Anyone who enjoys reading horsey novels...

_MizElz_ said:
Late teens onwards I would say :) I read my first Jilly Cooper when I was 12, although I will admit there were certain parts that have come to have more 'meaning' as I have grown older :eek::o So I would say...more grown up than the Pullein Thompson books, but not as explicitly adult as Jilly Cooper!

The story you have just described could almost have been my mum :eek: She was brought up on a council estate, and started working aged 11 for a lady who ran a stud a couple of miles out of town. At 14, she skived off school, went to Stow fair and bought a foal, and hitched a lift with a strange man in a lorry to get him home....

There's a book in that, I reckon! :D
Click to expand...



They do say write about what you know! I think that's your basic story, right there! Add a few embelishments & it will be a no 1 bestseller! ;) I'd read it! :D
 
There are a collection of books by Caroline Akrill called the Eventer's Trilogy (Eventer's Dream, A Hoof in the Door and Ticket to Ride) and I adore them :D Just finished reading them for the thousandth time actually :D All about a girl struggling to be an eventer by working at a rundown Hunt Yard. Goes a bit soppy at the end, but I love it! :D
Also love The January Queen by Joyce stranger, about a girl learning to stand on her own two feet and how the mutual love of a Shire with an old man helps her to be more responsible than ever. Makes me sob everytime I read it. :o She lives out my dream, lucky cow! :D
 
For those of you who are Fiona Walker fans - can you remember if she wrote a book that culminated in a midnight steeplechase? And if so - what was it called?
 
Ravenwood - that one is Tongue in Cheek - it is the follow up to Lots of Love and the second of the Lodes novels.
 
I don't get a chance to read many novels, but I got Jilly Cooper's Jump for Christmas and it's very close to real life (so far I haven't finished it yet). I think I could tell a few stories that would fit in to a good book, most of them no one would believe or I would get sued. So keep it real.
 
I love those books I got them in my teens many years ago and they were fantastic bit of romance as well the horse element - it was a bit of a cinderella story though!

i also like flying changes too though the ending was sad.

i like a book that is not just about horses either with a mystery like dick francis books or a bit of romance.

also it is good if the story in not predictable and not too many horse deaths or injuries in.

kirstyhen said:
There are a collection of books by Caroline Akrill called the Eventer's Trilogy (Eventer's Dream, A Hoof in the Door and Ticket to Ride) and I adore them :D Just finished reading them for the thousandth time actually :D All about a girl struggling to be an eventer by working at a rundown Hunt Yard. Goes a bit soppy at the end, but I love it! :D
Click to expand...
 
pinklilly said:
Ravenwood, is it not the first one of the lodes valley series, it's called Lots of Love. I would check but my sis has nicked it !
Click to expand...

Nope, Lots of Love finishes with the horse race over the Devil's Marsh. Similar I grant you, but it is in broad daylight ;)
 
_MizElz_ said:
There is nothing I hate more than reading a novel, only to end up feeling that the plot is totally unbelievable and far fetched. (eg. girl becomes first woman + youngest jockey ever to win the Grand National, riding a rescued, one eyed mare. Hmmm.)
Click to expand...

OMG!! i've been reading the book since it came out and only 1/4 of the way through (never get time to read!!) and now I know how it ends!! gah!

anyway.... on a serious note, I agree re eventing, it's not really been done before and would be good.
 
kirstyhen said:
There are a collection of books by Caroline Akrill called the Eventer's Trilogy (Eventer's Dream, A Hoof in the Door and Ticket to Ride) and I adore them :D Just finished reading them for the thousandth time actually :D All about a girl struggling to be an eventer by working at a rundown Hunt Yard. Goes a bit soppy at the end, but I love it! :D
Click to expand...

OMG - I LOVED those books as a kid/teenager. I read them over and over until the spines fell off the back! Wanders off to Amazon....................
 
Christmas-Carolling-Cazzah said:
OMG - I LOVED those books as a kid/teenager. I read them over and over until the spines fell off the back! Wanders off to Amazon....................
Click to expand...

My Mum cleared my old room out and had boxes of things for me to go through to decide what to keep and what to save. I got as far as the top layer of horsey books, gave up sorting and brought them all home to read :D
I have KM Peyton, Joyce Stranger and Caroline Akrill galore :D Plus all the Jinny books with a few Jills thrown in for good measure :D :D
 
wasnt there something similar National Velvet and internation Velvet about a young girl jockey? then we had Pharlap then there was Seabiscuit. I love a good movie a good tearjeaker but make sure your plots arent too similar xx
 
I think a great story needs to have good characters overcoming adversity - how about a working class girl who is a gifted rider and aspiring eventer, rescues an exracehorse after its been left at a sales and then competes/wins Badminton (obviously with lots of hard work/training inbetween ;) )

Have a look at a load of the threads on HHO and you have most of your research already done ;) :D
 
Blimey, thank you SO much for all your wonderful comments - you've given me so much to think about!

My ideas so far have been very similar to many things that have been suggested here - young working class girl takes on a broken down horse (possibly ex racer, possibly knackered ex-top competition horse who a top international rider wrote off as useless!) and works up through the ranks....and mingled with that is the story of her trainer/love interest (LOL) who has totally lost his nerve, and who she helps to 'find himself' again....

The sad thing is, I am going to have next to no time to write this :( Once I get back to work next week (I'm an English teacher, so time is non existent during school days!) I'm going to be in planning mode, so writing will be confined to a few hours each weekend....

Ah well! I've written 5000 words already over Christmas, and now, thanks to you guys, I have LOTS of new inspiration to help me kick on :D
 
I'd say eventing!! (Jilly cooper seems to have covered everything else ;) )

Although saying that...I'm yet to read a dressage orientated one? But then, i'm one for reading more bitchy horsey novels rather than the sob stories (although I have read them)...

