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Gina's Interview Series: Famous People From Around the World
Equestrian
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Posted on Saturday, April 14, 2012 11:51 AM
 Welcome Tawny!
From New Mexico, USA, Tawny is the author of the wonderful book 'Angels Come with Fur'. A story about Gandalf the wonder Great Dane. A must read for every animal lover; recommended reading! A fascinating author, Tawny is a musician, equestrian, animal advocate, mother and fabulous writer who will tickle your funny bone and steal your heart......
Where are you in the world?
Well my mind and my heart usually ramble around the country sides of Ireland, but in reality I live on the backside of New, Mexico. I’m about 25 miles SE of the closest town, Deming, NM, but closer to a wide spot in the road called Akela Flats. I have a section of vacant land in front of me, maybe more, can’t see anything on to the Florida (pronounced Floor-ree-da) mountains which are almost 10 miles away at the closest point. The land is full of sage, mesquite and every kind of mulley grass you can think of. There are spatterings of tall yucca trees and a few cacti within my view. We have lovely bushes of crown of thorns that can go right through a steel belted tire. The ground is covered in different varieties of Jasper and white melted rocks that were the result of a small volcano around here long ago. Love those little bubbly rocks and pick them up every time I find them. They say you can find Amethysts here too but haven’t been able to. I’m one of those people who could stand up to my knees in arrow heads and never find a one. When I’m out walking and talking with Domino, my big Apache Rez wild horse, we imagine those days when Geronimo and his ancestors lived here without the white man to bother them; hunting and living free. I feel bad they took that wonderful heritage away from all of us. My people didn’t take from the Indians so I don’t take blame. Mine were being moved from their homeland at the time, also. Guess that’s my bond with the Native Americans, doubt they would feel the same, but in my dreams we are all friends.
You were in a rock band. Tell me about the band and your music...
I grew up playing Classical piano and then Hullabaloo came on TV and my Mother decided I should be a rock n roll star. She sold my piano to my cousin and I came home one day to face no piano, which I lived on, and a guitar setting there instead. It was a Gibson Classical and I hated it. I wouldn’t touch it for days and when Mom finally convinced me to try it I had no idea what to do with it. I bought a book of “The Beatles” songs and they had pictures of chords and thus my career was started. I wowed my close friends with my renditions of songs and three chords. One day my friend took me out to her back yard and sitting across the yard she yelled at me to sing louder as she couldn’t hear me. When I got loud enough for her to hear she went inside the house and yelled “Louder I can’t hear you”. I was screaming out the song by that time. I learned a lot from that and then I learned how to project. This helped a lot with raising my two kids because there was no way they could say they couldn’t hear me at any time. My Mother was working as a waitress in a fancy restaurant in Riodoso Downs, NM, and I was her bus girl. I was 17 at the time and very shy. By that time I had begun singing folk songs and was madly in love with Bob Dylan. Those songs fit me as I grew up with old songs my Grandfather use to sing to me, from Ireland and some he had picked up in his move across the States. At one time I knew all 90+ verses to “House of the Rising Sun”. When the Animals, an Irish folk rock band, came out with about 5 verses of that song it became a hit. A hit that I knew and most lounge bands knew also. My Mom talked the guys in the band into letting me sing with them one night. My legs were about to shake off my body and I started so quiet people were yelling at me to be louder. When I closed my eyes and let loose they went wild for me so I was a regular sit in with the band on that one song. I never lost the stage fright. But if I stared at the lights or closed my eyes I could block out the crowd.
Later, much later and a marriage and baby later, I moved to Denver and there is where it all seemed to start. I was 19, my husband was in Germany during the Viet Nam war, and I had to raise my baby alone. I got a job at a corner bar singing. I was probably awful but I had some influential fans. One was a local singer in Denver and she took me under her wing and taught me how to be an entertainer on stage. She even helped with the stage fright by showing me I was above the crowd not in the crowd. I wasn’t there. She even helped me make some demo tapes to give to agents around Denver. One agent was a really good guy who told me that with my big voice I should have a bigger sound. He told me to get a band. That was several years down the road and several guitars later. When Ovation first came out with their guitars they were practically giving them away to entertainers to use on stage. That was my first 12 string and I’ve never played anything else but a 12 since. I made a small name for myself in lounges around Denver and one entertainment reporter really liked me and kept my crowds coming in and following me around Colorado.
When my husband came back I moved back to Albuquerque and worked at getting jobs around there. I finally decided to build a band and we called ourselves, “Make Believe.” The band grew to about 5 members at one time and back to 3 and up and down. No one but me was expendable and drugs or being stoned on stage was a way to get kicked out of the band. I didn’t give but one warning. We were asked to open for several big bands back in the 70s and we did a pretty good job of it. I found I could sing in front of thousands of people with no problem, but make me give a speech in front of 30 and there went my shaky legs again. Then I met a couple of brothers who were very famous in New Mexico by the name of the Wickham brothers or Hank and Louie Wickham. Louie was my mentor and would book me somewhere and forget to tell me. I guess I would have second sense but always managed to call him before I was late for a booking or I would read it in the paper. He got me in contact with quite a few people who were great in the money making department and he never allowed me to ask too little.
I had a bad motorcycle accident that ripped my face off and that ended my time with the Wickham brothers but not my career. I hooked up with a partner named Ron Bosserman and we were two peas in a pod. We came from the same part of the country and our styles were almost identical. He was looking for a partner and I was looking for a job after I healed and we practiced three hours before we first went on stage together and were together three years. We had a blast and packed the small lounge and bar areas so tight that there were nights we had to sing 15 mins on with 45 min breaks to get a turn around so those outside could come in. My 15 mins of fame. LOL Ron was Waylon Jennings' ex-bass man and it wasn’t unusual for Waylon or some of his band to stop by off and on. The night I met Doug Kershaw was the highlight of my entire career. I was singing along and looked up and there he was in the back of the club in a velvet suit. I couldn’t get a sound to come out. Thank God for my partner who took over and deserved the credit for getting Mr Kershaw there.
In between Hank and Louie and the accident I had gotten a divorce and then a year later I remarried and stopped singing, sold the bands I was managing and tried to settle down. Three years after that I was divorced again having remarried the same guy and realizing, Nope I was right the first time. He took all my money, house and cars and I took the kids. I got the good end of the deal, did miss the money some though. I went back to the lounge scene singing. I could make a lot of sound come out of that 12 string so I did all right by myself then something awful happened. Disco. I had to go on the road and after a year of home a few days and then back again, I quit and went to college. The entrance back into the world of humans and out of the world of entertainment has always held its share of what ifs and should haves and could haves. I have never made the same amount of money I did in the 70s nor have I ever had as much fun at a job as in those days of pretend. Not that it was easy. I would work until two in the morning, take about 2 hours to wind down sleep until 8am get up and take care of my one then 2 babies and practice, until school was out for my son or all day on my three days off. I had a woman who was a great fan of mine and was in the audience every night where ever I was working. One day, one of my days off, she had found out where I lived and came to my door. I opened it in rollers, wearing an old t-shirt, cut off jeans and had pea baby food all down the front of my shirt from where my baby Kasey had just spit them. This woman’s eyes got wide and she asked me if I knew Tawny Herrera. I told her that was me. She screamed and ran away. I never saw her again in the audience after that encounter. That side of what she mistakenly thought to be a glamorous life was too much for her. I still think of that and laugh and wonder about those who wanted my autograph those years ago. Wonder if they still have those worthless pieces of paper. Those music years were some that opened doors to meet people I would never have been able to meet as a human. I sat and talked to famous people, shared glasses of wine and opinions with them. Sat and ate a steak dinner with Dan Blocker in Cody, Wyoming. (Well, I had a steak dinner he had two.) I got to meet them on a one to one way, not as a fan but a comrade. I never asked for autographs. And there are many I wish I had asked for. Doug Kershaw’s for one. Damn.
Dogs. How many? What breed? Why great danes?
 I’ve always had a dog. Dogs have always been my confidants my best friends and someone to love me when I felt alone. All kids should have an animal to love and confide in. I’ve seen my dogs of my childhood brutally killed in front of me by adults who didn’t feel animals had any value but to do their bidding. I have never felt an animal my property or owned by me. We live together; we love and respect each other. I join their pack as the Alpha and they accept that. (Actually they have to because I also have a duty to feed and shelter them and get clean sheets on the bed for them. I think they appreciate how I perform my duties.) I have always wanted a Great Dane. I longed for a Great Dane and one day I got one. A puppy we named Gandalf from the Hobbit books. (That was back when you actually read great books and I read those books to the kids.) He lived up to his name and was my baby boy until he died 11 years later. He wasn’t a “dawg” he was a member of the family. He and Kasey would argue and come running to tell on each other. When he grew up he would argue with his big brother James. They had a fight once where James thought it funny to tell him he wasn’t really my son. Gandalf whined all night and would only go to sleep if I rocked the water bed. I would slowly drift off to sleep only to be awakened by a crying dog again and have to start rocking the bed again. That was a long night. Needless to say their relationship was never the same. James moved out and when he came to visit Gandalf made him sit on the floor claiming the sofa or chair he might sit in. When he died my heart was broken and I didn’t think I’d ever be the same. It was almost like losing a child.
I got a call from the pound from a girl who had known Gandalf. She told me there was a female Dane there that might die if someone didn’t come who could help her. I went in and saw a skeleton with black skin. I took her not knowing if my other dog would accept her as my other bitch was living up to her name of Taoiseach. (Tee shuck) which is Prime Minister in the Irish language. There was no problem. I named her Dubh (Dove) which means black in Irish but she was always a love and lived up to both the meaning and the pronunciation of her name. I had her for 8 years and she finally just laid down and went to sleep. She died as elegantly as she lived. She was and angelic queen. In 2002 I was perusing the petfinders web site and saw Gandalf staring back at me. When I checked his birthday was the same as Gandalf’s also. I drove from Cottonwood, AZ to Phoenix to meet him. When I walked in we fell in love. I felt a total healing of my heart. I couldn’t take him then but when I went back to get him he wouldn’t move from the door. He was bound and determined to leave with me that time, and he did. After that I adopted Grainne Na Mhail, (Grawn-Ya EE Wy-ya) or Grace O’Malley. She was named after a famous Female Irish Pirate who was another heroin of mine from childhood. Grainne was a hoot, my tattle tail and always “Jojo did it.” Jojo was a purchase my sister made and when she tried to take him back the man admitted that his prize Queensland bitch had gotten with a coyote and he didn’t want him. So I took him coyote and all. We call them coy-dogs out here. Then Grainne’s heart burst when she was three years old and so did mine on that awful rainy April night. I got another call about a little girl named Panda Bear, because of her markings, who was in need of a home or had to be euthanized. We made payment arrangements and I drove from where I now am back to Phoenix and picked her up. We spent a lot of time at the vets because of injuries and had to remove a toe that had been broken and gotten infected. But she is now my big baby girl. Oscar and Panda are the only Danes I have now and have passed the gauntlet of adopting Great Danes to my daughter who has two beautiful boys now and I suspect will continue where I leave off. She is so much better at it than I am. I just let them be dogs, but Kasey teachings them manners and teaches other people through her beautiful boys. Kasey stands 5’2” and handles two 100+ pounds of dogs with no problem. I’m proud my kids learned to love and respect animals as much as I do. ( Her dogs are whooshy city kids though where mine are country kids.)
