Heather Hamel's Blog, page 13

It Takes a Village…

Whoever thought that writers could successfully be their own island was mistaken! Even now, when I still think I can handle something on my own – I’m wrong!

Recently I decided to distribute the ebook version Murder of Crows through a company called lulu – this way I could get on Barnes and Noble’s Nook and other devices. None of my cover images would work. I contacted the talented Sarah Foster from Sprinkles On Top Studios (who has designed the crypto series covers and trailer).

She was unable to use my image from Andersonville’s North Gate – who knew that a photo taken with an iPhone wouldn’t be hi-def?!

Needless to say, she did another amazing job!

 

 

I haven’t converted the ‘old’ Amazon covers over yet, but plan to soon…

 

Countdown!

Get ready for the release of Within Emerald Forests – Book 1 of the Cryptozoology Series. Click here for a link to the trailer!

 

Book 1

 

Book Trailer for the Crypto Series

The soon to be published book, Within Emerald Forests, is the first book in the new Cryptozoology Series. I’m hoping for an end of February release date, with the rest of the books to follow about every two months.

I just received the completed book trailer for the series from the amazing Sarah Foster at Sprinkles On Top Studios, who also created the amazing covers for the series.

As everyone knows, technology isn’t always my friend, so I couldn’t figure out how to embed the trailer in the blog…but if you click here to go to my website, it’s on there. Please share with anyone who you think would be interested in a fun read (child or adult), and despite what the trailer says, it’ll be available soon but not yet!

 

New Addition at the Ranch

We just picked up a new addition to the Triple H Ranch – Midnight!

He’s a fourteen-year-old Paint gelding to keep Kobi company

and is big enough for Les to ride!

 

Children and Horses

What is more spectacular than introducing children to the world of horses? Their expression when they catch their first glimpse of the majestic animals or when they touch the��horse’s soft nose or muscular shoulder reminds me how deep my own love of for the animals go. But what if the children are visually impaired or can’t see at all? Do they still have the same response of awe and wonder? You better believe it!

I was fortunate to be asked to help at a birthday party this past weekend for nine visually impaired 8 to 9-year-olds through the��Equine Therapy group, Salto de Fe. ��I was in charge of Lefty and Dr. Ashley Thompson was with Saltos.

She started with a brief overview of how to interact with the animals: calmly and respectfully. I was a little surprised that most of the children had already had some experience and contact with horses. I found out many of the parents had their children currently or previously enrolled in an equine therapy program, so it wasn’t completely new.

Their reactions were the same though. Lefty happily munched on his hay and I held his lead rope and answered questions while four of the children ran their hands over almost every inch of the Quarter Horse. Watching the children make sense of their world by touch was such an amazing experience for me too. I assisted one boy to feel Lefty’s mane, each ear, forelock, throat and chest – all the while the boy was processing how horses ate: “So everything goes up?” he asked. While another boy was terrified of getting near Lefty’s mouth, so he needed reassurance he was no where near it.

Then it came time for riding. Being as I have anxiety myself, I couldn’t even imagine what it was like to experience being on the back of a horse putting my faith into the horse, handler, and parent who walked beside them. I would struggle in a saddle, these kids were bareback! I let them know if they just wanted to sit up there, it was fine. But every single child, after sitting for a moment, wanted to ride. I can take a lesson from these fearless kids!

The bond between horse and rider was immediate. After the brief ride, everyone told Lefty they loved him. Not everyone wanted to ride again, but they all wanted to pet him and whisper their affections. I think the promise of birthday cake was the only thing that lured the children away from their equine companions.

It was such an amazing experience for all of us, I can’t wait for Dr. Ashley to invite me back!

If anyone is interested in equine therapy or equine yoga (see my previous post), please contact Dr. Ashley at Salto De Fe or Mandy��at Equine Om.

Of course, you can always contact me too!

[contact-form]

 

Equine Yoga

I can take one more thing off my bucket list! A few weeks ago I signed up for an equine yoga class through Equine Om and�� Salto De Fe Equine Therapeutics.

I had such an amazing experience this past Saturday.

We started out with ‘regular’ on the mat yoga. It could be called regular if you normally engage in yoga outside, with round bales of hay at your back and a pond in front of you! From there we paired up with another person and went to meet our equine partner. We were fortunate enough to have Saltos lead us on our equestrian yoga journey!

Our amazing human leaders were Mandy Inabinett and Ashley Thompson. I felt pretty confident going into the session with experience with both yoga and horses. Not only was my experience unnecessary, it didn’t prepare me for the different set of muscles and relaxation that only working with horses can bring.

My next goal – do it with Kobi!

Kobi’s Night Before Christmas

Heather Hamel:

An old one – but one of my favorites! Merry Christmas!!

Originally posted on Heather Hamel:

I found this on my computer from last year when I was struggling to get into the Christmas Spirit. ��I thought I���d post it again ��� might help me get motivated this year as well!

This is an adaptation of��Twas the Night before Christmas��by Clement Clarke Moore to fit Kobi and the Triple H Ranch:

Kobi���s Night Before Christmas Poem

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the barn

All the creatures were stirring, but they meant us no harm.

The stockings were hung on the stall boards with care,

In hopes that Santa Horse soon would be there.

Daisy was nestled all snug in her bed,

While visions of horse trailers danced in her head.

And Sugar���s in her blanket, and I���m in mine too,

Had just settled our brains for a short winter���s snooze.

When out in the pasture there arose a great fuss,
I���

View original 449 more words

Books for Dyslexics

One of the kids I tutor is a little girl with severe dyslexia. I’ve worked with her for almost 9 months now and she’s made tremendous progress – until recently. The last few weeks, her reading has almost seemed to regress. Talking with her and her grandmother, I think it’s partially due to her lack of interest in reading – she can’t get any better if she’s not practicing.

I have scoured my bookshelves trying to find something on her reading ability (about 1st grade) but that would also interest her. Needless to say, I came up empty…until a week ago.

I figured that’s why I originally started writing, to give my struggling students something on their ability level, but also interesting enough to read. There’s only so much of “The cat sat on the mat,” a person can read without wanting to hit their head into a wall! While’s she not up to the level of Murder of Crows or even Kobi yet, what’s the point of being a teacher, writer, and her tutor if I can’t create something for her?

I will be writing a small, probably picture book length, series along with my student. She’ll create the ideas, and I will use words she knows and won’t struggled with too much along with a dyslexic-friendly font to write short stories. My plan is to give her a page or two a day so I know she’ll be reading every day!

Since all four of the books in the crypto series is with an editor, guess what I’ll be working on over Winter Break?

All I know at this point is that it will be about a zebra named Ellie, but as soon as I have some ready, I’ll post it on my website for a free download for everyone to enjoy.

NaNoWriMo – Complete

I will say that National Novel Writing Month was a success! I completed the first (horrible) draft of the sequel to Murder of Crows, which will be called Destruction of Wild Cats (or something very similar).

I managed to write approx. 27,000 words in 25 days of writing. Now the hard part begins by making it readable!

Thank you, everyone, for your support and understanding. Anything is possible if we put our minds to it!

Little Girls and Horses

There is a magical connection between little girls and horses. If they’re lucky when they grow up horses are still a main stay in their life.

Last night at St. Augustine’s Downtown Bazaar, I was fortunate to meet such women while I was set up to sell books. One woman had heard Kobi’s story and bought his book based on that, another has a horse loving friend who thought Kobi’s book would be a great Christmas present for (and it would, in case anyone was wondering!), but it was the third one that made my night.

She was probably around 12 and was drawn immediately to Kobi’s book cover. We talked a little about horses, so I showed her some of his latest pictures. She shared that she was just beginning lessons in Hunter/Jumper. I told her how impressed I was, since that is very intense and sometimes downright scary. It was a great conversation with the next generation of horse lovers. She bought Kobi’s book with her own birthday money and even thanked her non-present aunt for sending it. We finished our brief encounter by taking a picture together (which I hope they send me a copy)!

Anna – good luck with your riding. I hope it remains a life long passion! I also hope to run into you at a show sometime!