Authors Electric

To mark the halfway stage of my reading year and Derby month, I'm reviewing not one but TWO titles by Clare Balding. Both are for young readers and inspired by horses, which fits perfectly with the author's background as the daughter of a racehorse trainer. First up is fiction, and it's a fun read for ages 7+. T he Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop by Clare Balding illustrated by Tony Ross 10-year-old Charlie Bass lives on the family farm with her annoying brothers Harry and Larry, a dog called Boris, and a herd of milking cows named after celebrities. When their farm is in financial trouble, the whole family is invited to think of ways to raise some cash. So Charlie buys a racehorse entered for the Derby... bear with me, this is fiction! The only problem is, Noble Warrior ('Noddy' for short) won't go anywhere without his pony friend Percy, and the Bass family can only afford to buy him because several trainers have already given up on him. To be fair to our plu...

  Since publishing her first book in 2014, Scottish writer Wendy H. Jones has proven herself to be a force of nature. Consider the breadth of her output: the bestselling Shona McKenize police procedural mysteries, the quirky Cass Claymore investigations, the Fergus and Flora mysteries for younger readers, the Bertie the Buffalo books for kids...and a series of how-to books for writers.  She's uniquely qualified to teach, embodying the lessons we need to survive with a million new books coming out every year. Wendy's almost everywhere: signing, interviewing, hosting a popular podcast, guest blogging, conventioneering...you name it, and she's likely there. As a former traditionally published writer (under the name Kelley Wilde), I've been struggling for some time as an indie writer. Though I didn't mind the struggle, I'd grown sick of struggling stupidly. And I knew the time had come to either quit or pay attention to someone who's aced the arena. Luckily, Wen...