 Last but not least is Bodiccia (Celtic Queen). I just call her Bodie and she listens when she’s ready to. I was driving into town and saw a car stop and throw something out of the car. When I got closer I saw a little black pup sitting staring at the leaving car, from the middle of the road. I stopped and picked her up. I tried to catch the guy but he drove faster than I could do without a ticket. I found they had tightened her collar so tight it was choking her and after brushing her for several days about an hour per day and two trash bags of hair later, she was skinny. Now she is a happy shiny black lab who loves her Panda, adores big ol Oscar and puts Jojo in his place even when he doesn’t need to be. I think it took month or so of driving into town before she quit going to the floorboard of the truck every time we passed the place she was thrown out. I don’t know if she was hiding in case the person wanted her back or it horrified her thinking I was going to do the same. Nope. Every animal I take into my home stays in my home. I don’t throw lives away.
Goats. How many? What breed? Are they ornery?
I have one goat, Fion McCool. He’s a mix of goats but his daddy was a Boar Goat. Onery? That all depends on whom you ask. I think he’s my boy and perfect. That is not the consensus of the rest of the humans around here. But I don’t care and when he’s out and playing you must be prepared to explain in goat what your purpose here is and no way you are getting next to MOM.
 I was at a friend of mine who raises goats for meat and milk. Fion’s mother had three kids and she rejected him. There is no known human reason why, only she knew, as he looked just like the other two, but he was smaller. He came running up to me crying. I’d say bleating but it was one long WAAAAAAA. I first thought it was a tiny poodle and knelt down to pet it and he jumped into my arms still crying and kissing me. I had to take him. That was a good decision as he was to be killed the next day. My friend didn’t want to kill him and was happy to give him to me. I took him home and raised him in the house with potty trips after the bottle, outside with the dogs. Panda adored him as she does all babies and he would curl up with her on the sofa either beside her or on top of her. He knew his bottle times and how many. It was cute to hear the little tap tap of hoofs along with the paw thumps. Fion got a bottle and the rest got nummy nums. He was born in January and way too cold to put outside alone so he slept in bed with me until he got bigger then went to a crate at night and outside with Jojo or some dog during the day. He could still come in sometimes during the day until he went on hay and off the bottle. Then he started making messes in the house and his first full night outside behind a locked gate on the deck and in his crate was traumatic for me and him. I was up all night checking my baby to make sure he was alright.
I have pictures of him as a baby where all you can see are his back legs and little butt with the rest of him under the tarp where the hay was kept up on planks out of his reach, we thought. There is no door on any shed he cannot open if there be hay or sweet feed on the other side. There is nothing he won’t have to inspect and drawer he won’t pull out. No bucket or bin is left unturned in his ever unrelenting search for FOOD. Fion now stands about 36 inches at the shoulder lives in a log cabin near his pals corral. I love to see him and Domino, my horse, walking side by side out to the pasture, like they are discussing something important. He is a picky boy and things people say goats eat, he won’t. He does love paper though and has been known to eat a bill or two. That I forgive and have no problem telling them it wasn’t paid because my goat ate the bill. When he was a baby he did tricks and still loves to stand on a step stand for applause and accolades of praise for his wonderful feats of daring. He will jump off with a twist and turn and come over to me to be loved on. On walks with the dogs he chases rabbits for a ways with them until he sees something good to munch. I forgive him for everything because there has been nothing more important than he is. Even to the tap marks on the pickup hood. They buff out and if they don’t well that’s what a pickup is for, not for pretty but for work. I put plenty of scratches on it running through the mesquite so his little tap marks are nothing. However not everyone feels that way. There is a religious group that quit coming around when Fion jumped up on their new pickup and did a few jigs for them.
Horses. How many? What breed? Do you give them carrots and apples?
 Welph, I have two. Not that I ever even meant to have one but God had different ideas for me and I now have two. One, Liffey an AQHA registered quarter horse may have a forever home soon and Domino my mutt horse will once again be an only child again. (Do I hear a WHOO HOO from the corral?).
My first is Domino. He will not leave me until either I die or he dies or we both go together. He is my baby. Domino is a mix breed and I think he has draft in him as he is tall and stocky legged with feathers and gentle as a lamb… to me. Anyone else must die or be told they might. He was an Apache Reservation wild horse sold at auction to local cowboys with brutal ideas about breaking a horse. They took the word breaking to mean just that. He was beaten, whippend, tied with a log chain for days to a tractor tire to keep his head down, hobbled then saddled and spured to buck and when he fell they would beat him with 2x4 pieces of wood. He didn’t break. A woman who knew less about horses than I do, rescued him but carted him from stable to boarding stable until the bill came due and she would get a Sherriff deputy to go with her and she would claim abuse. It wasn’t hard to do as no one dared get near him. His mane was matted to the point of appearing he was hiding baseballs in there. His tail wasn’t any different. When I met him he was at my friends who were boarding him for the woman. She pulled the same thing but being out of boarding facilities, she took him down the road to another friend who has a donkey rescue. My friends got together and the woman thinking she would come back and get Domino was surprised when she came back and he was gone. They decided that Domino and I were perfect for each other and a series of events happened and he is mine, all mine, and I am his all his and I’m the only one he allows to get near him. I get over under and everywhere on him, but yet to ride him. It’s been three years and when I first faced him in the corral I thought, “What the hell am I doing with a wild angry horse?” Now I know that it’s because I needed this new love in my life. He heals me when I go out to hug him the stress and pain just fades for a little while. When he puts his chin down on my back I know he is hugging back. His power is soothing to me.
 Liffey was first a phone call early in the morning. Someone had called my rescue friend wanting her to take their horse. She said she didn’t have room for it but would go look at her. She said, “Tawny you have to take her; you said you wanted a friend for Domi.” I turned her down twice but the third time I called her and said OK. When we got to their place I saw a beautiful young horse, standing amid piles of scrap metal. She too was matted and the water trough was not only dry but had dry tumble weeds in it. They gladly told us that since they didn’t have any money to feed her they didn’t water her either. I wanted to punch the woman but I wanted Liffey out of there. Her registered name, I found out when they were giving me a bill of sale, is Go Jet Cash Deck. They called her Nifty. What a terrible name for an unwanted neglected horse. She had been standing in that mess for 9 years. When we opened the door of the trailer she stood in amazement then ran, fell, got up and ran. All day she did this with Domino at her side. The next day she walked all over the 40 acres with Domino still at her side. She had no muscles and for the first week falling was common.
The evenings were spent with Domino laying down in exhaustion over in his special area and she would lie down under the shelter while I rubbed her legs down with liniment and giving her butte for the pain. I started taking Domino for walks and let her run alongside us. Her awe of the vast world was evident in a video I took of her. She is now healthy, hooves trimmed and rubbing legs too dangerous. She is WOMAN now and don’t take no crap from no one no mo. My little girl has grown up so fast. Now she has to go to trainer. Because not only am I not a trainer, I don’t want to be a trainer. I don’t want to ruin this empty slate with any blunders.
As a published author, you are a great writer. What is your book about?
Hmmm. That would be Mark Twain as an author. I like, no I loved Mark Twain most when he wrote about what he was doing or himself in general. However I was entranced for a whole weekend with his voyage in time in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I can’t say how many times I have read that story. My favorite was how he opened his biography with the line, “…I was born at a very young age…” He saw the humor in his tragic times and in times others thought to be tragic. He didn’t go with the accepted flow of literature but went with what he knew. He spoke as he knew best to speak and thus making his stories easier for me to live in with him. His country, down home style of writing is how I write as I don’t always use the best grammar when I write nor when I speak. I’ve had some criticism about how I write but I find it’s more from my American critics than my friends in Europe and Ireland. The comments I get from my Irish and English friends are far from negative on how I express myself but asking me to write in that style more often. Of course I will because that is the only style I write in. I’m not a posh person, as many will attest seeing me tool around town in boots covered in manure and mud with some hay on them and my old straw hat and sometimes, more often than not, holey jeans (It ain’t because they were blessed either). My truck has enough mud on it so you know about where I live, and I dress in layers and not necessarily coordinating layers. There is no way I can tell you a story through these old eyes and pretend to be a wealthy land owner with a string of well papered horses and correctly bred animals. To do so would come out pretentious and more than likely wrong and unbelievable. I have to let you see what I see through the only eyes that can understand me. This is what Samuel Clemens did. He wrote about the river that he loved and those that lived on it. I believe in his time, Mark Twain was more admired by Europeans than in Americans, so maybe I can be in good company.
Do you have suggestions for new writers?
Well I believed I rambled on in the last question and gave that answer. I can only really tell you what I like to read. There are a lot of books people rave about that I have trouble getting to the second chapter without yelling. Steven King has that ability to scare you to death just by reading and seeing what he is seeing. I had a boss once that told me to take notes on a project like I’m a camera. He told me to see it all and make it easy to understand and informative enough so that if I died tomorrow someone could take over the project and know what was going on. Gruesome I guess but that’s the way a book should read. It should make you develop a movie in your head that flows on with every period and well placed comma without a commercial.
Follow Tawny...
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Posted on Saturday, April 07, 2012 8:37 AM
 Morten Jorgensen is an acclaimed Norwegian author who currently is writing his first novel in English.
A master of words, Morten is the author
of "Sennepslegionen" ("The Mustard Legion"), "Kongen
av København"("King of Copenhagen"), "Kalle Solflue og
insekttyvene" ("Charlie Hoverfly and the Insect Thieves",
children's book), "Bank" (thriller, German edition: "Rache auf
Raten"), etc.
Novelist, poet, musician, photographer, punk rock veteran, etc., Morten made his debut as an author in 1984 with Shadow letter Bungalow 33 . He has published 5 books, written lyrics and reinterpreted texts for radio and stage, translated plays for, among other things, the National Theatre, written numerous book reviews and articles.
I had the great opportunity to catch up with Morten on his return from his recent research trip to London and Beijing, China, for his forth-coming, two-volume, novel "Brent".......
 Where are you from?
I was born in
Trondheim, Norway’s 3rd largest city, population 176,000 (2012). When I was 13,
my family moved to Oslo, the capital of Norway.
When did you
realize you wanted to be a writer?
I started reading
at 5, and it became a teenage dream. The conscious decision to become an author
I took after my first book was published in 1984.
What do you
currently have in the works?
“Brent”, a rather
massive two-volume novel from the immediate future, scheduled for publication
in 2014. A crossbreed between a space opera and a road movie, with Goethe’s
“Faust” as backdrop. It is not science fiction in the traditional sense. No
aliens, no laser swords. I chose the future because it gives me an indefinite
and open canvas, and a large one at that.
Where do you like
to write?
At home. I travel
for research, but I write at home. All my books have been written at home.
Mostly at night.
What is your inspiration
for your novels and poetry?
The word
“inspiration” has always felt somewhat irrelevant to me. I am very systematic
in my authorship. I planned my authorship in 1984 and adjusted its course, in
1988 and 1995. “Brent” is the final book on my temporary agenda. When “Brent”
is out, I will decide what to write next. Maybe all the way to Tombstone.
Unless you count “women” as inspiration, that is. Authors are
not all that different from rock musicians. Most of us start out with a
romantic teenage perspective on writing, hoping for some kind of glory. I have
been fortunate enough to grow out of it. But it is a statistical fact that I
still work exceptionally well under the influence of women. I’m a sucker for
female compliment. However, I never let it influence my work, only my drive. I
think authors should be more honest about themselves. Not go all “Syria” and
boast a lot of pompous drivel all the time when they talk about “inspiration”.
Besides, if you
have problems being “inspired” to write, you are probably not very skilled as a
writer. A pen and a napkin is all an author needs. A finger. Sand.
My only
inspirations are language as such, the beauty of it, and my own technical
ambition: The strive towards the smooth and the unique. In that sense, mostly
dead, but also some living great authors, are inspiring. But I prefer the word
“influence”, as I have no control over which authors who make an impression on
me. Reading books by skilled colleagues is a learning process to me.
Do you use real
life events; your own personal experiences?
I use everything.
I’m a total magpie. I can use personal experience, real life events, whatever.
But I find it most satisfying to write about The Other, Strangers, people I
don’t know. The Dark. The Unknown. If I use personal experience, it is out of
convenience. It saves time. And I have no “message” or theme. I find myself as
a person completely uninteresting for my own authorship. Through “Brent” ,
which I consider the final exam of my apprenticeship as a novelist, my
authorship is working its way towards what I consider riddles, mysteries,
things that I don’t understand. I explore, I do not lecture, and my books have
no opinions. Pingo ergo sum.
What suggestions do
you have for beginning writers and poets?
That depends on
what kind of writer you want to be, whether you want to explore mankind or
(just) entertain it. If you want to write thrillers or romance, just go ahead
and try. Think commercial, like everybody else. Suck up to your audience. It’s
a good life.
However, if you want to explore mankind, in whatever sense,
ask yourself if this is what you really want to do. There are too many rehashed
novels written in the Western World. Do you have something, if not unique, at
least something special to bring to the public square, or are you striving for
it, with a minimum of realism? The world does not need another depiction of
your lost love. Write a diary instead.
It is a very
serious craft. Authors are statistically prone to divorce, alcoholism, drugs,
suicide, conflict, ridicule, estrangement. In conflict regions, it’s even
worse. This goes also if you are a happy camper and irony is your tool for
exploring man and his doings. Ask yourself if you really want to. Maybe you’d
be better off as a journalist or an academic.
Who is your
favorite author? Why?
Technically, I
would have to say Shakespeare. It’s sort of embarrassing, in a way, even
ridiculous. How can a poet born five hundred years ago, still be the master?
It’s the DaVinci and Michelangelo syndrome. It may be seen as an indication of
the validity of the theory of devolution.
My favorite writer,
though, is Nobel Laureate Samuel Beckett. I enjoy his brutality, his depth, his
merciless depiction of man and his axing of language. I read him constantly,
again and again. Norwegian Nobel laureate Knut Hamsun is another favorite.
My favorite novel,
though, is the epic “The Master and the Margarita” by Michael Bulgakov. A book
that contains everything.
Poetry: Besides
Shakespeare, I have no particular favorites when it comes to poetry.
In your opinion,
what is lacking in today's literary market?
Too much
entertainment, too few watersheds and milestones.
Where do you see
yourself in five years?
Hopefully writing
full-time with a generous budget to travel the world and explore mankind.
Follow Morten
Norwegian publisher: CappelenDamm, Oslo. Editor: Harriet Karoliussen
International Rights Manager: Kristin Weholt
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Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2012 11:00 AM
 Welcome,
Ann!
Rancher and horse breeder, Ann is internationally known for her Homozygous Paint Horses....
Where
is Coyote Creek Ranch?
Coyote
Creek Ranch is located in Winona, Texas, USA, which is a small country town in
East Texas centrally located between Tyler, Longview, Gladewater and Kilgore.
I am approximately 100 miles from Dallas and Shreveport, Louisiana. I have 165
acres of rolling land with 110 acres of pasture, 5 ponds and a spring fed lake
that is 7 acres and stocked with catfish and perch. The remainder is in timber (a mix of Pine trees
and hardwood).
Tell
me about your life as a rancher and your horses…
I
lived in the city all my life and taught middle school and junior high English
and Science along with other subject areas for Pine Tree ISD in Longview for 29 years and later for Winona ISD for 7
years. I had no aspirations to be a rancher but it rather fell in
my lap when I married my second husband in 1993. He owned cattle and liked living in
the country so we sold my house in town and moved to the present
location. I bought my first horse, a Palomino gelding, about that
time. I had always wanted horses but never had a place to put them or the
opportunity to own one. My first horse, Skipper, was a sweet natured horse that had been ridden by kids and then put out
to pasture. He was about 13 years old and gentle enough to ride bareback.
About 6 or 8 months later, we went to Idabel, Oklahoma
and bought Peps Last Lady (AQHA own
daughter of Mr San Peppy) to keep Skipper company and allow both of
us to ride around the ranch and check cattle. About the time I bought Lady, I started noticing
black/white paint horses and thought they were absolutely beautiful.
There were not many available so I started looking for one to buy and
found a man in the Gladewater area that had a black and white stallion for
breeding services. I had never heard of a homozygous horse but
found out that it meant they only threw paint offspring regardless of what they
were bred to. I decided to bred Lady to Sparky and the
resulting foal was a black and white filly which I named Stormy. Not very original but she was born in February on a freezing
night in the rain. Lady was
quite confused to have a black/white baby since all of her previous foals had
been sorrel quarter horses. It was really odd to see a sorrel
quarter horse with a beautiful black/white filly. I still have them
both. Lady is about 20 years
old and Stormy is close to 14 years
old.
In the next few years I began to look for other
black and white paints and go to auctions in Shawnee, Oklahoma and
Lufkin. I bought several black/white paints including Color By Chick which had been bred to a
double homozygous stallion, Summers Half
Moon, owned by Dana James in Gladewater. The resulting foal was my
multiple APHA/PtHA World and Reserve World stallion, Summers Chico Bandito.
Chico was the horse of my dreams. Not only was he black/white
but also homozygous for tobiano and the black gene. He was splashy
colored with one blue eye and one brown. Chico has such a sweet nature and athletic ability that I
decided to send him to a trainer when he was two.
Summers
Chico Bandito has won World in steer stopping, heading and heeling and top
honors and superiors along with thousands of points in heading, heeling, steer stopping, tie down roping
and a few pts shy of superior in working cow horse. He has produced numerous
offspring that have also won APHA World and PtHA World Championships
in cattle events. His foals have been sold internationally to Brazil,
Columbia, Venezuela, Ireland, Sweden, Belguim, Canada and Mexico.
I ship cooled and frozen semen and hope to start exporting frozen semen to
Australia in the
near future.
Out of the offspring winning World championships, I
have Chicos Bandelero being
shown in cattle events and standing at stud in Sanger, Texas. I have also owned World and Reserve World
champions Chicos True To Texas, Chicos Delta Flyer Gold Bar, and Chicos Blonde at the Bar. Chico's
offspring are also being shown in reining, working cow horse, barrels, trail
and other events.
I chose broodmares to bred to Chico that had World
Class pedigrees and many have points and winnings of their own. I look
for own daughters of World Champions to get the best chance of
getting athletic, good looking horses. Chico's offspring have been
blessed with his good nature and willingness to learn and perform. Everyone
is surprised to find that even with 100 horses at my ranch that they come to
you wanting to be petted and groomed and we have no problem catching
any of them. They have been easy to train and even have been able to put
as many as 10 stallions together with no problems.
I have also started breeding Chico to quarter
horses with great pedigrees, such as, Shining
Spark, Grays Starlight, Peppy San Badger, Hollywood
Dun It, and Nu Chex to Cash to
name a few. I have a 8 month old filly out of a Chico filly that has World Champions top an bottom including Shining Spark and Nu Chex To Cash and she is already athletic and is has been a joy
to start training. She is bay and white with
one blue eye and one brown like her grandsire.
Chico
has also been bred to Holsteiners to produce splashy colored dressage horses
and hunter jumpers. They are show stoppers in a ring with solid brown or gray horses.
In your opinion, do paints have a different
disposition than other quarter horses?
In
my opinion, paints have a better disposition than most of my quarter
horses. Their foals will come to you wanting attention where the quarter horse foals tend to be a more reserved and
they take more time to come around wanting to be handled. I think it is
ridiculous for many cowboys and ropers to state that paints aren't as
athletic or fast as quarter horses. You can’t find a single paint horse
that doesn’t have
quarter horses and or TB on their pedigree.
The major difference is color. I love to look at a pasture full of loud
colored black/white or bay/white horses. Their color adds so much to a parade
or rodeo events than looking at sorrel or bay solid horses. I think more
should be used for mounted police work to help stand out in a crowd
and they are great in movies; Hidalgo
being one of the great paints in movies.
Where is your favorite place to ride?
My favorite place to ride is along a beach or a wooded trail. Love
to hear the sound of waves splashing against the shore or the quiet of a forest with only the sound of occasional birds chirping
and the sounds that your horse makes as you move along the trail.
Where do you show?
