Setting Themes or Morals for Your Horse Story

by Christine.

For the Free Rein series which is aimed at 8 – 12 year olds, I like to have a theme or moral of the story running throughout each novel.  Alongside this, my focus is to provide educational facts about horses in each story and cover a different area of horse care.

I want the stories to be enjoyable for readers, but to also have a suitable ending, a lesson learned and some facts picked up along the way.  I believe a particular theme or moral to stories for younger readers can be a great thing to focus on.

If you are considering writing for the younger reader, perhaps this is something you would like to consider including, too.  Because the Free Rein series books cover horses and faith, I often try to tie the title in with a horse lesson and a faith lesson.  It can be a nice way to round out the story and to help focus the theme of the book on what it is called.

Do you enjoy children’s stories with morals attached?

Horse Reading Goals

by Christine.

How quickly the year is progressing!  Have you set any resolutions / goals?  How are they going?

I am aiming to read 150 books this year, and although not all will be horsey, many will be!  As with all horse books that I read, they will be reviewed on equus blog and I already have a few reviews up for 2016!

Horse Country by Christine Meunier

I love to read.  I guess in a way that is how I became a writer.  I love to get caught up in a story, learn new things and be entertained.  Of course, a delightful romance doesn’t go astray, either!  In spite of the fact that I now invest time in writing, this doesn’t stop my desire to read and get caught up in a good story by someone else.

As a writer – or aspiring writer – I encourage you to never stop reading!  You can always enjoy more stories; learn from other writers – what works, what doesn’t?  What did you enjoy, what surprised you, what did you really struggle to read?  The more you read, the more you learn about what makes a good story.

If you write horse stories or aspire to write them, consider the value in reading as many of them as you can.  On that note, what horse novel(s) have you read that you felt were really well written?  I’d love to add them to my reading list!