Fly Away

"If you love something enough, you must set it free." There are a few variations on this quote and I don't know the origin of it, but I like it.

Not long ago, I read something along the same lines. An author wrote, "Once my book is released it has to spread it's wings, fly off and survive on it's own."

These quotes are quite fitting right now, as I just released my latest book, Liberating Sky.

It's time for it to take wing. How exciting to watch it fly off into the wild.

Right now it is available as an ebook. Click on the link below to purchase a copy. They're only $3.99 and can be downloaded in any ebook format you choose. It doesn't matter if you don't have an ereader. Download a pdf to read on your computer.

Liberating Sky

You can also purchase it for your Kindle 

Print copies will be ready in a month or so and it will take a couple of weeks for it to show up in ebookstores (Barnes and Noble, Apple, etc.).

Also, as a promotion, for those of you who haven't read my first book,

I am giving it away for the next month (until May 15th). To download it free as an ebook, click on the link below.

A Story of the West

Hope you all enjoy reading both of my books!

We Got Mud!

It has been sooo dry here. Two years ago we had flooding, then the precipitation just stopped. As in barely any since two springs ago. This past winter was even drier than the one before. It's been scary. I've been watering my garden for a month now and March is usually the wettest month.

This is a photo of Sandhill cranes I took a couple days ago. See how brown the field is? Even though it's been warm here, the grass isn't growing because there's no moisture in the soil.

But all that changed because it started snowing the night before last and kept up for most of yesterday, the first real storm we've had in a long time. I was so excited when I went out yesterday morning I had to get pictures of everything.

Look, a puddle!

 Snow everywhere.

I wore my muck boots for the first time in months.

We let the three equines in the corrals out to eat. Frodo and Swanee went to the nearest piles of hay and started chowing down.

But not Ellie May.

 She started running and bucking.

 When she got to the top of the hill, she stopped to pose for a few seconds.

 Then she was off again.

She ran laps laps around Frodo and he never picked his head up.

Back up onto the hill for another pose.

Today I don't think the air got above freezing, but the sun was warm and because the ground is too, a lot of the snow melted into the ground. It can finally start greening up around here.

The corrals are muddy. The driveway is a mess, as well as the road to town. I had to shovel the porch and walkway. Everything is wet. Isn't it wonderful?!


Read the post on my other blog, Sex Scenes, To Write or Not to Write.

Training Foals

Ellie May is continuing to take tiny baby steps. She still doesn't let us pet her unless she's trapped, but she's much calmer. She has the routine down and I think it's just a matter of time before she comes around.

Yesterday, Tom put a halter on her before he fed her and left it on all morning. He did the same thing this morning.

 When he went to take it off, she willingly went into the corner,

and allowed Tom to swing the panel in to trap her. After we both rubbed on her some more, he took the halter off and turned her loose.

Meanwhile, Frodo has graduated to a big boy halter. You can see where he's shedding out darker around his eye. He still has the faintest stripe down his back, but it looks like he's turning out to be a bay. I've never seen a dun this dark before anyway.

Swanee's the new baby sitter horse. Frodo knows who the boss is and is doing the submission mouthing, but it looks like he could be saying something else.

When I turned the two foals out together, Ellie May grabbed a hold of Frodo's neck,

and wouldn't let go. They circled a few times, but she stayed clamped to him.

"Come on, Ellie May, knock it off!"

We are determined to get it to rain here and have been doing a rain dance every day. Today I looked up how to make a rain stick. It's really easy, once you have the stuff to do it with. I also made a rain board on Pinterest. Check out all the rain pictures I found and send wet wishes our way.

Also, read the most recent posts on my other blog:

 Writing in the First Person 

What Makes a Successful Bookstore?

Spring, Or Not

I've been going to do a post about springtime. Things really started growing with the warm weather.

My crocus are blooming early again and perennials are coming up. Some trees and shrubs look almost ready to start leafing out a month early.

We started a spring project, but now it's been four days and something that should have taken a couple of hours isn't done. To finish we need it to be warm AND the wind not to be blowing. Both of those things haven't happened at once for, well, it seems like forever.


So here's a couple of updates:

Ellie May has been doing about the same. She goes into the trap and gets brushed and petted and even grained, but refuses to let us touch her otherwise.

Frodo still won't let me walk up to him and put a halter on. He goes in the chute, I halter him and lead him out. Other than that, he takes everything in stride.

Well, almost. Actually those two photos of him are from the last post, when it was warm out. See the tee shirt and bare arms?

Although it was sunny today, it didn't get above freezing. Spring is on hold, along with our project.

I haven't gotten any more photos of Frodo because I'm usually the one working with him.

 When we let the two of them out together, they act like long lost friends.

I really missed you.

Read my blog post, The Last Line of a Book, How Do You Think It Should End?

Horse Training - We Won't Do That Again

We weaned Ellie May and Frodo a couple months ago and since then they've been in a pen together, just the two of them. After a while we started letting them out for most of the day and everything has been going along fine, except for one thing.