My horses are usually shown in shows in Texas (Ft
Worth, Lufkin, Waco, Athens, Stephenville, Royse City, Katy, Houston) but we
have shown in Monroe, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi, which also have some
good paint shows. Now that APHA requires paints to qualify for
World there may be a bigger interest in showing than since our economy took
turn for the worse. We show at the World Show in Ft. Worth along
with the Stockshows in Houston and Ft. Worth.
What are your goals as an equestrian?
It has been my goal to produce the best black and
white horses that I can. I breed not only for color but performance and
disposition. I specialize in black/white double homozygous
horses. Many people do not understand what a homozygous horse is but they
are horses that have been tested genetically and shown to
only throw the paint gene so their offspring are paints. Horses that are
not homozygous
have about a 50% chance of throwing color and 50%
chance of throwing a solid colored foal. Horses that are homozygous for
the black gene can throw black, bay, grulla, and buckskin
but do not have the sorrel or chestnut gene.
My international clients are mainly interested in
black/white homozygous and preferably double homozygous horses. They look
at performance ability and the ability to throw color.
I really wish that our government was interested
in helping ranchers with our drought situation. Many horses are being
starved, abandoned and sold for slaughter due to the expense of feeding and
caring for them. Horses have been a part of our heritage and culture for
hundreds of years. They are powerful, majestic creatures and need to be
protected and given the dignity they deserve. Lady ranchers could also
use some help and respect these days to make ranching a profitable
business to be in.
Follow Ann
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Posted on Sunday, February 12, 2012 2:42 PM
 Residing in England, Shane began his equestrian career as a
jockey. Employed by Oak Ridge Quarter Horses, England, Shane is also a movie stunt rider, jouster, horse trainer, and much more. I caught up
with Shane between events…
What is Stampede Stunt Company and what do you do there?
Stampede Stunt Company is owned by some very close friends
of mine. They do live shows at country fairs, castles and at big events like
Your Horse Live. They provide one of the best jousting shows in the country
with some trick riding for more entertainment; they also teach horseback
archery, jousting and sword fighting amongst other things at their base in
Wales.
When I started my career with horses, I was a horse racing
jockey! After I left racing to expand my knowledge, I learnt how to trick ride,
joust, fall, sword fight, double for actors in films, fix problem horses, help
with rider confidence and train western horses.
Anything to do with horses i'll try my hand at!
So, you are a 'jouster'...what is like to joust?
Jousting is an incredible adrenaline rush especially full
plate jousts with full contact!
Did you participate in 'official' training? Where?
The only official training I have had was a 9 week course at
the British Racing School, other than that, everything I know comes from what I
have learnt from all the different areas of horsemanship that I have been able
to experience through watching, doing or studying.
 Do you have a rigorous training schedule?
I try to go to the gym as often as I can but have been slacking recently due to
moving to a new area, but I’ll be back into the routine of going five days a
week soon enough.
Do you travel a lot? Whereto?
I have traveled a lot, just not recently due to having my
daughter, Maicie. I have been to Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, Germany,
France, Dubai and Japan!
Did you grow up with horses?
No, actually I am the only person in my family interested in
horses and I started riding when I was 13 years of age.
What breed of horse(s) do you keep/ride?
I work with Lipizzaner, Andalusian, Friesian, Thoroughbred,
Dutch Warmblood, Welsh cobs, Painted horse, Quarter horse, Arab, Polish Arab,
Hanoverian and my favorite Lusitano! Lusitano is by far my favorite breed, the
stallions look amazing and in general they are really eager to please!
In what films have you stunt-doubled?
I have ridden as an extra in Clash of the Titans 2 (the second
in the series, which will be out later this year and I rode in a sea battle),
Snow White and War Horse. I doubled for an actor called Colin Morgan who is on
a TV show over here called Merlin which is aired weekly on BBC1.
How do you fix problem horses? Are you a horse trainer as well? Well that all depends on the problem, the horse and more
often than not, the rider/owner. I suppose in a way I am a trainer, I have
never really thought about it like that I just enjoy every aspect of horses!
 Who is your favorite equestrian/trainer?
My favorite equestrian trainers would have to be Monty
Roberts and Jean François Pignon. I have had the pleasure of working with Monty
Roberts on a few occasions and learnt so, so much!
What can I do to be a better equestrian?
Everyone can improve even the best learn something new everyday about their
horses but if i had to say anything, be patient and don't try and rush things -
horses learn things at their own pace just like humans.
What is your dream job?
If I had the money, my dream is to open a equestrian facility with my future wife, who is also an amazing horsewoman, to take in troubled children, teens and young adults to help them through their problems by teaching them natural horsemanship and helping them to rebuild their trust through horses.
Follow Shane
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Posted on Sunday, February 05, 2012 9:01 AM
Welcome Gerard! From Ireland, currently residing in London, Gerard Keenan is a world-renowned equine photographer. His stunning photographs capture the spirit and beauty of horses. His photographs are envied and collected worldwide, including celebrity buyers; his photograph, Horses #5, is displayed in the newly opened Ralph Lauren store in Singapore.
A winner of international photography awards, including: World Photographic Arts Spider Black & White Award, B&W Magazine USA, and IPA (International Photography Awards) honorary mention, to name a few. Gerard's work is published worldwide in various photography and art magazines.
When did you realize you wanted
to pursue photography as a career?
I was 21, having always had an interest in Art.
Your equine photography is stellar. Why horses?
 I grew up on a farm in Ireland and was always attached to animals, but I found Horses to have an otherworldly quality which is difficult
to explain. They have a calming presence and I understand why they are used as therapy with people suffering from mental or physical ailments.
Do you have a favorite breed that you like to photograph?
I don't really have any particular favorite
breed to photograph as I suppose I treat them all equally.
Any stories of difficult or challenging photo-shoots?
Most of my shoots go well and the horses are always well
behaved!!
Your favorite horse to photograph?
I guess I prefer greys and whites as they stand out better with the
clouds as a backdrop.
Do you have any tips for novice photographers? Basically you have to have your own signature and it's not wise to
copy other photographers work. Follow where your heart goes.
Do you have a favorite photographer?
I have too many to mention; Lewis Baltz, Jean Loup sieff,
Eugene Smith, Alexander Rodchenko, to mention but a few.
Where have you exhibited; any current exhibits in the world?
I have had no major exhibition as yet, but am hoping to show
in London in 2012.
Follow Gerard and view his beautiful photography
COPYRIGHT All images are copyright of Gerard Keenan. Unauthorized Reproduction Prohibited
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Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 2:16 PM
 Welcome Joan! Joan is an Animal Communicator and author of Communication with all Life, Revelations of an Animal Communicator (Hay House). She is the founder of Communication with all Life University. Through private sessions, workshops, teleseminars and speaking events, Joan facilitates a deepening of the human/animal connection. Joan was chosen by MSN as one of the “Top 25 People Who Do What They Love” and has been featured on Dateline, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and Animal Planet to name a few. Her healing CD, Animal Alchemy Energy Work for Animals and Their Humans, will be out in 2012, along with her newest book, Energy Healing for Animals.
Where are you located?
I grew up outside the Seattle, Washington, USA, area in an place that was
once rural and is now quite suburban! I look at people’s homes now and
remember ripping through what is now their living room at about 35 mph bareback
on my horse - Honeyhorse!
Tell me about your writing and your book releases....
 My first book is Communication with all Life,
Revelations of an Animal Communicator, published by Hay House. I should
really back up and tell the whole story at this point. When I was seven years old I
wrote plays to perform with the neighbors, the proceeds were to go to buying a
horse. Thankfully that year I won a horse and the world was spared my bad
singing. I always kept a diary, then a journal. I wrote poems, short
stories, and plays in college (I was a theatre major). One of my plays was in my college's Literary Magazine Harbinger; all the other [plays] were produced. I wrote
performance pieces in New York City and Los Angeles. I won Critics Choice at the Edinburgh
Theatre Fringe Festival for a play that I co-wrote, co-performed and co-produced
called “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World, a Two Woman Show”, with Karen
Loftus. I then wrote screenplays and in 1996, when I had an about-face
turn of careers, I became an animal communicator. I started writing about my
experiences. I knew Hay House would publish my first Animal Communication
book and I wrote that on a post-it-note in 1998. They finally found me
about six years later and published my first book. My new book will be
out in 2012 called Energy Healing for Animals, Techniques to Enhance the
Health, Longevity and Wellness of the Animals We Love, published by Sounds
True.
Where do you like to write?
I love to write in my office which has a view right
into the pasture where my horses are. Across the pasture the ravens have
a big nest and are always up to something., and I watch other wildlife
float through.
Do you write everyday?
In a perfect world, yes. Sometimes that doesn’t look as
romantic as writing great philosophical pieces or poems about the
animals. . . . . sometimes writing is reminding a client to keep the hope
up in an e-mail or thanking someone for a profound experience. I like to
write in my journal if I haven’t carved out time to write or rewrite a current
piece. Thankfully when you do write everyday – it isn’t something you
have to stop and think about.
How do you maintain ideas and thoughts? I keep a journal for starters. A lot of ideas
get flushed out in that. If I’m driving, I’ll write on a bank statement
if I have to something like “forgiveness piece, Michael Vick’s dogs….” And then
thankfully, I have an excellent memory for the imagery I created in the
daydream. I also have notes in computers for each months
newsletter. So I already have next months and the following months
newsletter etched out for my clients and readers. Where my memory fails
me sometimes is what [file name] I’ve saved my brilliant idea under in the
computer!!!!! So I have learned to keep a list of ideas.
What/who is your niche market?
While on the one hand my market is anyone with an
animal, I have a couple of niche markets. One is anyone with an animal –
I have something helpful to say about creating connection whether you believe
in Animal Communication or not. After 16 years of being an Animal Communicator,
I have 16 years worth of working with behavior and wellness, so I have a lot to
offer anyone with an animal. Anyone with an animal with a challenge is
definitely my niche market!! I have a healing background – so people
interested in alternative health. I also have had a lot of high level
competitors as clients –horses in the Olympics, dogs at Westminster and of
course I love helping the kid in 4-H that wants a better connection with their
barrel racing partner. I love to get the horse and rider or the dog and
handler truly connected on the same page and moving forward as one in
competition. And in general – my goal is always household or barnyard
harmony!! Do you have a favorite author(s)? Why?
As an Actress and writer in the theater, I love
Chekhov, Gurney, Tennessee Williams, William Inge to name a few. And of
animal books – J. Allen Boone – Kinship with all Life (he was a screenwriter
and basically an animal communicator of the 1950’s – 1960’s. Machelle
Small Wright – Behaving as if the God in All Life Matters – I love this because
she had so much trauma in her life and really turned it around for a spiritual
relationship with animals. I love books like Seabiscuit, Laura
Hillenbrand did an amazing job of recalling the period in history and why the
world needed a horse like Seabiscuit. Healing books – my favorite is
still Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss – I was lucky enough to study with
her for a few years about 13 years ago. My favorite Spiritual book is
Living Buddha, Living Christ by Tich Nhat Hanh. Authors of novels range
from the Brontes to Salinger.
