Catching Up!

Happy Friday! I am happy to be back here at Equestrian Ink. I want to express my gratitude to the many of you who sent me kind and supportive e-mails when we lost my Dad this past summer. The support has been helpful in working through the loss and I am grateful to the readers and equestrians out there. So, Thank You very much.

In a strange way, I feel fortunate that I have had some tight deadlines with two separate Amazon imprints over the past few months. The work has kept me busy writing and not much time to think about anything else.

After family and the horses, writing for me is essential to maintaining peace of mind. Like the horses, writing keeps me grounded. The past few months, the books I have been writing all have some connection to the horse world.

Because of the popularity of my thriller DADDY'S HOME last year (written under my pen name A.K. Alexander) the thriller imprint Thomas & Mercer, which is a division of Amazon publishing took an interest in my work. They purchased DADDY'S HOME and MOMMY, MAY I? (free right now for Kindle owners). They also signed for the next thriller in The Holly Jennings' series. If you haven't read DADDY'S HOME, the protagonist is Holly who works for the San Diego PD as a CSI.

I knew that I wanted the sequel to have something to do with horse racing. I am happy to say that the first draft of this book is now in the hands of my editor and she has mentioned that the book reads like, "James Patterson meets Dick Francis." I will take that! I can't say a whole lot about the book right now (rules via contracts), but what I can tell you is that the research I did about what goes on behind the scenes at the world's tracks are disturbing to say the least. I tried to balance the good and the bad in the story. I don't think that all people involved in horse racing are bad people who don't care about the animals, but I do think there are a lot of rotten people involved. It was a difficult book to write because there is a darkness to it that is real. It left me sad and disturbed. I knew there were a lot of atrocities, but the depth that I discovered was more that what I had previously understood, and I am happy to see there is a movement going on for clean racing across America. I am hopeful that the movement catches on and that demands are made for more humane practices on the track.

On the flip side of writing the thriller, I am now deep into an entirely new series. I am writing a Young Adult series for Amazon Young Adult Publishing. The first book in a series of three is due in 2 weeks (YIKES!), so I am pumping out 20-30 pages a day to make this all work. Word to the wise--do not always say, "Yes, I can do that." It is definitely one of my weaknesses--I tend to be a yes person and it can cause me some real grief!

Anyway, this series is a ton of fun (and again, can't say a lot here), but what I can tell you is that there will be mystery, some paranormal aspects, romance, and the world of eventing will come into play. It's kind of like Mean Girls meets Heartland meets The Ghost Whisperer. It isn't nearly as dark as the thriller, but it is DRAMA filled. However, I think most 17 & 18 year-olds tend to have a lots of drama in their lives. I have had the pleasure of having two 18 year-olds around. Interesting times. And, they were boys! I can't even imagine what the drama is going to be like when my daughter hits that age. I'm writing this series to be pretty angst filled and am hopeful readers will love it as much as I am enjoying writing it.

That is what I have been up to! A lot, lot, lot of writing. I feel a bit neglectful toward the horses though. Thank God, I have Terrie for the youngsters, but my guy at home is only getting a 3 day a week program at the moment. I have promised though that when this next book is finished that I will ease up a bit. No one believes me though!

Thank You again for all of your kind and encouraging words. And, for those of you who have been asking, there will be a 4th Michaela Bancroft book out next year! Right now, I do have the entire series bundled together for .99 for Kindle owners, or those who have Kindle apps. I hope as we go into what looks to be a chilly weekend that you would curl up with one of our books! Blanket the ponies and head inside for a cup of hot chocolate, or a glass of wine (my preference), and catch up on some reading!

Have a wonderful weekend. My continual thoughts and prayers are with those of you who have been affected by Sandy. May peace and quick healing be with you.

Happy Riding & Reading,

Michele

P.S. for updates on new releases, please visit my site at http://www.michelescott.com
For anyone interested in checking out The Michaela Bancroft series, here is the amazon link:http://www.amazon.com/Michaela-Bancroft-Mysteries-Suspense-ebook/dp/B005KN6V32/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1352480807&sr=1-1&keywords=michaela+bancroft