Mara Dabrishus's Blog, page 6

Horse Lovers Blog Tour: What If?

Today we have another giveaway question from La Romantique. I’ve decided to dedicate a post to each question as we count down to the Horse Lovers Blog Tour, which will start on October 5th over at Horseback Reads. Here’s our fourth question:

What is your inspiration for writing?

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about inspiration. It’s a common question that pops up in interviews, which I’ve been doing a lot of lately, and I just stare at it on the page for a while before writing up somethin...

Horse Lovers Blog Tour Countdown, Part Three!

Greetings! Today we have another giveaway question from La Romantique. I’ve decided to dedicate a post to each question as we count down to the Horse Lovers Blog Tour, which will start on October 5th over at Horseback Reads. Here’s our third question:

Which breed of horse has provided your favorite moments as a racing fan? (i.e., Thoroughbred, Arabian, Paint, Quarter Horse, etc.) Thanks! :)

Thoroughbreds! It has only ever been Thoroughbreds.

Saratoga! (With my annoying watermark. I’m lazy and...

Horse Lovers Blog Tour Countdown, Part Two!

Today I’m continuing to answer the giveaway questions I collected at La Romantique. I’ve decided to dedicate a post to each question as we count down to the Horse Lovers Blog Tour, which will start on October 5th over at Horseback Reads. Here we go with the second question!

What is your favorite thing about writing?

One of the most amazing things about writing, for me, is watching an idea become an outline, which becomes an awful first draft (because they are, always, super awful), which is...

Horse Lovers Blog Tour Countdown, Part One!

I got a bunch of great questions during my giveaway at La Romantique. I’ve decided to dedicate a post to each question as we count down to the Horse Lovers Blog Tour, which will start a week from today on October 5th over at Horseback Reads. I promise that will be a lot of fun! Music, laughter, giveaways…you should go there!

But, we’ve still got some time to wait. So here we go with the first question!

Have you worked at a race track? What do you think about American Pharoah?

Two questions! C...

The Returning Rider

This week, I located my paddock boots in my somewhat less chaotic new home and pulled them on. Their characteristic, leathery squeaking made me calm down after a whole day of worrying about a succession of things: new barn, new trainer, new horse, new everything. I hadn’t been on a horse in five months, which felt horrifying in itself, but now I was going to change it all up in my quest to right that glaring wrong.

For the last eight years, I’ve ridden at a dressage barn in the sleepy North...

Coming soon: Blacksnake

Gather around, kids! Blacksnake, which I like to call my “creepy Arkansas short story” is slated for release in the How to Trick the Devil anthology on October 16. This is the first anthology for Erebus Press, and my first non-horse story to be published. So we’re all newbies.

Here’s the blurb for the anthology:

The devil lures with sweet words and promises, do you fall for his trap or trick him instead? Can you really have it all?

How to Trick the Devil tells stories of trickery and deceptio...

Horseback Reads!

Horseback Reads is live!

Okay, okay, wait. Let’s back up. What is Horseback Reads? We’re a horse-loving author collaboration dedicated to giving readers what they want: horse books. Here you can find Tudor Robins, Maggie Dana, Barbara Morgenroth, Natalie Keller Reinert, Kim Ablon Whitney, Kate Lattey…and me! All of our books are linked there, including free downloads. If you follow the page, you’ll get the updates on our new releases and details on our works in progress. All of us! We’re a o...

Waking Up Early: Saratoga in the Mornings

Lately, I’ve been attempting to wake up early. You have to find time to write at some point in the day, and it might as well be five in the morning. Who’s with me? No one? Yeah, I’m right there with you. This experiment of mine has largely failed, but it just reminds me of last year around this time when I was at Saratoga Springs, soaking in the wonders of Saratoga Race Course and, more beautiful still, morning works. Since I wasn’t able to go back this year, I’ve been chronicling them on my...

Equus Education Blog Hop: YA Author

This is written for Equus Education, a blog hop about careers with or adjacent to horses. Click on the link to see how other people responded!

What is your horse related career?
I write, and increasingly it looks like horses preoccupy my creative process. My short story Whirlaway, was published a few years ago, and I followed that up with a novel that came out this year, Stay the Distance. Both of these are young adult stories set in the world of Thoroughbred horse racing. My second novel is...

Giveaway Time!

Here’s the deal guys: I’m collecting questions for a Horse Lovers Blog Tour this fall with a group of awesome horse book authors. We’re asking each other questions, and we’re adding questions from our readers into the mix. So I need questions, but I also happen to have two print copies of Stay the Distance in my possession, so I thought this was a pretty great time to combine giving these suckers away with collecting my portion of questions.

So here’s what we need to do:

First, think of your...