What are your writing goals for future endeavors?
I have 2 or 3 books in general I want to write, and
two documentaries I want to write and direct. I have some self-published healing CD/workbooks coming out immediately and hopefully a DVD!! I also
blog – not regularly enough – partly because I’m currently in a rewrite for the
new book.
Do you have suggestions for newbie writers?
Just keep writing, edit later. Get it down on
paper, you can always make it pretty later!! Try to write everyday – that
way it isn’t something that becomes overwhelming so you just don’t do it.
Find a quiet time in the day to connect with yourself and write. Also, if
you are a horse or animal person, have some outings each day – sometimes your
best material comes on a dog walk or grooming a horse!!
An excerpt from Communication with all Life, Revelations of
an Animal Communicator published by Hay House.
From the Chapter: Setting the Tone Thoughts, Memories, and Deep-Seated Belief Systems
"So many times horse trainers tell you 'This is too
much horse for you'. As long as your safety isn’t jeopardized, rather than look
for another horse, look for a different trainer. Dog trainers may say, 'Oh,
you’re never going to accomplish this'. Get a different trainer. Get a trainer
that supports your belief system: you have a right to love and to dream big. Cindy called me because her
horse just wasn’t cutting it. She had a barn full of great barrel racers and
she had convinced herself that this one horse just didn’t want to do it. He
liked barrel racing, he told me, but I got a sense he was truly a late bloomer.
Work was fun, but why did he have to do it all of the time? He was naturally talented, so
if she could just take her mind out of it and make it more fun, this would be a
breeze for him. She had a tough time getting her mind out of it as many of the
horses followed her mental track. Because she had a knack for finding
competitive horses that loved this sport, she had a lot at stake. Yet this one
horse was providing her with a sense of failure so strong that she couldn’t get
her belief out of the way that this horse could not do it. So she’d get out
there with him and he’d fulfill that negative prophecy. When we had our session, we
talked a lot about her belief system about him and that she had to get her mind
out of the way. So the next barrel race, she spent her time in the warmup ring
and even in the box saying out loud: 'La, la, la, la, la, la….' Like a little
kid, reminding her mind that she couldn’t hear it. They had their best time
ever!"
Connect with Joan
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Posted on Monday, January 23, 2012 4:22 PM
 Michael Forester is Chief Executive Officer of Equi-Earth, a
division of New World Equine, an aspiring company pursuing excellence in equine
care as well as state-of-the-art global equine acquisitions. Currently surrounded by Arabian horses, Michael is
an all-around equestrian. He is also involved
in networking kids with horses, an honorable vocation….
Where do you live?
I am originally from Western Wisconsin, USA, just across the
State border from Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota. My official
current residence is Las Vegas Nevada. I am currently looking for farms
in both California and Kentucky.
When did you meet your first horse?
Before I could walk. I was introduced to horses through a local friend / local who had horses and
showed them in parade with his authentic stagecoach, which is currently in
a museum.
How long have you been an equestrian?
I have had and worked with horses since I was 9 years old. I currently represent top quality Arabian horses all over
the world. I am putting together a new way to market Arabian horses
that will be a game changer, reduce the cost of both selling as well as searching
for purchases of Arabian horses (other breeds
to eventually follow), the best part is that it would add, not subtract
from, what others are already doing ... I am also putting together a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) to
purchase LARGE equine related proprieties. I am talking about more than
just a farm, taking advantage of the opportunities in the market with respect to value of
acquisition which could pay for the acquisition in
double quick time.
Who is your favorite horse trainer/method?
I have many that I like Bob Battaglia, a true horse-person's
horseman; Shelia Varian, even though she does not show any more I
love the way she never forgets that you need to make room for a horse to be a
horse and that includes all of the champions she has bred throughout the
decades; Michael Byatt, for the horseman he has become as well as an ambassador
around the world that he is for the breed; Jay Allen, for the
thoroughness in the job that he does in preparing a horse along with what
he has done as the president of the Arabian Horse Association of Arizona.
I think Jeff & Jerry Schall do a good job, as
well as Sandro Pinha. Jenna Ball is
someone people should consider as she is an up-in-comer in
the industry (and I can certainly vouch for her family’s
character personally)... so many more...
 What is your favorite horse breed? Why?
The Arabian horse, for it's
beauty, purity of blood, it's soulfulness that you can
see in the eyes. They raise your spirits, inspire your creativity, and they
help people raise their children, making them responsible for an
animal they respect and helps them to create a positive identity for themselves in
the show ring.
Do you spend long hours in the horse barn?
Yes, I am helping a friend take care of
35 Straight Egyptian (Al Khamsa) Arabians, plus one Polish bred
Arabian. They were severely neglected for ten months. They are all healthy now with some of
them selling half way around the world.
Do you have a favorite horse quotation?
“For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe
the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the king was lost; for the lack of
a king the battle was lost; for the battle being lost the kingdom was lost and
all for the want of a nail.”
What are your future goals as an equestrian and horse-lover? - The REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust)
- The Charity (working with kids and horses).
- Connect buyers and sellers in a way never
thought of before.
- Buy, sell, breed and show some of the finest
horses in the world.
What advice do you have for those who would like to own a horse?
- Buy or breed for what you like not what is the
flavor of the month. Quality is always in fashion and fads are 15
minutes away from being 5 minutes ago.
- Buy the best mare/mares you can find; the foal
is at least 60% of the mare, and invest in old bloodlines.
- Remember that no matter how much you pay for the
horse, the purchase will be the cheapest part of ownership, so the purchase
price should not be the primary limiting factor.
- Have a plan for each horse (show horse, sale
horse, broodmare, etc.)
- Set a limit to how many horses you can handle - in expenses, time and attention. Don't buy more until you have sold one
or more. Stay under your limit; if more people did this the market would be much healthier for all breeds.
- If it were to ever come down to feeding the
horse or yourself, the horse eats first, or you should not own.
- Make time for your horse to be a horse, and not
just work to a stall and back again (necessary if you want
to maintain the horse’s mental health).
- Most of all, own them because you like what we
have in the breed, not because you think you can make a profit, or as a tax shelter.
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Posted on Monday, January 16, 2012 8:39 AM
Denise Lee Branco is the founder of Strolling Hills
Publishing and author of Horse at the Corner Post: Our Divine Journey,
which won a silver medal in the 2011 Living Now Book Awards.
Branco's memberships include American
Horse Publications, Women's Horse Industry Network and Northern
California Publishers and Authors. She has been a featured guest on KAHI
Corral - KAHI AM 950 Radio and Speaking of Horses TV, and her book recently
received commendable reviews in Northwest Horse Source, Yankee Pedlar,Horses
All, and Honest Horses magazines.
Where do you live?
Born and raised on a small cattle ranch, just
outside city limits in the small (back then) town of Merced,
California. All kinds of animals made the ranch their home, too; from the
typical horses, dogs, and cats to rabbits, chickens, and even a duck who used
to waddle behind my bicycle, until he figured out he could take a shortcut on
the circular gravel driveway to get ahead of me. It
was wholesome country living at its best in
my Portuguese-American family, where most extended family members
lived only an hour away. I feel very blessed to have that type of
upbringing.
 Tell me about your writing and your book release....
I released my first book, Horse at the
Corner Post: Our Divine Journey, in October 2010. Although writing always
seemed the best way for me to express my feelings, my career hadn't taken me
down a professional writing path until that time. In doing research for
the book, my parents found stories I had written as a kid about ranch life
stored away in boxes that were signed by, "Denise Branco,
Author". I guess it was fate after all.
Where do you like to write?
On the couch, sitting right between my two
cats. Seeing them content, lounging alongside me, puts me at ease to let
the writing flow.
Do you write everyday?
Sadly, no. I still have a regular job and
most of my extra time this past year has been spent promoting Horse
at the Corner Post. However, I am making an effort in the new
year to write every couple of days or so, even if it's just a few
sentences.
How do you maintain ideas and thoughts?
I'm pretty much old school...still handwrite all
my thoughts and ideas on note paper.
What/who is your niche market?
Animal lovers, but horse lovers the most...ages
6 to 96. I've been incredibly fortunate to receive beautiful
feedback from all ages, sharing how my story has touched their
heart. That is what I live for.
Do you have a favorite author?
Now that I've met so many fellow authors,
I couldn't choose a favorite even if I tried. I love them all.
We support each other and want the best for one another. That is such a
beautiful thing.
What are your writing goals for future endeavors?
I have several ideas for the books I'll
write next, but it's the order of them, that's the challenge. I like
writing when it flows, but in the end, I feel I need to let the path unfold
before me. I need to see what direction this book goes, and that will decide
which book will be next. I'm just one of those that believes things
happen when they are meant to happen. Do you have suggestions for newbie writers?
Join writers organizations and do your
homework. What I mean by that is learn as much about your craft
and the industry as you can. Learn from those who you aspire to
be. But most of all, believe in yourself. We only have one
life to live. So, go for it! Write that book now, instead of
never and looking back at the end of your life wishing you had. Excerpt from Horse at the Corner Post, page 5:
"It was a year packed with events celebrating the
United States of America's Bicentennial. Freedom '76 slogans briskly
swept through America while red, white, and blue trios sparkled across the
land. Old Glory elegantly waved with each subtle breeze.
American pride--we all had it.
I was a youth and had convinced myself that my collection of commemorative
coins and two-dollar bills would, one day, be worth millions. Instead, I
learned that the most valuable things in life have nothing to do with
money."
Follow Denise
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Posted on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 9:07 AM
Richard Carreño resides in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA........... a writer, bookseller, and an educator, formerly a
lecturer of American literature and English composition at
several universities in the United Kingdom and in the United States. He
is editor of The Philadelphia Junto and a
partner in the on-line bookshop, @philabooks|booksellers and WritersClearinghousePress.
He specializes in art, architectural, and cultural reporting and criticism.
In 1996, Carreño was a visiting scholar at Cambridge
University and, in 1998, an educational consultant to the U.S. Agency
for International Development (A.I.D.) in Ukraine. Carreño was based in
the late 1990s in London, working as a media consultant, writer, and editor for
Writers Clearinghouse, a firm he founded in 1978 in Fabyan, CT. He travelled
widely in Europe and the Mid-East. Returning to the United States in 1999,
he held a short-term, mid-career assignment as a James H. Ottaway Sr. Fellow at
the American Press Institute, Washington.
