So without further ado, here’s Soraya!

Love of Horses from Way Back

I was once a horse-crazy little girl, begging for my own pony… about 25 years on, I’m pretty much the same girl! The nice thing about growing up though is that you get to choose where you live and how many animals you have, which means that instead of living in town, I’m now on a 12-acre property with 5 horses to care for.

Oh and a geriatric dog, a crazy puppy, and 3 cats who decided to move in with us. Did I mention I also have 2 kids? It’s a pretty busy household, and despite starting out life with no pets, I now have waaaayyy too many.

Plenty of Readers with a Love of Horses

I’ve spent the weekend talking about ponies and my Starlight Stables book series to young readers and their parents, and it really struck me that pony stories will always resonate with young girls.

It doesn’t matter that it’s an entirely new generation of children, there are still a huge number of girls who grow up loving horses and wanting to read stories about them. Some of the young readers I met had their own ponies, some had regular riding lessons, and many others just dreamed of riding one day, but they all shared a love of these four-legged creatures.

I have no idea why some of us love horses from the moment we lock eyes upon one, but it’s a phenomena that keeps repeating, year after year, generation after generation.

Horses Offer Freedom

I think one of the reasons girls love horses and riding, is perhaps because of the freedom it gives them. When I look back on my childhood, it was full of me taking responsibility for my pony and going on amazing adventures, often without parental guidance. I loved that freedom, and I loved being in charge of my own horse.

Love of Horses… as a Writer

Now, as an author, I seek to create the stories I would have loved to read as a child, and to explore the adventures I would have liked to go on (or some of them that I did go on!).

The tricky part is letting go and remembering what it felt like to be 11 or 12 years old. Putting myself “in the head” of a much younger girl, and describing her feelings and what she’s going through at that stage in life, as well as creating believable dialogue, is the biggest challenge.

The Pony Genre

Many critics might say that the pony genre has been over-done, but I don’t think children (particularly girls) will ever tire of reading about horses, especially if there’s a good dollop of adventure added for good measure.

After being on stage with the incredible Stacey Gregg (author of the Pony Club Secrets series, as well as other novels such as The Princess & the Foal) it was clear to us both that our audience was thrilled with the books we’re writing!

Meet Soraya Nicholas

Soraya Nicholas is the author of the Starlight Stables series (published by Penguin Australia), and she also writes bestselling romance and women’s fiction as Soraya Lane.

 

You can find out more about Soraya at www.sorayanicholas.com or www.sorayalane.com.

 

 

 

Buy Soraya’s Books

From this Website here, on the first and second pages of Middle Grade tab

From Book Depository here 

 

Thank you so much, Soraya, for blogging with us today, and thanks so much to you readers for visiting! Join our HNVB Book Club and our HNVB Blog via the forms in the right sidebar to keep in touch!

Happy horsing and vetting!

xx

Lizzi Tremayne