You will keep us updated if you do though won't you? :D Would love to hear! xx
 
Yippee,lots of Amazon shopping fodder in this thread!so pleased someone remembered the name of the Eventers Dream series, I was wracking my brains but it had escaped me.
To get back to the OP, I think you have to choose - do you want to write a bestseller or co you want to write a great "horsey girl's read" kind of book? I think it'd be very hard to get a realistic horsey story published for the mass market, because it's just too detailed - you either have to assume a lot of prior knowledge in your audience or risk boring the knowledgeable ones - I found The Inheritance did the latter, and wouldn't rush to buy a sequel for that reason.
I think the reason the Jilly Cooper's of the lit world embellish / go OTT / have one-eyed heroines etc is because they actually aren't writing for us horsey people. They are writing for the mass market, people who buy the next JC novel regardless of whether it's about racing, opera or boarding schools, and who wouldn't 'get' or be interested in a 16.2hh bay gelding coming a close second in the 2.30 at Haydock or winning a CCI2* - they need the excitement of the one-eyed, short-legged rescue horse and it's ravishing female jockey before they'll be interested.
Not sure I've explained myself very well, but in essence what I mean is... a realistic horse story probably isn't going to captivate the general public, but there are 100000s of us horsey folk who would devour it and clamour for more. Well marketed in the equine world it would be a real hit!
 
LizzyandToddy said:
I'd say eventing!! (Jilly cooper seems to have covered everything else ;) )

Although saying that...I'm yet to read a dressage orientated one? But then, i'm one for reading more bitchy horsey novels rather than the sob stories (although I have read them)...

You will keep us updated if you do though won't you? :D Would love to hear! xx
Click to expand...

Of course! I may well plague people for ideas/factual info. My knowledge base is more secure in showjumping than eventing, so I may well need to ask a few questions along the way :) x

PS. For a great dressage novel, try Flying Changes by Caroline Akrill. Very sad, but pretty good! :)
 
poacher82 said:
Yippee,lots of Amazon shopping fodder in this thread!so pleased someone remembered the name of the Eventers Dream series, I was wracking my brains but it had escaped me.
To get back to the OP, I think you have to choose - do you want to write a bestseller or co you want to write a great "horsey girl's read" kind of book? I think it'd be very hard to get a realistic horsey story published for the mass market, because it's just too detailed - you either have to assume a lot of prior knowledge in your audience or risk boring the knowledgeable ones - I found The Inheritance did the latter, and wouldn't rush to buy a sequel for that reason.
I think the reason the Jilly Cooper's of the lit world embellish / go OTT / have one-eyed heroines etc is because they actually aren't writing for us horsey people. They are writing for the mass market, people who buy the next JC novel regardless of whether it's about racing, opera or boarding schools, and who wouldn't 'get' or be interested in a 16.2hh bay gelding coming a close second in the 2.30 at Haydock or winning a CCI2* - they need the excitement of the one-eyed, short-legged rescue horse and it's ravishing female jockey before they'll be interested.
Not sure I've explained myself very well, but in essence what I mean is... a realistic horse story probably isn't going to captivate the general public, but there are 100000s of us horsey folk who would devour it and clamour for more. Well marketed in the equine world it would be a real hit!
Click to expand...

I totally see your point...and I agree! In my little dream world, I would love to become the next JK Rowling...but writing horsey novels? It aint never gonna happen :p So you're right - I need to decide who my market is, and what I want to do is to produce something that is factually (mostly!) accurate, with the right amount of romance without being one raunchy sex scene per chapter, and the right balance of tragedy and triumph without seeming doomed to failure or too good to be true.

So....another question. Would you be most interested in a horsey hero or a horsey heroine? Or a storyline in which, ultimately, they both help each other and both triumph? As at the moment, I have two strong characters who are battling for supremacy in my mind...I have no idea which one I should use as the key victor! :D
 
I haven't read the rest of the posts (haven't had time!) but one thing that strikes me is you are narrowing your market.

I have no idea really what the Queen Elizabeth II or King George Cup is in showjumping (sorry if I am a philistine in this regard) so I would be surprised if anyone non-horsey, which would be your mass market, would be interested or care.

Racing may have been done to death but it is because people instantly recognise it's significance.

Jilly Cooper, Dannielle Steel, Jackie Collins et all have sold a lot of books based on the fact that it is escapism fantasy, everyone knows it is entirely far fetched but it passes a rainy afternoon without much thinking required.

Good Luck with whatever you decide
 
Would you be most interested in a horsey hero or a horsey heroine?
Click to expand...

Just as personal preference, I like books that have a female as the central heroine to the story - the one that goes on the journey and the one that the story revolves around. I like the male hero to be a strong secondary character - one that like Mr Darcy or Rupert Campbell-Black is already established and successful, and able to act as a sparring partner to the heroine before ultimately playing the hero and swooping in to save the day.
 
MissCandy said:
What age range will your book be aimed at?

I haven't read any 'horsey' novels since being a teenager. One that sticks in my mind was about a young teenager with non horsey parents. She saves up money herself from paper rounds etc and buys a pony for about £40 - young unbroken - and the story is just about how she muddles through and eventually takes him to a local show. Not very exciting I guess but I loved that book. I guess what I mean is the 'achievement' doesn't have to be a big one to make a good story.

I'm still a sucker for a story about an underdog doing well :)
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this - its the journey and problems overcome that makes the story not the end goal. The reader has to go through and believe a roller-coaster of emotions so that they can't wait to see what happens next. However a decent ending is needed if you don't want it to end like a damp squib. I always know a good book when I miss it when I've finished it.

Good luck - always fancied doing this myself but will probably never get around to it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top