Heather Hamel's Blog, page 10

Merry Christmas from all of us

Merry Christmas from the Triple H Ranch!

2015 Year in Review

As most everyone knows, I embarked on a new journey this fall: yoga teacher certification. I’m not the type of person to finish one thing before starting on another, I also earned my certification in equine yoga – yes, that’s doing yoga while ON a horse! I feel that learning experience really helped me in my own life with Kobi and Midnight as well. I will finish up my regular yoga teacher training in June of 2016 – so almost halfway there…just need to study this winter break for the written and practical exams next month. Keep you fingers crossed!

Due to the bugs and heat, I wasn’t able to ride much this summer and then when the bugs dissipated somewhat (the heat’s still here), Midnight turned up lame and spent a few months working out an abscess in his hoof. Everyone is happy and healthy now, and I’m enjoying them to the fullest!

Writing life – wow…where to begin? During this past year, I published three of the four books in the Cryptozoology series (4th to be released next month for Karoline’s birthday) and the story of Sugar. I have also been working on the sequel to Murder of Crows which is titled Destruction of Wild Cats (planning for a Halloween 2016 release), writing the 5th and last book in the cryptozoology series and finished a historical fiction/romance set during Buffalo Bill’s Wild West (yes, it’s my first attempt at an adult novel!) I’m also launching my own publishing company in January – Jakobi Publishing.

So I’m keeping busy!

Thank you for all the positive thoughts and well wishes that get me through all those doubts that come creeping in at 2:00 AM – I can’t wait until life slows down somewhat and I can come out to play again!

Horse Yoga Connection

I was so fortunate to be able to participate in Equine Om’s  Horse Yoga Integration Teacher Training this past weekend. It was such an amazing, once in a lifetime experience!

It was led by Mandy Inabinett from Downdogz Yoga and Dr. Ashley Thompson from Salto de Fe: Equine Therapeutics. We started Friday night in Mandy’s studio as a ‘get to know you’ night. There were five of us attending from all parts of North America: Texas, Wisconsin, two from Florida, and even one woman had flown down from Canada!

Saturday and Sunday we met at the field where the horses are kept: 300 acres with 22 horses living as wild and free as they can without any arenas, pens or stalls to confine them. Four of the horses belonged to Ashley and those were the equine partners we focused our experiences with and on.

Monday we wrapped things up with a morning of yoga then our ‘final exam’ – guiding one of our new friends through breathing exercises, mediation,two postures beside the horse and five mounted postures.

It’s difficult to put into words everything that I learned since I’m still processing so much of it. Each night and morning I worked on the connections with Kobi and Midnight as I was so fortunate to be able to put my practice immediately to use with my own herd. I will say that Kobi was a little more resistant than Midnight, who is such a ‘go with the flow’ kinda guy – but once I almost forced Kobi to allow me to breathe with him, we did finally connect. He relaxed, cocked his back leg and let out such a long sigh, he’d probably been holding his breath since I walked into his stall! Since that connection though, he’s been greeting me every morning for his breakfast at the side of his stall, closest to the house – almost as if he’s looking and waiting for me to join him.

I can’t wait to share this experience with other horse owners and their horses to deepen their horse/owner bond. What an amazing thing if people came to think of their horses as partners instead of vehicles.

To quote Dr. Ashley, “It’s just that easy!”

And the Winner Is…

After whirlwind 24-hours in Orlando Florida to find the results of the 2015 Royal Palm Literary Awards, I came away a double winner!

Within Emerald Forests received 1st place for Middle Grade Fiction – Published

and

Under Sapphire Skies received 3rd place for Middle Grade Fiction – Unpublished

It was a great weekend:) Thank you everyone who has supported me in my writing journey with a special thanks to Katelin Maloney who went to the banquet with me and stayed up way past her bedtime to hear the announcements!

Royal Palm Literary Award

This afternoon I leave for Orlando and the Royal Palm Literary Awards banquet. I am fortunate enough to have two books as finalists: Within Emerald Forests is in the Middle Grade Published category and Under Sapphire Skies is in the Middle Grade Unpublished category since it wasn’t published at the time it was submitted.

Cross your fingers about 8:00 tonight and I’ll update the blog tomorrow with the results!

Still haven’t read them? All of my Kindle ebooks are on sale through October 31st for $0.99…check them out here and tell all your friends!

It’s October…

The temperatures are finally cooling down here – and it’s October…time for things that go bump in the night!

I’ve gotten so many requests for a sequel to Murder of Crows that I wrote one last November for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Writing a novel is a month is one thing, but it takes nearly a year to clean it up to a useable draft! I was hoping to release the sequel: Destruction of Wild Cats this month by Halloween, but it’s still working through the editor.

But I did just approve the cover:

Not sure when it will be released – but I am one step closer:)

My New Logo

In the upcoming months, I’m going to be creating my own publishing company since it will open other doors for my books. I’m excited to release the logo:

 

It combines Jake and Kobi’s name with Midnight’s white eye – I couldn’t be happier!!

Survival

 

I’ve managed to survive the first two weeks of September…only another six weeks or so until life slows down:)

For those of you who live nearby, please drop by next Saturday for the Florida Heritage Book Festival where I’ll be spending the day (and splitting the table) with fellow author and friend, Katelin Maloney.

For those of you who don’t live nearby, check out the new trailer for Beneath Diamond Waters – November will be here before we know it!

Keeping Busy

Looking through my planner last night, I realized that after Labor Day on Monday, I don’t have a single day off (including weekends) until Halloween! Yikes!

I don’t mind being busy, but when squeezing time in to write and spend time with all my boys turns 12 hour days into 14+ hours days, I tend to get a little cranky! Bu, then again, everyone who knows me also knows that I tend to burn the candle at both ends (and sometimes the middle – just to see what will happen)!

So, please forgive me if I’m not as available as I usually am – my blogs and emails will probably be shorter than usual and I’m assuming my presence on Facebook will drastically decrease…

But…before I disappear for awhile, I want to share my latest book trailer for Beneath Diamond Waters (available on Amazon November 29th (can pre-order now) unless you can find me at an event such as the Magnolia Point Woman’s Club this Wednesday or Florida Heritage Book Festival September 26th).

 

 

Back in the Saddle

This has been one of the worst summers I can remember for riding. It’s been hot, buggy, and oh so rainy. Did I mention that both horses has gnat allergies? That complicates thing to a level I never imagined.

But yesterday morning, I’d had enough. I hadn’t ridden in over a month and I felt it was taking its toll on my physically, emotionally, and creatively. The horses were great. Kobi went forward beautifully (which I couldn’t get him to do without a fight since May) and Midnight is just calm, level-headed Midnight (he pulls a bit, but once he sees he’s not getting his way, he’s fine)

Hand’s down – that was the high point of my weekend…but we also have two new members of our herd: Flag and Bambi. We can’t tell them apart yet…but aren’t they adorable?