YA Horse Book Authors You Should Know

Tap into a wealth of stories by real horse people.

Tudor Robins hosts a horse-themed blog tour featuring a different guest post each day, along with a promotion or giveaway (books and other freebies). The participating authors are: Maggie Dana, Barbara Morgenroth, Natalie Keller Reinert, Kim Ablon Whitney, Karen Myers, Karen McGoldrick and Tudor Robins.

Click Horse Book Author Blog Tour to go to the blog or read on for bios of the writers and photographers.

Maggie Dana

Maggie Dana’s first riding lesson, at the age of five, was less than wonderful. In fact, she hated it so much she didn’t try again for another three years. But all it took was the right instructor and the right horse and she was hooked for life.

Her new riding stable was slap bang in the middle of Pinewood Studios, home of England’s movie industry. So while learning to groom horses, clean tack and muck stalls, Maggie also got to see the stars in action. Some even spoke to her.

Born and raised near London, Maggie now makes her home on the Connecticut shoreline where she divides her time between hanging out with the family’s horses and writing her next book in her popular series for middle school readers, the Timber Ridge Riders.

Learn more about Maggie at www.maggiedana.com

Barbara Morgenroth

Barbara was born in New York City but now lives at Black Cat Farm in New England with her new mare, Ziggy, and other critters.

Envisioning a career as a globe-hopping photojournalist, after college she determined her hop muscles weren’t global strength so turned to writing. No life experience is safe from her keyboard and Barbara has proved that being a magnet for story material may be overstimulating to live through but it’s all ultimately research.

Barbara’s Bittersweet Farm series for young adults has been a huge success. Book 8, Tea Biscuit, was released on Amazon in August, and already has readers clamoring for Book 9.

Learn more at www.barbaramorgenroth.com or Bittersweet Farm on Facebook.

Natalie Keller Reinert

After 20 years of working with countless horses in half-a-dozen disciplines, Natalie Keller Reinert packed away her saddle, put her feet up on the tack trunk, and settled down to write. From the short stirrup classes at dusty hunter/jumper shows in Florida to galloping the inner dirt at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York City, it’s always been about Thoroughbreds. Adventures writing her Retired Racehorse Blog would eventually lead to writing fiction about the horse racing life.

Credit: ambition-ebook-cover Ambition, by Natalie Keller Reinert

In 2011, the release of The Head and Not The Heart marked the beginning of the Alex and Alexander series, contemporary fiction written specifically for equestrians. In 2014, Book 2 of the series, Other People’s Horses, was named a semi-finalist for the prestigious Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, recognizing full-length books on horse racing.

In 2014, Reinert also released her first historical romance novels. The Heroines on Horseback series features characters who draw strength from their relationships with their horses.

Reinert lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family. When she isn’t writing about horses, she is pursuing her other favorite subject, planning Disney vacations as an advisor with Glass Slipper Concierge.

Learn more about Natalie at www.NatalieKReinert.com.

Kim Ablon Whitney

Kim lives in Newton, Massachusetts with her husband, three kids and her hound/lab rescue dog, Macie. She has published three novels with Random House: See You Down The Road, The Other Half of Life, and The Perfect Distance, and recently republished The Perfect Distance as an e-book.

In addition to writing fiction, Kim has written for many horse magazines, including The Chronicle of the Horse and Practical Horseman. She’s covered the World Cup Finals and other large events.

Kim is a USEF ‘R’ judge in hunters, equitation, and jumpers. She’s judged the Washington International Horse Show Junior Equitation Finals, the Capital Challenge, the Winter Equestrian Festival, Lake Placid, the Vermont Summer Festival, and lots more big shows. She also enjoys judging one-day local shows, local medal finals, IEA, and IHSA shows.

Learn more about Kim at www.kimablonwhitney.com

Karen McGoldrick

Karen writes what she knows—horses. Every word rings true because she is a horse trainer and riding instructor who lives the life she writes about.

She can be found most days on her small horse farm in Alpharetta, Georgia, still chasing the dream. She says every day she gets to sit on a good horse or teach a talented student is a good day.

Learn more about Karen at www.thedressagechronicles.com and www.phfdressage.com.

Karen L. Myers

When Karen and her husband moved to northern Virginia a few years ago, she discovered that the storied hunt country is alive and well–and very welcoming. They joined their local foxhunt and various foot hunts (bassets, beagles), and have been delighted by the sports ever since.

Karen soon started producing photo essays for her fellow hunt members and turned professional soon after that. Her work has been published in Virginia Sportsman, The Chronicle of the Horse, Covertside and other sporting publications, newsletters, calendars, etc.

Learn more about Karen at www.karenlmyers.org

Tudor Robins

Tudor Robins is an Ottawa-based young adult author whose first novel, Objects in Mirror, was named a Best Book for Kids and Teens by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Tudor loves reading, writing, and horseback riding, as well as spending time on Wolfe Island with her husband and two sons. Appaloosa Summer is Tudor’s second novel, and she’s currently working on the sequel, to be published in Spring 2015.

Tudor started begging her parents for riding lessons when she was six, and started lungeline lessons at age eight. She’s ridden steadily ever since and has had some fun, horse-related jobs, including preparing yearling thoroughbreds for the Keeneland Yearling sales.

Tudor loves using her writing skills, and equestrian background to write the kind of books she used to love as a young rider, and reader.

Connecting with readers is one of Tudor’s favorite things. Learn more about her at www.tudorrobins.ca.

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