He is the recipient of an honors citation from the
Lowell Mellett Fund for a Free and Responsible Press, Washington, for his work
as a media critic; a first place award from the New England Scholastic Press
Association; and a Friends of The Bahamas Essay Award, among others.
In 1999, Carreño founded @philabooks|booksellers in
partnership with late father, Ralph J. Carreño of Boston. The on-line bookshop
specializes in books about The New Yorker and its authors; men's
fashions; works by and about the Pennsylvania author John O'Hara; and
books by and about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. @philabooks also
sponsors The Philadelphia Book ConneXion, a charity that distributes free
books.
 Carreño was a reporter and editor for many years in the
1970s and 1980s for numerous newspapers, includingThe Boston Globe; The
Hartford Courant; the Telegram & Gazette, Worcester, Massachusetts; and The
News, Southbridge, Massachusetts, where he served as the first news critic and reader
ombudsmen in New England. His free-lance writing has appeared in scores of
regional and national publications in the U.S. and in the U.K.
His work now appears regularly in the Philadelphia Weekly
Press. He also edits The Philadelphia Junto, an on-line blog.
Among his teaching posts were adjunct positions at Johnson
& Wales University, Providence, Rhode Island; the Harvard University Extension
School, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Clark University and Assumption College, both in
Worcester, Massachusetts; and at the Choate-Rosemary Hall School, Wallingford, Connecticut. In
2004, he was an ESL specialist in Spain.
For many years, Carreño operated a family-owned boarding
stable in Connecticut. He is an amateur horsemen,
previously participating in foxhunting in Massachusetts and polo
in Florida and Massachusetts. His interest in equestrianism extends
to book collecting in that area and it being specialty designation of @philabooks. He has amassed a 5,000-title personal library,
including a comprehensive collection of works by and about John O'Hara.
Before moving to the U.K., Carreño served as an elected and
appointed official to several library panels, including the Connecticut
Association of Library Directors; the Connecticut Governor's Conference on
Libraries; and the Thompson, CT, Library Board of Directors. He is a
member of Pen & Pencil Club, Philadelphia; the Cambridge University
Society; and the Mid-Century Society, Philadelphia and London.
Carreño was educated at New York University, where he was a
Regent Scholar and studied under the noted historians North Callahan and John
Tebbel. He obtained undergraduate degrees from the American University, Paris,
France; and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This was followed by
graduate work at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Carreño has also worked and lived in France and
Switzerland. His childhood home was in Nassau, The Bahamas, where is mother,
Marion Berman Carreño, is buried. Carreño is a former resident of Worcester, Massachusetts, and Thompson, Connecticut.....
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
First time I read The New Yorker as a kid. What is your genre and writing style?
Advocacy first-person journalism. Informal.
Where do you like to write?
In my office.
How do you maintain ideas and thoughts for manuscripts?
Files, Notebooks.
In your opinion, what makes a great writer?
Non-fiction: Kick-Ass Cheeky Honesty Fiction: Universal
Timeless Theme.
What suggestions do you have for first time writers?
Write, proofread, cut, edit, write and do it again an
again.
Do you have a favorite author/poet?
Author: John O'Hara
What are you currently working on?
A biography of Paul Mellon.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Whoa! One day at a time, please
Follow Richard
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Posted on Tuesday, January 03, 2012 3:43 PM
Welcome internationally acclaimed writer and performance poet, Omer Tarin....
When did you first realize you
wanted to be a writer?
There
wasn’t ever a fixed time, when I knew, no sudden epiphany or realization! I
always read and wrote a lot, even as a child, and my imagination was always
working. I used to day-dream a lot, too; and many of my dreams became ‘ideas’
for poems or stories. So I have been writing ever since I can remember, all
sorts of things, and gradually, quite by themselves, things began to fall into
place. I must say my parents, especially father, were very supportive and
encouraging—my father was my earliest literary mentor and guide and he had very
good taste, was an avid reader and had a rather substantial library which he
allowed me full use of. I never remember him saying ‘read this’ or ‘read
that’—it was a true voyage of discovery for me, one day reading (say) Dickens,
and a few days later Gerald Durrell or Robert Frost or selections from various
regional languages and literatures. And then, when I began to write, my father
encouraged me all the more, would often take time out of his busy schedule to
discuss a poem or story I’d written. Later on, I was lucky to go to some of the
best schools in Pakistan, in the old British colonial ‘public school’
tradition, and some of the masters there were absolutely splendid people.
They’d encourage us to ‘do our thing’, whatever inspired or appealed to us, and
always had time to discuss, to critique and guide. Although I write in three
languages, the major part of my writing now is in English and this was
something that my teachers guided me towards initially, and they were also the
first ones to publish some of my work in school and college magazines and
later, to prompt me to write for literary journals and even newspapers and
periodicals. This gave me a great deal of confidence in my writing potential in
my student days.
What’s your genre and style?
I
am essentially a poet. However, I have also written some shorter fiction and
non-fiction prose—some of these writings have only just been made available in
privately printed editions, in the USA/North America. Since I’m also an
academic and research scholar by profession today, in addition to my literary
writings I have also written a fair amount of research: on history, culture and
folklore, Pakistani and South Asian regional literature and art and so on. As a
poet writing in English, in South Asian contexts, I am not, I believe,
restricted to any limitations of style or content. Although most of my poetry
is vers libre, I have experimented and keep on experimenting quite a lot. Even
with forms and styles that are not usually found in English/Western literature.
As a young student, I was deeply influenced by certain mystic, spiritual and
meditative aspects of some of our South Asian literary traditions, for example
such as the works of the Punjabi Sufic poets like Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah,
Waris Shah; and also by the broader ‘Islamic’ Sufi poetic tradition, especially
the classical Persian works of Rumi,
Hafiz and Attar. One of my own early poetic mentors in Pakistan was Taufiq
Rafat, a fine poet who was also an authority on Punjabi poetry and a bold
exponent of the adaptation of a Punjabi idiom into his own English poems. I
guess one way or the other, these ‘influences’ are all to be found in my work.
Do you use real life experiences,
characters, storylines etc, for inspiration?
Yes
and no. ‘Inspiration’ for me isn’t a fixed or systematic thing. It’s something
that just ‘happens’. Sometimes, you are thinking, or in a day-dream or reverie,
or sometimes some person, word, action, some sight or sound or smell becomes
evocative and –lo! I think I do tend to draw upon personal experience in
certain ways, too, in fiction by utilizing certain events or people that I’ve
met or known, and ‘filed away’ as the basis for imagined scenarios and
characters, in due course. In poetry, my ‘experience’ is something different;
something from another source, or part of me altogether. As you might know, I
am also a ‘practicing mystic’ in the Islamic Sufic way, and various forms of
meditation, of ‘connection’ to higher spiritual ‘realities’ are regular parts
of such practice. At times, these experiences, which aren’t really
‘expressible’ in other forms, find their voice in my poetry. At other times,
the subjective condition, that strange half-awake and half-asleep ‘poetic
state’ emerges out of some part of me on its own account and ‘inspires’. I must
add, that for me at least, ‘inspiration’ is seldom direct. I don’t go and sit
by a river or watch a sunset and say “Oh! How lovely! I’m going to write about
this!”. It acts in subtle, elliptical ways. Seeps down into the subconscious
and takes on some strange and often unbelievable shapes and disguises. . .
Where do you like to write?
I
am personally most comfortable writing at my ease in my small study, or work
place at home. For more ‘academic’ type of writing I like to be at my desk and
with my Computer/Word processor in front of me and flanked by all my
paraphernalia like dictionaries and thesauri and reference books etc. When I
write poetry, this can take place anywhere; there are many nights when I wake
up and start to write, and I always keep pen and paper handy. Later on, I take
my ‘draft poem’ to my desk, too, when I start to ‘polish’ it up. This takes me
quite some time, as I like to write and rewrite a poem a number of times, and a
number of ways. I enjoy experimenting like this. One thing I am normally not
able to do, is write outdoors, in proximity to nature—I might take in varied
impressions, sensory perceptions and all, in such surroundings, but for me
these have to be eventually ‘refined’ through a certain process. Was it
Wordsworth who said that poetry was “Emotion recollected in tranquility”? I’m
not sure; but whoever it was, came quite close to expressing how I (a) ‘feel’
and then (b) create, later.
How do you maintain ideas and thoughts
for manuscripts?
Mostly
in diaries that I keep. These are less the standard daily journals than my
general musings, thoughts/ideas and all. Often, during the course of such
writing, I come across good or useful ideas for a future essay or story or
something—not poetry, generally—and when such an idea occurs to me, I jot out a
quick outline how I’d organize it, or do it, and then I flag the outline or
page/s, using my own codes and abbreviations. This makes it easier for me to
return to a particular idea or outline, when I need to. Usually, I don’t
maintain bulky files and odds and ends (although I know some writers who do)
except for my research/academic writing –but for that, I also have other
resources, and people, to assist and help me out. That’s quite a different
sphere of activity for me compared to creative writing.
In your opinion, what makes a
great poet?
To
tell you the truth, it is very difficult to say. Poetry is such a complicated
business, and such a ‘personal’ one, that it’s very hard to pass such facile
judgments! Even with regard to many ‘great’ poets at one time or another, their
‘acceptability’ as great is or might be something entirely to do with certain
popular trends and critical opinion and such things—take Lord Byron, for
example, the quintessential product of a certain time and age; and take Emily
Dickinson by way of comparison, who was quite unknown and unrecognized in her
time, but ‘discovered’ by a later one. Yet, inspite of this, one feels there
are some ‘commonalities’ too, in some truly ‘great, lasting poetry regardless
of where it’s written. As I see it, such poetry ‘reaches out’ to us at many
levels, in many ways, and makes us ‘sing’ within! It whispers fantastic things
into our ears and hearts, and makes us fly and soar away, into certain realms
that we don’t always know exist within us. It also somehow changes us, and
allows us some sort of insights into ourselves and into the world and into many
things that we normally perhaps don’t think about, or feel in any deeper sense
during the course of our routines. It’s a very delicate thread, that binds Rumi
and Shakespeare and Basho and Goethe and Tagore and makes them as one. In a lecture ‘On Poetry’ delivered in 1900,
WB Yeats made that famous albeit ponderous statement that sublime poetry
emerged when , “All sounds, all colors, all forms, …call down among us certain
disembodied powers [which]…we call emotions; and when sound and color and form
are in a musical relation, a beautiful relation to one another, they become one
sound, one color, one form, and evoke an emotion that is made out of their
distinct evocations and yet is one emotion”.
This is as close as one can come to expressing what ‘great poetry’ is.
What suggestions to you have for
first time writers and poets?
I’m
very happy to see so many people, at least, writing nowadays, especially young
people! Even twenty years ago, this wasn’t so common, at least in this part of
the world. Young people, or those young at heart and overflowing with words,
would often be sidetracked or even actively discouraged; and in a way, there’s
a ‘publishing revolution’ that is going on at this time, major changes, which
allow writers access to audiences worldwide and very quickly, too. So, in this
respect, there’s a lot that’s positive for aspiring writers. At the same time,
the basic standards for good writing, for writing that is meaningful and
lasting, remain the same as they ever were. I think that all good writers
automatically start by reading a lot of good literature, or reading a lot,
generally! And this is something that I always advise new writers, please do
read, try to see and note and feel what has been written by the best writers
everywhere, and how they’ve written it. Finally, if you are seriously committed
to writing as a vocation, then just keep on writing, and don’t be discouraged
by negative criticism or sidetracked by quests for fame and fortune. These
things will come too, in good time. But whether they do or not, write, as if
writing was all, and write as well as you possibly can and take time—don’t be
in a hurry. There’s no race going on, and that’s just the illusion of the
‘marketplace’, and if you’re good you’ll get published sooner or later. Just
believe in yourself and put in a lot of hard work.
Follow Omer via these links....
A sample of Omer’s poetry… Two in My Garden
They stand together
The twin stalks
In my backyard,
Sometimes reminders
Of some things not done,
Some weeds not plucked
When it was time to do so;
Why I did not clear the yard
Is not so important now
As why did I want to?
Indeed, I see no petal
Half as nice as those two
That grow together, in their awkward fashion,
And they have some part of me
Where it wouldn't do;
It doesn’t matter anymore, of course,
When other weeds have grown
Along them, only not like them at all,
And choked the petunias
Out of their shallow beds;
And there is some justice
In my garden going to seed,
Then standing tall and together
Once I’ve ceased to tend.
Shandur Polo
Had I seen the ghosts of this place
They would dance their victory dance;
Glorious vale
Cup, chalice,
Basin;
The glacial streams
Empty into that lake
Quiet, ever so silent,
Rippling lyre, reflection;
Snows and rocks frame it —
I have no words
Only emotions
Which boil and rise
With the thunder of horses,
The sound of stick
And ball thudding
Across the turf;
The ghosts of this place,
Had I but seen them,
Pale as the snow
Cold as the lake
As vivid as the night-fires
That light the valley;
The whistle of wind
The throb of drum
The chant of song
Had I seen the ghosts dance
Their victory dance….
Question
All my life
Has been lived
For the one moment
Beyond being
Which now points out
New horizons, yet unseen;
Not-being,
What will be?
Mists
over Thandiani*
Tonight on the veranda
I behold
The crystalline hilltops
Sublimate into an avalanche
Of snowflakes, in turn
Dissolving into the haze
Of silent mists;
Trees stand frozen
Like stiff soldiers
Mantled in unstirring ranks
Braced for some dire consequence Ill-defined;
A wolf’s eldritch howl
Echoes
And night-birds trill their alarm
As the sickle moon
Glides away behind its many veils;
Owl-flights haunt
My dreams now
And your long green hair
Bewilders me with witchcraft.
* Thandiani is a hill resort located at approx.9000 ft above sea level in the
Hazara Division of the NW Frontier Province of Pakistan. It is surrounded on
three sides by dark coniferous forests and these offer a stark contrast to the
snowy peaks of the Pir Panjal Range, in Kashmir, to the North-East.
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Posted on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 7:24 PM
From Paris, France, Frédérique
is a world renowned artist. Now living
in Bayonne, France, she is in the process of painting Fauji, Marwari Stallion of India….these are a few of her beautiful paintings...
When did you begin painting?  - My mother was designer and I saw her drawing all my
childhood. When we went to visit their horses at the stable in Rambouillet
forest close to Paris, we stayed there for the week end, they used to go for a
long ride in the forest, and I stayed at stable with the horses... I begun
drawing horses there, I was four or five. I started to ride at the same time,
even if I was on a horse yet when my mother was pregnant.
Why do you like to paint horses?
- I paint horses first because I feel a strong link with them.
I don't talk a lot, and I realized very young that horses talk with their soul.
I find them beautiful of course, but I am fascinated by their powerful soul, by
their generosity to humans... They have a symbolic force, and from my
convictions, they are able to go from a world to another, from our human world
to the one of invisible... that's why they help us to know who we are.
What medium do you
use for your work?
- I use oil, acrylic, ink, black stone... But mostly oil on
canvas.
Where is your
favorite place to paint?
- I can paint everywhere. When I paint, I am absent to this
world, I just search to make this connection alive.
Where in the world are your paintings?
- I have canvases in USA, Chislhom Gallery Pine Plains, NYin Greenlane,
Ireland, In Marceau Gallery, Nantes, France, Entre sable et bruyère Gallery,
France...
You capture the
soul of the horse in your artwork. Do you only paint those horses that you feel
'connected to'?
- I can paint all horses, because I feel connected to all of
them. DO they have a common soul? There are some horses who don't open the door
easily, and sometimes it takes more time for me to get in the work, but,
finally, I have never given up with any of them. This must seem silly,
but often I feel to be more a horse than a human...
Do you have a favorite horse breed to paint?
- I have no favorite breed to paint. I love to paint expressive
horses... so of course, I love to paint Andalusians. They are the horses I
mostly paint. But I have recently discovered Marwaris, Kathiawaris and really
felt in love with them... I hope to go to India very soon to meet them in real.
They look so magical...I am really impressed by the way they carry their head.
How many different
breeds have you painted?
- I have painted many breeds... Mangalargas Marchadores, Paso
finos, criollos, Spanish, Lusitanos, Akhal tekes, Arabians, Marwaris,
Kathiawaris, Desi horses of Pakistan, Holsteiners, draft, Friesians, barb...
but for the next edition of my exhibition "horses of the world and equine
cultures", I have many others breeds to paint.
 Who is your favorite artist? - My favorite living artists are Susan Leyland, Viviane
Duccini, Hrovje Dumancic, Heather Jansch, four equine sculptor; Jeanne St
Cheron, equine painter. Pierre Soulages. Passed away artists, Géricault, Klimt, Stubs,
Delacroix, Degas, Escher.....there are so many I love...
Do you have suggestions for new equine artists? - Suggestion for new equine artists...spend more time you can
with horses, just trying to be WITH them, feel them, meet them, then draw a
lot, and be ready to pay the tribute with your life ... I paint each day
without any stop since more than ten years, when I don't paint, I am with
horses, I watch horses photos, video, read horses book, talk with horse men,
learn on equine culture, dream horses....
What are you currently painting?
- Currently, I am painting FAUJI,
a Marwari Stallion.
See more gorgeous artwork…
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Posted on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 11:14 AM
 Welcome, Doreen, to my blog!
From Spain, Doreen is an equestrian an author! Her new book release, The Arabian Horse, is in bookstores now!
When did you fall in love with horses?
- I was about five years old
when I first fell in love with horses, I can remember like it was yesterday
when my parents booked my first riding lesson after that day I couldn't get
enough.
Do you have a favorite breed of horse? Why?- I would say I have spent a
lot of time with the Andalusian so this would have to be my favorite then the
Arabian would be my second choice.
Do you currently have horses?
- I currently don’t own any
horses anymore, I ride for clients now.
Where do you like to ride?
- I love riding in Andalusia I
love the views and the mountain rides. This is how I become to write
Andalusian Horses book.
Where is Andalusia? - In the South of Spain, in Malaga.
When did you begin writing?
- My first book was
about birds The Bourke Parakeet in 1997 published by TFH, due to my love of
birds as well as horses. The idea of this book started when I purchased this
bird and couldn't find any books on them, so I studied them and thought it was
about time there was a book available to the world. I think it [writing] is in my
blood, as my grandfather William Albert Austen is a decendant of Jane Austen.
Your current book release is out! Congratulations!
What is the basis for your book?
- My new release
Arabian Horse and The Arabian Desert Horse come from the idea on Facebook,
we exchange photos talk about different types of Arabians and this become very
interesting to me. Then I had the idea to share this one step more in a form of a book.
Do you have any suggestions for beginning writers?
- I think when it
comes to writing there is a certain passion about it and its not until your
book is finished that you get that buzz, you will have your good and bad days
my advice to you is keep going and don’t give up.
What are your future goals as an equestrian and
author?
- I have never been
to U.S.A and would love to visit, always dreamed of checking in to a working
ranch and living the life of a cowboy….
Follow Doreen via these links:
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Posted on Thursday, December 08, 2011 7:22 PM
Welcome Jonathan!
Thank you for interviewing for my blog of famous people!
You are an accomplished historical author, and your novel, "The Walls of Jericho" is fabulous! As I was reading, I felt every stride of the horse
and galloped the journey with your characters.
What was your inspiration for
writing this wonderful historical novel?
 - Gina,
you're very kind, but I don't consider myself accomplished after one novel -
maybe after four or five!
I
never intended to write a book, and how it came about is a long story which
shows how dangerous a thing 'inspiration' can be.
A
few years ago, my wife got the grumbles. I'm sure most long-married men have
heard the same complaints - about not
being romantic anymore, never buying flowers etc etc. And...they were probably
warranted. So I had a brainwave. For our wedding anniversary, which was five
months hence, I'd deliver her flowers on horseback...as a 19th century hussar!
What could be more romatic than that, thought I?
Unfortunately,
I'd reckoned without the difficulty of getting hold of kit. You can't just pop
into your local gents outfitters and buy a Napoleonic cavalry uniform and
saddlery. As it turned out I found a re-enactment uniform on eBay, but I had to
make the saddlery myself and there are no patterns available. It meant I was
forced into searching high and low for descriptions and pictures. I hunted
through non-fiction books about British cavalry
of that time - lots of them. And what struck me most was the amount of
criticism levelled at those men from just about every historian and his dog.
They couldn't possibly have been that bad, could they?
The more campaign histories and diaries I read, the more
frustrated I got at what I believed were unfair interpretations of many of the cavalry
actions. Someone needed to speak up for the British horsemen who fought
Napoleon in Spain and Portugal. But I'm no historian so, for my sins, I wrote a
novel. To tell the story of what their lives were really like.
And
the wedding anniversary? That went fine, thank you. Especially since I'd also
organised a carriage ride to lunch.
What was your inspiration for character development?