Before we weaned, they were tame as could be. We rubbed on them every day, picked up their feet, stuff like that. Once we took their mothers away, it being winter, we didn't play with them so much. The only time we handled them was when we fed and that was just to pet them. It turned out to not be enough.

Ellie May has a shy, timid personality. Susie, her mom, is the same way. We don't know if she was born that way or if it developed from the way she was treated. That personality took over not only her foal, but Frodo started copying her as well. They decided they didn't have to let us touch them.

We definitely had to stop this behavior. The first thing we did was separate them. Frodo adjusted just fine, but not Ellie May. She still calls to him. They can see one another, but a pen containing Wakinyan is between them.

Then, we started working them in the round pen. After a few days,Tom had gotten no where with Ellie May, so he decided to get more drastic.

First he roped her on foot. She didn't freak out or anything, but she wouldn't give either.

The next day he roped her from Wakinyan. She still didn't give in. If she was a rank, older animal, he would have done what it took and let the horse bully her, but that's a little harsh for a baby.

That evening he came up with another plan.

He figured out a squeeze chute type of thing using panels. He put the panel that's in front out perpendicular and got her stopped facing it and then swung the panel he's leaning against up close to her. It worked really well. She didn't like it one bit, but she had to let him pet  and brush her.

Meanwhile, I'd been playing with Frodo in the round pen. I could get him to turn and face up, but couldn't get closer than him sniffing my hand before he'd bolt. I decided to try the squeeze chute as well.

 He immediately became submissive and I easily put a halter on him.

 He's coming around fast without Ellie May's influence.

Today Ellie May acted the same way she has been, but Tom is just being patient and slowly introducing her to new things, like climbing up above her and rubbing her with a halter.

In the afternoon we turn them out together.

 School's out! 

They've really bonded. They move together in that flowing way that a mare and foal or a wild herd has.

One thing I know. We will never let this happen again.

Read my blog post about Book Genre.

Small Town Scenes

A few days ago, Tom and I went visiting. We took the shortest route, which meant dirt roads and small towns. There were all kinds of things to see in one town we passed through.

I used to have a Volkswagen bug and an old pickup similar to this one. I thought it was a Chevy, but now see that it it is a Dodge. It's almost the same color, though.

 I don't know why I like these types of scenes so much.

What mainly caught my eye were the old tractor and the log building.

Just to the left and behind the same fence was an old box car. I have no idea what use it had, but I really like the detail and the faded red paint.

This little town is dying, almost dead really. It's mainly boarded up businesses.

I still can't make out exactly what this sign says. It looks like it was painted over at least once.

The wood detail on this old American Legion hall is really cool. But wait, is that... it sure looks like...

 a car flying by!

 Yep, it sure does.

 Oh, I see. It's the only car left on...er...above this lot.

Old cream separators are quite common around here as yard ornaments. I've never seen one containing frogs before.

 I'm not sure if this is a real bike or if someone made it for a decoration.

Of course, my favorite was this log cabin. I wish I could take it home. The old manure spreader in front still has Christmas lights hanging from it. I wonder what that person is doing inside?

Actually, it was a dummy. This is a tiny museum. Maybe I can go inside if I come by during the summer.

We parked in front of this brick building. Across the street was a grocery store where we went to get a snack for the trip home.

All in all a pleasant afternoon.

Photo Shoot

I mentioned that something exciting was about to happen and it did. Last Saturday I met with a woman who agreed to be the model for the cover of my new book. I met her early in the morning to take photos. C and her boyfriend J even hauled a couple of horses out to the spot I had chosen. I followed along behind as we sped along bumpy roads way off the beaten path.

This is the only photo I got of J. He's holding the spare horse. We had to keep this gelding in sight so C's mare, the one I used, would stay calm.

I wanted to catch the early morning light and left the house before six. It wasn't that far, mileage-wise, but when you can only go 10-20 mph, it took a while to get there. As it turned out we had to wait in the chilly morning air for close to an hour for the sun to come out from behind the clouds.

I then instructed C to pose in different spots with her horse.

 Positioning her mare.

 Roanie gave a big shake as I snapped this photo.

This mare is really sweet. She likes her owner so much and always wanted to be close to her. C stuck her hand out to stop her as the horse a took step towards her instead of staying where I wanted her.

I really like this photo, but it just didn't work as my cover, as it's hard to get text to look right on a photo that has a light and a dark side.

 This photo was in the running, but in the end I decided against it.

We were on an old homestead with its typical  dilapidated buildings that is now part of a large ranch.

I took a bunch of photos with just C and some with one of their dogs.

This photo was also in the running.

But after filling my desk top with different versions,

the one I liked the best,

and the one that is now my new cover is:

This One!

Read the blog post on my website, Releasing My Book, to find out how I came up with the name, Liberating Sky, for my new novel.

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