At 70 years old, I have an interesting, second career and “day job”. My husband and I live on and manage a horse boarding ranch, Equisance (Equine Renaissance). If you are self-employed or live/lived the agricultural life you know there are NO guaranteed days off; NO true holidays; payroll twice a month; and your best laid plans can go up in smoke (we never say the word f**e); a mudslide, more than one employee calling in sick, insurance–or NONE, taxes…you get the idea. We have great employees now, I no longer feed and muck 30 horses, usually…but the responsibility of horses and boarders is always there, and our plans can go awry. Horses MUST be fed, and we (the ranch) muck six days a week. There is daily maintenance that we schedule, and the broken things that dictate new priorities. Daunting as it is, I love this life. But it isn’t for wimps. Especially old wimps.

How the heck DO I fit in writing, as well as riding my own beloved ponies – horses are the reason we are here working our butts off. How does this second career affect and inform writing my family saga of historical fiction?

Horses play a huge role in my writing. I love sharing the equine experience through my stories and more. Human history was made from horseback. My horses have things to teach me every day. They are masters of politics and social living. I wrote about bringing horses to life in historical fiction, in our book, Crafting Stories from the Past.

Living in a rural setting and a spectacularly beautiful outdoor, natural environment is a massive influence and inspiration to my writing. Life is always in the balance. Everything is trying to survive. Plants, insects, critters. My office window looks out on a wild hillside with deer, coyotes, a rare fox, birds, lizards, our own feral-no-more cats (in their brief hours of freedom) and the ever-changing, four seasons of flora. My Dahlquin characters’ lives are entwined with their environment, and survival.

My protagonist, Eloise’s questions spirituality vs. religion, her belief in the magic and wonder of the natural world surrounding her comes from my own joy and reverence, planted in me by my parents. For myself, the magic, the woo woo, as it is called, is enhanced when science discovers the basis. Knowing how/why something is beautiful, doesn’t make it less beautiful – at least for me, it is more beautiful in the detailed, complicated evolution of it all. What a plot, right?

I would never be foolish or vain enough to claim to be the Lady of Equisance, but I do oversee a rural business. As stated, we have employees, boarders – who pay MUCH to enjoy this beautiful life with their own beloved horses and one amazing, mammoth jack donkey. We seek to keep the barn drama and politics free..but there is always something happening. I can’t imagine not sharing all of this. The property is meant to be cherished by the loving, hardworking community here. I value being a part of this.

All jobs done well require discipline, dedication, and hard work. I have been a “secretary” in many offices, including a high rise in Boston and hospital in Watsonville, then an office manager and partner in my husband’s business-as well as being a “domestic goddess” (wife and mother, now grandmother). These have affected who I am and all inform what I write. It is an ever-evolving process.

Hahaha, my life is STILL in editing mode! I’m not the final draft. Every day I am grateful that today is not The End.