.

Although this is aimed at middle grade readers, it's a story I think any horse person will enjoy. You'll recognize a few of the minor characters... hint: two little donkeys and a one-eyed mare make a cameo but very important appearance. :)

Book two, Fiona and the Waterhorse, will be coming out early in 2012.

Happy holidays to all - and thanks for reading and commenting here on camera-obscura!

a few little odds and ends

I'm home from my writing workshop and was of course drawn immediately, even before my tire tracks crossed the November Hill property line, back into the whirlwind of activity here on the hill.

First, Salina had a middle of the night accident of the very scary kind, scraping around and right up to the edge of her remaining eye. Both upper and lower lid were swollen, and I was frankly ready to call the vet. But it was evening, she was eating and drinking just fine, the scraped area had been cleaned and protected by a clean fly mask, and I decided to implement my eye routine and wait for morning.

One dose of banamine, then alternating doses of arnica and symphytum until bedtime, plus a thorough rinsing with an herbal eye rinse containing calendula, goldenseal, and eyebright.

Limited turn-out with her donkey boys in the grass paddock and barnyard.

By morning the swelling was almost completely gone and now we are very close to being back to normal. The scrape is scabbing and she has not missed a beat eating and drinking. She's still on limited turn-out just because I'm being extra careful. It's fine with her, but the donkeys are getting a bit stir crazy and both went on a little donkey adventure yesterday and today to break the monotony.

In other news, Dickens now has a battle wound - a split ear that has healed as fast as he got it - and the pony is walking around with his own personal flock of birds again. Everywhere he goes, they go.

We are in need of rain, on the one hand, but on the other, there is no grass to speak of and so these easy keepers are doing fine without the sugar.

My first sugar baby watermelon appeared to be ready yesterday. I picked it, chilled it, and then we cut into it. Alas! It was not yet ripe. But equines got a nice treat and even Keil Bay, who would not touch the melon, enjoyed smelling it as I doled it out to the rest of the herd.

We have made a dent in the fly overpopulation using plain, old-fashioned sticky strips. Between those catching the adults and the fly predators targeting the larva, I think we're getting back to a manageable number at this point.

One of the barn fans lost a blade, fortunately encased in the cage of the fan, but according to son, it sounded like machine-gun fire going off in the barn, and when he got out there all equines had abandoned the vicinity and were waiting for help turning the hideous noise off! He unplugged the one fan, replenished hay in mangers, and they went back in without fanfare. This is one reason I would never leave them closed in without one of us in earshot. And while I wish they didn't have to deal with a broken fan on a hot day, it did relieve me that they simply vacated the barn and stood calmly while someone fixed the situation. 

The summer solstice came and went as I sat by a rushing mountain stream working on Fiona and the Water Horse, book two in the Magical Pony School series. My hope is that the heat and dry weather so early in the season means we are in for an early and long-lasting autumn season.

Meanwhile we are considering doing a rain dance and finding ways to stay comfortable. After we make it past the fourth of July and the possibility of fireworks, it's one long slide toward my favorite season.

Sheaffer Donkey reviews Jane's Transformation!

My dear friend Sheaffer has reviewed Jane's Transformation!  What a treat to get his hoof stamp of approval.

You can READ IT HERE.

And of course, if you want to read the book itself, just click on the book cover on the sidebar to your right. Or do a search on Amazon.

Thank you, Sheaffer!!

Jane and the Magical Pony School are cantering up the rankings!

As of earlier today, The Magical Pony School: Jane's Transformation hit #8 in its Kindle category and #41 in its category overall! 

I'm so grateful to those of you who have already bought it - don't forget to review the book on Amazon if you enjoy the read, and keep passing the word. This is so exciting for me.

It is time to take a writing retreat and get my first draft of Book Two: Fiona and the Waterhorse!

oh, happy days! donkeys and dust circles

It's been so wet and so mushy here for so many weeks... but finally, after some sunshine and temps above 60, with a little wind to help with drying things out, I noticed yesterday that Rafer Johnson and Redford have been able to construct not one but two dust circles in the back field!

In case I missed it, Redford followed me out the back trail with the muck barrow and rolled in one of them while I stood and watched. It amazes me how the circles are so perfect in form, and how fine and soft the dust gets after only a day or two of donkey rolling.

The perfect texture for maintaining a donkey's coat, and also creating a lovely little dust cloud that can only mean one thing: there's a donkey in full roll!

Between Salina shedding, donkey dust circles, and sunshine, we are having a lovely start to what looks like a beautiful week here on November Hill.


*******

And over the weekend, book one in my Magical Pony School series, Jane's Transformation, was in the top 100 titles in its category on Amazon both Saturday and Sunday! It has slipped down some today but hopefully it will sell some more and climb back up. The top 100 titles tend to get more attention, so I'm hoping it hits that magic number again and eventually stays there awhile.

I appreciate any and all support from readers here in helping get the word out about this series. While I feel the same way about my adult fiction, these magical pony school novels are very special to me and I really want them to do well out in the world.

Over the next month or so I'll begin some focused marketing, which includes getting myself Skype savvy so I can make myself available to book and reading groups. Keep me in mind if you'd like your group to read a book and have the author visit via Skype for a discussion. I love to talk as much as I love to write! :)

The Magical Pony School, Book One: Jane's Transformation

It's finally here!  The first book in my middle grade fiction series is up on Amazon as an e-book - you can see the cover and click over to Amazon from the sidebar to your right.

The product description is not up yet - that usually takes a little longer to go up, but I'll give it to you here.

Jane loves ponies and riding, and after a lesson one day in which she rides a circle and suddenly feels total harmony with her sometimes difficult pony, she goes home to discover that she has been invited to attend the Magical Pony School. The book opens as Jane and her fellow first-year students are getting ready for the Winter Solstice ceremony - a very special event at the Magical Pony School.

Things don't quite go as planned - and Jane soon finds herself on the adventure of a lifetime, where she encounters wild pigs, shapeshifting creatures, bugganes, dwarves, an odd bitter woman, and finally, a black mare with one eye and two donkey guardians who lead her to the most important part of her journey: saying goodbye to her father and letting go of the need to be perfect.

The Magical Pony School series is a good read-aloud for younger children, an "advanced" chapter book for early middle graders, a quick read for older middle graders or avid readers, and will appeal to both girls and boys - there is magic, adventure, and a fair amount of Celtic lore. For readers who ride, there is classical riding and a focus on partnership, not domination, over our equine friends.

This is also likely to be one of those books horsey moms and grandmoms will enjoy.

Fiona and the Waterhorse, book two in the series, should be out before summer.

If you read this and enjoy it, I encourage you to review it, talk about it, and spread the word!

nearly a week without a post? unprecedented!

Well, except for when I go on hiatus.

It's just been really busy here. Cody is completely recovered from his abscess. We had a ton of rain. The local weather station posted a story that our area is still in severe drought. I invite anyone needing water to come siphon off our excess.

Friday the wonderful H. came to massage Salina, with even better response this time. Although we were having light rain that morning, I put the geldings out of their stalls and opened up the arena so they could experience footing without mud. Within minutes the three of them were trotting and cantering around, including Cody. Keil Bay looked ready for at least a second level test. Meanwhile Salina nuzzled my hand with her lips and alternated between closing her eye and chewing as H worked. Rafer Johnson was highly indignant that while he earns the massage money, someone else gets the massage!

And this was writing group weekend. D. arrived and we hit the ground running. On Saturday we went into town and ended up discovering a steampunk gallery and coffee house that has been there for 9 months and I didn't even know it!  The young woman who owns and runs it turns out to be a home schooler who moved down here and is following her dream. And while I know not very much at all about the steampunk genre, I admit I was intrigued by the artwork and the toys and the ambiance.

Even with all the exploring we did on Saturday, the weekend was wildly productive. I finished my final edit on The Magical Pony School: Jane's Transformation. It's the first book in my middle grade series, and at any moment it will be available on Amazon!

I'll do a big announcement when it's live there, but for now, I'm just thrilled that this book is so close to being out in the world. A secret: although it's aimed at early middle grade, I suspect moms and grandmoms of middle graders and younger pony girls and boys might also enjoy the story.... :)

We're back in the 50s as we begin the week and once again I am in hopes of major drying out happening. Between grooming the mud and walking in it, I am just plain tired of soggy, wet earth. The donkeys have nowhere to take their dust baths, and I think even the most deeply-rooted trees have had their fill.

And that is all I can say because I swore after seeing some fellow bloggers' photos recently that I would never complain again!

I hope we all start the sweet shift to spring, soon.