Pages

Photobucket

Sunday, March 21, 2010

March Madness Continues - And the Winner is....

This week's winner is...*drum roll*....Martha Lawson. Yaay! Congratulations, Martha, I'm sure you're going to enjoy Gail's book Love Turns the Tide.

It's been a busy weekend for me as far as writing goes. Nearly a foot of snow has left me homebound...on the first day of Spring no less...so what better to keep me from going stir-crazy than to jump into one of my latest WIP's. After nearly two months of almost nothing but promoting, my faithful writing muse and I have turned out three more chapters. WooHoo! The tentative title is Forgiving the Past and it's an Inspirational Romance with a tad of mystery thrown in. Since it’s not a story of suspense it'll carry the pen name of my alter ego, Kinzie Monroe. It's been a fun novel to write, not that my others weren't, and the research has been fascinating. I've learned everything from basic horse training to how to rehabilitate abandoned and abused horses.

The idea for this book sprang forth from a conversation I had last summer with my cousin over in Missouri. She and a neighbor takes in abandoned mules, and she was telling me about the growing atrocities taking place in America today having to do with people abandoning their horses in national parks because they can no longer afford to feed and care for them due to the poor economy and the closing of slaughter houses around the country. And how kill buyers are swooping in on ranchers, facing foreclosure, to buy their horses. They are then trucked to Canada or Mexico and slaughtered for food. What these magnificent animals are forced to endure during transit is unimaginable. Just reading about some of the documented cases under investigation made me literally sick.

I’ll be dedicating the book to people like my cousin who are taking in these defenseless mules and horses and finding good homes for them. If you’d like more information about this subject, or are maybe interested in adopting one of these horses, this link will take you to a page that lists many of the rescue operations here in the states: http://www.horses-and-horse-information.com/articles/horse-rescue.shtml

Coming up tomorrow, Danielle Throne will be joining us for an interview and book giveaway. So be sure to drop by and comment for a chance to win a copy of her latest book, Turtle Soup, a sweet romance that I’m sure will win your heart.

2 comments:

Hywela Lyn said...

Hi Anne, came here from 'Facebook' intrigued by the picture of that lovely horse - remind me of one of my own, T'pau.

How terrible to hear of horses being abandoned because their owners can no longer afford to keep them. I have two, and have to rent the land where they live, and all my money seems to go on their care and upkeep, with none left over for luxuries or vacations, but I don't begrudge it,and can't imagine what I'd do if it got to the point where I couldn't do it any more, it would break my heart to have to part with them.

Kudos to you for trying to help abandoned horses with your book - let me know when it's out and I'll gladly purchase a copy. I support Redwings, here in the UK as much as I can, they do so much to help horses in need - they're also trying to prevent the cruelty of horses being transported live for slaughter, and recently they helped rescue over a hundred horses from a farm about thirty miles away from my home. They were all starving and neglected, and thirty of them lay dead among their companions. This sort of cruelty and callouseness is hard to understand. And the man is appealing against his conviction!Unbelievable!

http://www.redwings.org.uk/news-amershamappeal2010.php

Thanks for bringing attention to the plight of horses and good luck with the book.

Anne Patrick said...

Thank you Hywela Lyn, and thank you for posting the link. Good for you for supporting Redwings. These type of organizations are crucial in helping these horses and bringing awareness to the problem. These animals are dependent on us and it's our responsibility to help where we can.

The Breast Cancer Site