Hacking and hewing
I went on a TWO AND A HALF HOUR hack with Connie today and . . . lived. I know two and a half hours in the saddle isn’t a lot for a proper horsewoman, or for a professional (Jenny, who runs the yard and teaches riding, may also be schooling horses for three hours a day), but it’s a lot for me. Toward the end, when we approached the gate with the half-fallen tree hanging over it which took some of the top of my shoulder off last Saturday*, the woman I’ve been going out with this week and last got off her horse and walked him through. But then her horse is a trifle more temperamental than Connie, and I also thought it quite possible that if I got off I wouldn’t be able to get back on again. (She generously pointed out that her horse is shorter than mine. True. But not that much shorter.) So I hung down beside Connie’s neck like the cowboy act in the circus and made the famous riding-101 bridge with the reins and held onto her mane and she went through like a star and didn’t even gallop off down the slope on the far side, which she could have because I was in no position to stop her. She is such a nice horse. Have I mentioned this lately? Like in the last fifteen minutes? I try not to raven on about her every time I ride her because I realise that not everyone who reads this blog is still nine years old and horse mad at heart. But it’s difficult not to. She’s one of those horses that other people like going out with because you know she’ll always give you a lead if you need one.** Today we did a very pretty bit of opening and shutting a gate and when my companion complimented me on it I said, Nothing to do with me! That’s all Connie! –She knows what a gate is and she suddenly gets totally alert to your legs, so you can move her around like a chess piece.
It’s very hot and dry here and I’m conservative about horse legs anyway, and she’s ten years old and her background is open jumping which means a lot of stress on the joints and she’s not my horse, but we did manage to have one canter, on one of those stretches of ground locally known as ‘the gallops’.*** As we approached the end, a little group of three women emerged from behind the hedgerow and stood watching us. As a pedestrian with no horse access who has not infrequently wistfully contemplated horses thundering up and down the gallops I wondered what they were thinking: ‘Ooooooh’, or, ‘Better them than me’.
And when we did get back to the barn, and I did slide off, I kept a very firm grip on the pommel and her mane, which is a good thing because she broke training enough to start walking toward home, hay, carrots, and some cool water on her hot back, and for the first half dozen steps I was dangling by my bell-ringing shoulders while I sent frantic messages to my lower limbs about, you know, walking. . . .
And for those of you who are not nine years old and horse mad, here’s a new FAQ answer soon to appear on the renovated web site:
What does nuraddin, the web site’s email address, mean?
The Nur-ad-Din room is in the Islamic art wing of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/09/wae/ho_1970.170.htm
According to the web site it was a gift in 1970 which I assume means when they put it up. I saw it for the first time a few years later (in New York City alone for the first time, having been living in Maine for several years and feeling very much the country girl, both thrilled and overwhelmed) and have been making pilgrimages there ever since. It was immediately recognisable as a place where stories lived. If you’ve ever been there, you’ll know that you go through a little door from the museum hall into the room itself, but there’s only a tiny space roped off where you can stand and look–and listen: one of its charms is the small fountain a little way in front of your feet, which is off the bottom border of this photo–but even stopped at the gate like that I’ve always found the atmosphere very powerful. The door is slightly narrower than the roped-off area, so you can lean against the wall inside and let your mind drift. I’ve stood there half an hour sometimes (wishing all these tourists would go look at something else and stop disturbing me) in a very nearly out-of-body experience. THE BLUE SWORD was born there, I think, even though Damar is more India–specifically Kipling’s India–than Syria. Someone who has read more of my web site than is good for them may remember that I wrote BEAUTY, my first published novel, as a break from what would become Damar and BLUE SWORD and THE HERO AND THE CROWN. The Nur-ad-Din room is one of the places where all that fuzzy stuff just out of imaginative reach came together with a bang and a clatter and a dazzling flash of light that illuminated the Damarian landscape perfectly just before it blinded me, and said, Yes, I am a story, I am your story. Write me. Go on, I dare you.
They closed the Islamic Wing a few years ago for renovations. I haven’t seen it since it reopened. I hope they haven’t messed with the Nur-ad-Din room.
* * *
* Which shoulder is a beautiful melange of yellow and purple and itches like crazy
** Or if you’re out with someone prone to seeing tigers in the shrubbery and feeling that the only safe haven is BACK THERE SOMEWHERE! I THINK IT’S IN CORNWALL! –and the best thing to do is to go there now, what you might call an anti-lead. As previously observed, Connie has quite a shy on her, but she keeps going forward.
*** Although the ratbag farmer has ploughed up half of it and put it down to some stupid crop this summer. Where’s his sense of priorities?
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Golly! That’s a beautiful room. I can definitely see how stories are born there.
Connie stories are always welcome!
. . . Oh good. But you and southdowner are both HORSE PEOPLE. :)
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Target audience! ;)
Well, it’s a point. :)
As a writer who makes subjects outside our experience real to us, I hope that non horsey readers will be as interested in Connie as I am in roses and cooking – both of which I am starting to spend time on… downward spiral initiated – no, no captain, she canna take it!!!
no, no captain, she canna take it!!!
******** lol! i laughed so abruptly the hellhounds sat up and looked at me inquiringly. Is it fun? Can we play? — Which reminds me, ***even bloody Chaos*** now lifts both feet sequentially. But in the MONTHS it’s taken to teach him this the manoeuvre has got attached to stepping into their harnesses. So I could use a Next Lesson in how to move it on, if you felt like it.
I’ll email you, if that’s ok? (no attachments) to check where you are so that you don’t need to hear instructions for the parts that the 3 of you now excel at :)
EXCEL? SNORK.
Whatever. Grateful for any input. Thanks. :)
******** Today we did a very pretty bit of opening and shutting a gate and when my companion complimented me on it I said, Nothing to do with me! That’s all Connie!
Ooh! Not much is nicer than a horse who likes opening (and shutting) gates with you – a subtle interplay of balance, seat and legs conversing with horse while hands and arms deal with gate – great memories, thank you!
Connie is obviously A VERY NICE PERSON so raven on as much as you want :)
and thank you for the Nur-al Din link – how gorgeous, and very reminiscent of Kipling’s India (tho I know it’s not)
I hope the bruising continues to heal and that hellhound digestion settles. How is Chaos holding up?
Sounds like you have had a great time. :) Opening and closing gates is a necessity here. It’s the only time I can get my horse to side-pass (I need lessons and so does she LMAO). Unfortunately the only “hacking” going on here is my cough. Urrgh. I managed to talk myself hoarse doing an alpaca video yesterday and good thing I did it then – it’s raining solidly now. I will send the day figuring out how to convert my video camera stuff to dvd …… ;)
So… were your knees refusing to stay together for a few hours afterward? That always amused me to no end… Look! I push them together and they just slide apart all on their own! (what was that about easily amused? hmm.)
As for the room: lovely. I know that a little picture doesn’t do it justice. It’s always interesting to see where people get their inspiration from(: I need to get out to the Royal Ontario Museum and wander around a little bit again this summer. I wish we had real castles to explore… *sigh*
No, I was just rubber from the pelvis down! When I got up this morning I was thinking, why are my legs so FEEBLE? –Oh. :)
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I like the Connie stories too! I want to take horesback riding lessons, since I’ve only been on one guided trail ride in my life… but the cheapest stable I can find around here is $50/hour for lessons and at the moment, I can’t afford that. Although we do have plenty of stables around here still, which is the advantage to living near the horse country part of NJ. =)
(Although, as a side note, I have ridden both an elephant and a camel at the zoo, since I have pictures of myself doing that when I was about 3. And I’ve taken countless pony rides as a child.)
I don’t think I’ve ever been to the Islamic wing in the Met, which is something I have to modify on my next visit. My favorite place there is the Temple of Dendor. =)
Also, I sent you the Children’s PW newsletter link in e-mail; not sure if it went through or not.
Jenny
Yes, thank you, it arrived, but I haven’t DONE anything with it yet.
The Temple of Dendor is good too. But my heart is in the Nur ad Din room. :)
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Wow! Those are some expensive lessons!!! Around here you would expect to pay $25/h. There’s always more than one stable in an area… keep looking. You don’t need to re-mortgage your house for a hobby ;p
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Re: I try not to raven on about her every time I ride her because I realise that not everyone who reads this blog is still nine years old and horse mad at heart.
It’s been a LONG time since I was nine, I’ve never had a horse, and I’ve never been horse mad – I love stories about Connie. Please raven to your heart’s content.
:) Thank you!
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Ooooo, I took an Ottoman history class during my undergrad (from a Bulgarian who was quite bemused by his intense interest in a rather demonized empire – I guess he preferred them to his childhood communist gov’t?), and that room is just amaaazing. I thought it was cool that my prof had 300-year-old Ottoman manuscripts free for show-and-tell (apparently they left *a lot* of paperwork behind – they rivalled the Prussians in bureaucracy) – but stepping into a room like that must be amazing. