Mara Dabrishus's Blog, page 4
January 19, 2016
Lucy’s Chance (Red Rock Ranch #1)
Lucy’s Chance by Brittney Joy16-year-old Lucy is working as a stable hand at Red Rock Ranch for the summer, which was definitely her dream job until she’s facing down a loose baby steer. Baby cows are not as lovable and cuddly as they initially appear, and Lucy is left to ponder this after the steer knocks her on her butt and pretty cowboy Casey witnesses the whole thing. Welcome to Lucy’s summer.
Never has a book successfully yanked me back to the days of Thoroughbred than Brittney Joy’s Lucy’s Chance. Lucy is a protagonist you want to root for as she starts settling into ranch life, learning what’s expected of her and how to tentatively make new friends when you don’t know anyone. Lucy’s not exactly an extrovert, so when Casey catches a half-wild black horse during a trail ride, a perfect opportunity presents itself for Lucy. Get on the black horse’s good side, start training it to be a ranch horse, and maybe she’ll feel like she has a place here at Red Rock. Mix in some budding romance with Casey, an antagonist who can be redeemed, and Red Rock Ranch gets off to a strong start. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the summer shakes out, so Brittney Joy better get busy writing.
This is a book I would happily recommend for the younger teen range, and will definitely call to fans of Heartland and the Phantom Stallion.
Get your copy today on Amazon or read it with KindleUnlimited!
January 18, 2016
Writing What You Don’t Know
One of the most common questions I’ve gotten since releasing Stay the Distance is whether or not I’ve ever worked at a racetrack. I would absolutely love to say yes, that my experience on the racetrack is unparalleled and I have done all the jobs, but the sad answer is that no, I have not.
I am but a humble librarian, and until very recently I lived nowhere near a racetrack. I haven’t even been to the racetrack I live near now. Maybe I will one day, but knowing me that probably won’t happen.
In fact, when I wrote the book I’d never been to Saratoga Springs, where the vast majority of Stay the Distance takes place. It was only after I’d finished it, and was mulling how to publish it, that I went to Saratoga. And you know what? There was only one thing I changed in the manuscript afterward. I think it was just a detail about the grandstand — nothing major.
It’s amazing what Google can find you – this free image of Saratoga Springs came courtesy of the Boston Public Library via a Google images search.
There’s a common saying in the writing world: write what you know. I’d have to say that sometimes that’s a pretty common sense saying. When it comes down to the horse world, it’s necessary. If the little details are off, then the whole book feels off, and if the whole book feels off who will want to read it?
But if we all wrote what we knew, so much wouldn’t get written. I wanted to write a horse racing book, not a book about libraries (oh my god, just … no), so I did a deep dive into The Blood-Horse, bookmarked the websites for Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course, sifted through YouTube to find previous runnings of races I wanted to portray, pulled out all my Google skills and found information I didn’t even know I wanted to know. Then I went truly nuts and wandered around Google Maps, because if you’ve never been to a place, Google has taken care of that for you with Street View. Does it potentially obliterate privacy? Probably! But as an author, I love it.
Maybe you have to be a little obsessive. (Or a lot obsessive. I mean, it’s all relative).
It helps if you’ve got some hands on, tangential experience. I may not have worked with racehorses, but I’ve worked with off track Thoroughbreds. I rode dressage. I could overlap what knowledge I needed with the knowledge I already knew. Then it all comes down to the writing.
So far, Stay the Distance seems to be enjoying the fruits of my obsessive-compulsive researching. Luckily for me, my next book has already been through the industry insider wringer, so when in doubt, find someone to tell you what’s real, what’s not real, and then let the creative process make up the difference.
To research!
Originally posted to Horseback Reads. Stay the Distance is the Horseback Reads book club pick for January! Tune into the Facebook page to ask me questions on Monday, Jan. 25.
January 16, 2016
Headed for the Win
Headed for the Win by Rachel ElikerWhen Nadia and her new horse, Winny, aren’t seeing eye-to-eye, a magical birthday wish upon a cupcake changes things right up. Before you know it, Winny is Nadia, and Nadia is Winny. Freaky Friday style.
While the book takes a little too long getting to the body swap plot, Headed for the Win is a cute read that I would recommend for the tween reader. After all, what young girl hasn’t wanted to know what their horse is thinking?
Well, Rachel Eliker is here to tell you, and it’s probably not what you’re imagining. Winny has plenty of opinions, and when Nadia really wants to know why her horse does certain things and acts certain ways, Winny’s explanations given a human voice are epiphanies for Nadia, who is surprised to learn that Winny always has her reasons. It’s a beautiful lesson to learn for a girl trying to understand a horse–or any animal, for that matter. They always have their reasons, and it’s important for us humans to respect them.
Final verdict? This is definitely a Disney movie come to life. Kids under the age of 14 will absolutely lap this up and look for more. Get your copy on Amazon today!
