Robin of Rockridge's Blog

At long last, INTENT TO HOLD is “finished”. Still lots to do: edits, queries, cover art, contest submissions and so on. But I was able to scrape enough time together (okay, I passed on a paddle down the Petaluma River with my hubby) to ride my horse yesterday.

On St. Patrick’s Day this past March, my old boy turned 30. That’s not an extremely advanced age but it makes him quite the senior equine citizen around the ranch. Casey (his registered name if Patrick O’Zeem) is a big, old dark bay (dark brown) Thoroughbred gelding. He has the heart of a saint and an incredible work ethic. My hubby calls him “Chester” because he’s a horse nerd—he just keeps going and going. He loves to trot but his favorite is a good canter.

Yesterday, we were plodding around in an arena. I settled into the saddle, consciously thinking about…

Do you want to find an illustrator, editor, publisher, or agent? Attend  the meetings of professional associations and clubs, salons, open mics, workshops and conferences. That’s how I found the illustrator for my second kid gardening book, Zack’s Zany Zucchiniland: Amanda Baker. I first met her at a local SCBWI meeting and then later found her website. We chatted, I told her about my Zack manuscript, she did concept sketches for me, and I hired her. I’d seen appealing artwork of several other potential illustrators, but I liked her ideas about several especially difficult-to-illustrate pages (at least in my mind).  She nailed them! Red-headed Zack is a likable lad with a devilish streak. By golly, he didn’t want to dig in the dirt with his parents. He was bored and decided he must have a garden that was all his.

Amanda captured the snarky personality of Zack in…

Sometimes life hands you a big present. For the past three days I have been in Dripping Springs, Texas, attending a trick training class at Red Horse Ranch. Allen Pogue, Sue De Laurentis and Kristi Unsell instructed more than 15 students in the basics of trick training, a discipline not just for performance but also to create a wonderful companion animal that will be fun to be with even after the horse becomes too old to ride. Trick training is a means of increasing the intelligence, adaptability, and desire of the horse to interact with us.
I may not be teaching Minnow to lay down this week but he will learn to smile and retrieve a ball. Best of all this training encourages communication and a desire to interact with me.
A horse that desires my company is like waking up to Christmas morning every day. Icing on the cake…