Fun Facts – Horse Names!

The idea for the LGN started in my eight-year-old brain. Even at that age, I wanted to write the horse novel I hadn't found to read. Yes, I read The Black Stallion series, and Black Gold and King of the Wind. I enjoyed them, but wanted more!

What does an eight-year-old name her fictional horses? Well...Chique, star of the LGN, was Snowflake. Yes, really.

There was a post shared with me on Facebook yesterday, of a little black (likely to turn grey) filly by Caravaggio, asking readers what they'd name her. I didn't share, but it immediately brought to mind Snowflake! C'mon...she'll probably grey out all dark and frosty like her dad. It would suit, right?  😉

There's No Such Thing As A Sure Thing

Tone Broke on his way to winning the Prince of Wales Stakes this year.

It's what we live by in horse racing – you never know. Now that I have the LGN (because it will always be that in my head) back from the betas, I'm contemplating making some changes based on their comments. I've also pretty much decided to change the name. Fifty Sovereigns seems too stuffy now, so I'm thinking about Good Things Come.

The other thing that's come out of the beta process is possibly seeking a traditional publisher. All along I've just assumed I'd self-publish because horse novels don't seem to have a hope in hell in the "real world," but one beta, in particular, insisted it should be traditionally published. While it's not as easy as that, I'm going to go through the motions for a while at least. That means fun things like a query letter, synopsis, and so on, in an attempt to attract an agent. Things that strike fear into the hearts of wannabe authors everywhere! If it comes to nought, I still maintain it will be a good exercise.

Speaking of good exercises...I decided to be brave and submit a story to a flash fiction contest today. Gulp. I'm no good at flash fiction...or even short stories. Have to do things that scare us now and again, right?