UNDER CONTROL

UNDER CONTROL

I often question why and how my being a writer began, because when I think back to the many years of writing my first novel Tails Carried High (released 2009) all I recall is a state of perpetual motion. Our Pearsons View Arabians was in full swing and I also worked off the stud, so to use the word frantic is an understatement. But out of this mayhem came a wonderful idea and instead of ignoring what the voice in my head kept telling me – I listened, began to write and haven’t stopped.

This time around, writing my sixth book I can say with confidence that I’ve got the process under control. I’m not sure if I should edit this or roll my eyes. I don’t want to think – famous last words. After several months my new novel Consequences is now typed into my Laptop. Okay, it’s not ready to publish yet, but today is a celebration of the first goal towards being published. The book is written! I decided to leave it alone and take a short break for some reflection.

This book has not only kept me questioning my life goals but many of my individual experiences. Not the murder bit or the horse racing bit but the emotional bits that kept me a little on edge as my character Danni comes to terms with what she wants out of life.

Carmel and Stavs Simri 2010

You know, many of the events I wrote about still linger in my memory; some are so clear it’s as if they happened only yesterday. The same happened when writing Danni’s background I wondered about all the challenges and changes in my life and questioned if I could have done things differently.

Of course mistakes are always clear in hindsight but I now know that the way my life unfolded was a preparation for now. Some of my choices would never even appear on my radar these days, while others were life changing and marvellous.

Could I possibly be wiser? The answer is yes. Horses have always been a part of my life but once I embarked on the voyage of breeding Arabian horses I suddenly grew up. The time passed and on occasion I questioned not only my own goals but the standards of the horse people around me.

I thought about how Danni would react in some of the situations I found myself and how she would behave. It was a long search to find the words so people could understand Danni’s situation and I wondered if it was right thing to have her mirror part my own life experience.

Can I change what happens? Yes I can, easily in Danni’s case, delete some words and add some more but I wanted to make sure Danni met some wise and supportive young people and also some not so wise older people. In the book Danni lends her assistance to sort out some past secrets that strongly influenced the lives of numerous people. Not necessarily for the better.

Carmel and Simeon Sarah 2010

As I wrote about Danni I found Consequences reminded me of important life lessons, for instance that my power comes from my heart, my gut instinct and being mindful of my senses and my behaviour. I’ve always known the goal of my writing is about being non-judgemental and the ability to appreciate and make the right decisions when it comes to preserving the most beautiful breed of horse on this earth. Maybe a little reminder is included to illustrate a different perspective regarding hiding issues, around breeding, keeping secrets and avoiding decisions that have the potential to ruin lives.