- Georgian
society was highly polarized. The industrial revolution, which grew the middle classes,
was in its infancy. But the wars against Napoleon threw the very rich and grindingly
poor together in a way most had never experienced before, forcing them, in many
instances, to endure danger and privation on an equal footing.
I
was interested in exploring how such relationships worked in real life, and
whether it ultimately affected the way men dealt with their social opposites on
a day-to-day basis. So my two main characters are a prince and a pauper, so to
speak. And to make life even more difficult for them, they are childhood
friends, brought together by a shared love of horses.
You are working on a sequel to your novel. When will it be released?
- Ah
- an awkward question! Well, the draft is almost finished but I'm one of those people who is
never satisfied and will edit and edit and edit. My main problem is the new
story has to be better than the first.
I'm hopeful it'll be ready in the Spring.
Do you have any suggestions for beginning writers who
would like to write historical fiction?
- Don't
be put off by those who tell you crime fiction, sci-fi and horror are the only
genres that sell. A good historical novel will always find readers, and the
market is growing. Try to find a period that interests you and a niche within
that period which no-one else has covered. Read as much as you can, both
fiction, so you can see what's popular in style and content, and books by
'proper' historians. I buy non-fiction secondhand and on eBay because textbooks
are so expensive and specialist works hard to find at the local library.
But
most importantly, write about your characters: what they see and hear, how they
feel, how they live. The historical backdrop to their lives is important but
that's all it is - a backdrop. Readers buy books to find out what happens to
the people in them. And if they fall in love with your characters they'll want
to read more and more about them.
Do you write everyday?
- No
- I should, but I don't. I'll find some reason not to unless I force myself.
I've tried sitting in front of the screen and just typing any old rubbish, but
I just can't do it. So I don't write for a couple of days and then type madly
for the next few.
One
thing I make sure of is to do something writing-related every day without fail.
Just making a simple note is enough - anything to drive the writing forward.
That might be an idea for a new story, a new fact to include, a change or addition
to an existing outline; even a line of dialogue for a character.
How do you keep and maintain ideas and thoughts for manuscripts?
- I
use a really simple system. I just have a file on the laptop with ideas and
outlines that I add to or change every day. It gets backed up with the rest of
the system so I don't lose it, as I once did with three chapters of Walls of Jericho thanks to a hard-drive
problem. You all back your files up, don't you?
But
I also keep a voice recorder in the car - just in case I get caught short when
I'm out and about!
What is it like to live in South Wales?
- I
love this area. We live in the Vale of Glamorgan which is greener and more
agricultural than the once-industrialized valleys further north. It's right on
the coast so we have countryside and sea in close proximity, but with capital city
Cardiff just a few miles to the east we're not too far away from the bright
lights either.
You are an equestrian as well as a writer. Your equestrian abilities certainly
shine through in your writing. What is your favorite personal horse story?
- There
are loads! The best one's on my blog but it's very long winded, so as a shorter
anecdote...I was in a showjumping class and my old horse was having an off-day.
He ran out at one fence and when re-presented did exactly the same thing. Both
times I came off over his right shoulder but luckily landed on my feet. The
commentator announced, "I'm afraid that's elimination for, er...let's be
kind and say 'two dismounts'".
Do you currently own a horse? Where do you like to ride?
- I
inherited a cast-off from my daughter - he's a nice old stick but she found him
a bit sharp for her. Unfortunately, it wasn't until I started riding him we
discovered he doesn't like men!
One
problem with the area we live is the lack of off-road riding. There are a few
forestry tracks, and permit-only riding on a sand-dune system to the west of us,
but you have to box the horses to get there. Most of the ancient cart tracks
were metalled as roads, before the railways arrived, so there are few
bridlepaths...hey - maybe there's a novel in that somewhere.
Who are your favorite authors?
- Bernard
Cornwell, Clive
Cussler (but growing out of love with him), Wilbur Smith, CC Humphreys, the
late Dick Francis, MM Bennetts.
What is your favorite equestrian quote?
- "A
horse is uncomfortable in the middle and dangerous at both ends" - Ian Fleming
What are your future goals as a writer and a rider?
- As a writer - I want to carry on as long as possible. I
have outlines and ideas for a possible fourteen cavalry stories, so increasing
my output might be a good idea!
As a rider - I
want to carry on as long as possible. No - seriously, it would be nice to get
back to competing before my joints and ligaments start protesting too much. I
once had ambitions to wear a tailcoat at dressage - that'd be Medium level and
above in the UK - but I think it's probably beyond me now. So a few Riding Club
One-Day-Events and some showjumping will suit me fine.
Follow Jonathan via these links:
Website: www.cavalrytales.co.uk
Blog: http://cavalrytales.wordpress.com
Amazon (paperback): http://www.amazon.com/Walls-Jericho-Jonathan-Hopkins/dp/1849230307/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322950437&sr=1-10
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/Walls-Jericho-Cavalry-Tale-ebook/dp/B004ELAPZG/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322950437&sr=1-3
Smashwords (other e-formats): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/32464
B&N (paperback): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/walls-of-jericho-jonathan-hopkins/1015115906?ean=9781849230308&itm=4&usri=walls+of+jericho
B&N (Nook): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/walls-of-jericho-a-cavalry-tale-via-smashwords-jonathan-hopkins/1107554768?ean=2940011145933&workid=1107554768
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Posted on Thursday, December 01, 2011 7:30 AM
Julie Bridge is from California, USA. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is founder of The Brego Foundation, an organization devoted to rescuing and rehabilitating off the track thoroughbreds.
Thanks, Julie, for being my guest!
You are an advocate for
the protection of America's horses. As founder of the Brego Foundation, what
is your role?
Yes, I advocate for horses. Once upon a time horses
saved my life by keeping me connected to something larger and greater than
myself. I have been on and around horses since I was two years old - ironically
- my first ride took place on the back of a thoroughbred mare, the very breed
that my organization rescues from the horrific fate of slaughter. In 2007 I
read an ad for a 17-hand off the track thoroughbred located in a Washington
feedlot. I looked at the photos and his eye spoke to me. Underneath the sadness
and depression I saw the faintest glimmer of his enormous heart. I was
compelled to do something, compelled to take action. I rescued this horse,
named Espresso at the feedlot. I sent $750 to bail this horse sight unseen.
Neither of us knew that on that day a long held vision would move that much
closer to manifestation, the founding of the Brego Foundation to rescue and
rehabilitate off the track thoroughbreds. Brego is the name sake of this
organization. I am the founder of this organization The Brego Foundation's core
mission is to provide former race horses a second chance and a second career.
We do this through networking with other rescues, education and providing funds
and resources for horses that are rescued. At this time we have limited space
for any rescued horses to be housed in our care. We have some horses housed
with Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue who we consider our sister
organization in Southern California. We have been diligently looking for
property for over two years so that we can actively take in horses that we
rescue.
The Brego Foundation will evaluate each horse for
suitability as an Equine Teacher and Guide. Our experience with Brego has shown
that thoroughbreds in particular are amazingly adept at being teachers, healers
and guides. I believe this is due to the enormous heart of the thoroughbred and
a desire to have a job that matters. If the horses we rescue are suitable for
work with people in a teaching context, they will be transitioned into that
roll under Mearas Leadership and Coaching. Brego was one such horse, who was
evaluated and then carefully introduced into the teaching work. He took on his
role as teacher last August during a Women's Workshop offered by Mearas. Brego
demonstrated his gift, as each horse has their own teaching gift, of
forgiveness and living in the true present. He has proven to be an incredible
teacher and brings himself generously to his work.
 The ultimate goal of both organizations is to
return the horse to the partnership role with humans they once enjoyed. Humans
were dependent upon horses for war, transportation and agriculture. Since the
industrial revolution, horses have been delegated into two primary worlds:
companionship and business - business being the business of racing, sporting
events, training, etc. And many of us, in horror, have come to the
understanding that horses are now disposable, and thus, our goals is to change
that perception.
Is your organization
making strides to promote horse welfare?
Somewhat. However the entire community of horse
advocates have been recently dealt a significant blow when President Obama
signed into law a provision that reinstates funding for USDA Inspection of
horse slaughtering facilities. This was a massive, massive heartbreak to our
cause and we are still reeling as a community to the backing down of staunch
supports such as Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, who did and said nothing to
prevent this Ag Bill from going through.
We continue to be a voice for the horses through
any means we can, and I am personally devastated by the recent legislation
change as well as the BLM policy of running our American Mustangs into
extinction.
Does the majority of the
public embrace your endeavors?
If you look at the polls, Americans want and
support two things:
- Horse slaughter to be abolished in the US. The
United States does not consume horsemeat. Horses are slaughtered here for human
consumption overseas, in Europe and Asia. A consequence that the Belgian-owned
companies don't want any consumer to know about is that since horses in the
United States are not raised as food animals, they are not subject to the
strict regulation of what they consume. As a result, horses are given drugs
such as Bute, steroids, wormers, and other toxic substances that are used in general
horse care. These substances go into the horses meat and are consumed by
unsuspecting consumers.
The public also embraces the belief that wild
horses should remain wild, not housed in holding facilities funded by tax payer
dollars. Unfortunately, behind both these issues is both the Agricultural Lobby
and the Oil and Gas Lobby.
 Do you have a favorite breed? Where do you like to ride
and what discipline do you ride?
This is an interesting question for me. I have
ridden all my life, since I was two years old. I have ridden in every type of
discipline, from Hunter Jumper to Western Pleasure to Dressage. Since my horses
are now primarily teaching horses, I don't ride all that much anymore, but when
I do, it is either dressage or western, depending on who I am riding.
What is favorite horse
event/story?
My favorite horse story is that of Barbaro, a horse
that rallied a nation to act, out of a deep concern for this horse. Barbaro's
short life has left a mark that will forever be felt, and the community that
formed around Barbaro is now known as the FOB's for Fans of Barbaro.
Together, we have raised millions of dollars and
rescued thousands of horses.
My favorite memory is of racing at a full gallop,
underneath the power lines of New Jersey, bareback with my horse only wearing a
halter - no hard hat, just totally free..... at six years old. 
Do you have a favorite
horse quote?
Wherever man has left his footprint in the long
ascent from barbarism to civilization we will find the hoof print of the
horse beside it.
What is your favorite
horse portrayal in media? (book, movie, etc.)
The Black Stallion,,,, as a child I watched it over
and over and over again. Second would be Seabiscuit.
What is your future goal as an equestrian?
My future goal is to help people reconnect to themselves and their bodies through working with horses so that ultimately we can reconnect and recalibrate with "the body" known as the Earth.
Follow Julie via these links!
Julie
Bridge
Mearas
Leadership and Coaching
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