Fall Line by Tudor Robins
Fall Line by Tudor Robins (Downhill Series #1)Tudor Robins is mostly known for her horse books–the Island Series in particular–which are immensely good and deserve all the praise. Like many horse book people, I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy a book about skiing, because I have not been known to enjoy “slippery sports,” as I call them. Although then I reminded myself that I have been in love with The Cutting Edge since forever, so I downloaded Fall Line and took a crack at it.
Chris and Tilly have known each other forever. They’re best friends, and of everything they have in common, skiing is the be all and end all. But Tilly is motivated and a hard worker, always showing up at training and giving way more than 100% of herself to the sport, whereas Chris tends to rest on his raw talent. They’re also stumbling face first into hormones. Chris is starting to notice that Tilly is also a girl–a girl he might have more than friendly feelings for. And because he’s a fifteen-year-old wreck of a boy, he had no idea how to handle this.
Because what if they do get together? And then what if they break up? The very thought of this puts Chris into a tailspin, so when Tilly’s word of the year is “forward,” Chris is literally falling behind. Chris will do anything to keep being Tilly’s friend, even if it means ruining his training, ruining his skiing, and driving Tilly so far away that being friends? Yeah, not so much.
Sometimes you want to slap sense into Chris. You want to grab him by his stupid shoulders and shake until he gets it. It’s a testament to the Tudor’s writing that you stick with him and want him to figure it out. Budding teen relationships are hard, and I loved how Tudor tackled the subject of friends trying to take those first steps when they both know what they could lose if they keep going forward, only to discover that they can lose the exact same thing if they never take those steps at all.
So hey, I’m not a skiing person. I’m not even much of a male protagonist person. But I’m on board for the second in the Downhill Series. I can’t wait to see where these characters go next.
Grab your copy on Amazon!
January 15, 2016
Introducing: Finding Daylight
It’s available! Get your copy on Amazon right here.
Now I’m going to go read. And write. And enjoy my four-day weekend. Maybe I’ll watch Sherlock. So many possibilities!
Enjoy the book. 
January 14, 2016
Print Cover Reveal!
The print version of Finding Daylight is downloading to Amazon…right now. Yay! The downside to that? I want to proof it first. I know, I know, but without proofing we might have an unintentional mess, so proofing it is! For this reason, print will be delayed for a bit, but the e-book is ready to go and will hit Amazon bright and early tomorrow. So keep those Kindles prepared! Finding Daylight is coming.
January 10, 2016
Finding Daylight: the summary!
It’s probably about that time that I tell you guys what Finding Daylight is about, huh? Well, the wait is over! Here’s the summary:
Georgie Quinn is on top of the world.
Georgie Quinn and the filly Sweet Bells are an unbeatable team. When they win the Breeders’ Cup Classic against colts, the world can’t seem to get enough. Overnight, Georgie becomes the face of horse racing, and Sweet Bells becomes its queen.
Although they’re the morning line favorites, Georgie feels like she’s barely keeping her head above water. Her parents’ farm is a crumbling has-been, her jockey career consumes her time, and Harris Armstrong, heir to Tupelo Stud and grandson of Sweet Bells’ owner, won’t forgive her for telling a lie that kept her family together as the truth ripped his apart.
Georgie refuses to apologize, so she’s stunned when Harris asks her to ride his new colt. The most tenuous partnership in racing has begun. One that threatens to swallow Georgie whole.
Now for a few other quick facts! Finding Daylight is a stand-alone novel, unrelated to my first book, Stay the Distance. It’s also done. Somehow I completed the editing, proofing, and e-book formatting process in record time, so its launch date is now Friday, January 15th. Hurrah! E-book for everyone!
And print, you may ask? I’m hoping to have the print version formatted and ready by the e-book launch date, but you never know with print. That’s my big project this week. Then it’s back to writing the Stay the Distance sequel, which will hopefully be ready by this summer.
So that’s the news! Prepare your Kindles for the weekend!
January 6, 2016
January Book Club
Mark your calendars! Stay the Distance has been announced as the Horseback Reads book club selection for January. That means I’ll be available on the Horseback Reads Facebook page to answer questions about the book (and pretty much anything else) on Monday, January 25th. (Time to be determined.)
In the meantime I’ll be posting tidbits about the book on Mondays at Horseback Reads, so keep an eye out for some activity over there. In the meantime, brush off your copy of Stay the Distance and ge...
December 26, 2015
December 24, 2015
Resolutions: Short Stories and Sequels
The past couple of weeks I’ve been thinking about short stories…as I feverishly wrote one of my own.
On Tuesday, I released a story that clocks in around 12,000 words. A novelette, really. I wrote it in about three days, which is about right for every short story I’ve ever written. They tend to completely override my system until all I can do is write, leaving me wondering where time went and fifty pages of words filling Scrivener. They also leave me wondering why I can’t do the same exact th...
