It seems like it’s been a long time coming, but today is the day.
On the path to publication, Wild Horses: Running Free (Orca) nearly broke my heart a few times. When I began writing the book several years ago, I skipped blithely forward, thinking it was going to be a walk in the park. After all, as an accomplished horsewoman, I know quite a bit about horses; their care and feeding. Even their habits and something about their behaviors in the wild. Plus, writing Return From Extinction: the Triumph of the Elephant Seals a few years earlier had been such a joy, I wanted more of that.
So I got the assignment; secured the contract; then started to research in earnest. I quickly discovered that just about everything I thought going in was wrong. Not only that, but the wild horse space in North America is filled with violence and politics. Suddenly, the project that was supposed to be all about joy was anything but.
The resulting book is, I think, very good. I did an even-handed job of presenting all of the controversy around all aspects of wild horses in the Americas, while also managing to make it both accurate and interesting reading for its intended market and beyond. Along the way, too, and in the way my brain works, that research also lead to a novel. Dead West takes place in this same space, but it’s for adults and also I got to make things up. Wild Horses, again, is for young readers. It’s critical to get it right for them. Also, I feel it’s important to deliver some hope. I had to dig a little deeper to find that on the wild horse book, but find it I did.
If you think you know anything at all on this topic, read this book. I’m pretty sure you’ll be surprised. Also, you’ll learn a bunch.