My novel, The Eye of the Stallion: The Face in Amber is a fantasy/adventure I wrote for young adults (it also crosses over easily into the adult fantasy market). It is partly a horse story and, in some respects, runs along the common theme of other girl-loves-horse stories. My heroine, Sonoria, is a rebel, a tough rebel just coming into her young womanhood. She is bound by her nature to challenge authority and the status quo--as all young people should do. And she loves a stallion named Spiritus that is just like her: indomitable, willful, and independent.

But enthusiasm for horses is not limited to girls. Here's a photo of me when I was about eleven years old. I was part of a horse 4-H club in my home town in Massachusetts and eventually became a pretty good horseback rider. As I recall, I was pretty sick when this picture was taken. I had the flu and a fever, but didn't want to miss riding in the local horse show. The horse's name was Pete and, to be honest, he was a sad, spiritless creature. We got along fairly well, though, except he was afraid of snow drifts and would occasionally throw me when we went on winter trail rides. I don't think I ever won any ribbons with him. I was a pretty timid rider and Pete would rather have been back in the barn. But, never mind; by riding Pete and later lots of other horses, I learned a skill that I've been enjoying all my life and acquired a love of horses--their smells, their sounds, the way they look, and the way they move. I've been able to incorporate that love into my writing.