Mara and I met at a mutual book signing at Equine Affaire, the largest horse-centric conference in the U.S. I quickly fell in love with her voice and her young adult stories, and invited her to be one of my panelists to dish on what makes a good horse book. Her books have captured hearts and received praise. Read on!
Why I Wrote This Book:
When I set out to write Stay the Distance, it was originally a stand-alone novel. Obviously it ballooned into a bit of a series! I'm on the third book of five planned novels about July Carter and her thoroughbreds, and with Derby Horse I finally have her in college, investigating what life outside the track is like and getting the college experience she's been wondering about for the past two books. I also get to write about dressage in some detail, which has been a fun change!
As always, Derby Horse and the rest of the Stay the Distance novels are about a girl's coming of age within the horse world and finding her place within it. What will she choose to do and how does she get there? What mistakes does she make? Who does she want to be, even? July is a complex character, and I really enjoy watching her navigate her options as she starts to settle into a decided path and I hope my readers do too.
Why I Wrote This Book:
When I set out to write Stay the Distance, it was originally a stand-alone novel. Obviously it ballooned into a bit of a series! I'm on the third book of five planned novels about July Carter and her thoroughbreds, and with Derby Horse I finally have her in college, investigating what life outside the track is like and getting the college experience she's been wondering about for the past two books. I also get to write about dressage in some detail, which has been a fun change!
As always, Derby Horse and the rest of the Stay the Distance novels are about a girl's coming of age within the horse world and finding her place within it. What will she choose to do and how does she get there? What mistakes does she make? Who does she want to be, even? July is a complex character, and I really enjoy watching her navigate her options as she starts to settle into a decided path and I hope my readers do too.
SUMMARY:College. July is going, and she can’t quite believe it yet. What’s more, she’s bringing Kali, who is on the verge of figuring out this dressage horse thing. With so many of her dreams coming true all at once, July is determined to have it all--juggling school, Kali, and the racehorses she loves. She’s even planning on having a life outside of the track, including plenty of invitations to Beck Delaney’s dorm room in Manhattan.
But as the road to the Kentucky Derby heats up, and Kali’s transition to school life gets off to a rocky start, July’s juggling act quickly becomes a circus. When Lighter upends all their careful planning, July isn’t sure she can add one more thing to her busy schedule.
July is running out of time, for Lighter, Kali, and herself.
Mara Dabrishus primarily writes young adult fiction about her first love–horses–although she's also been known to write speculative and paranormal fiction. Her stand-alone novel Finding Daylight was a semi-finalist for the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award and her short stories have been recognized by Writer’s Digest and starred in Kirkus Reviews, as well as having won the Thoroughbred Times Fiction Contest.
When she's not writing, she's a librarian at a small college outside of Cleveland, Ohio. She lives with a husband, two ridiculous cats, and a tiny infant daughter.
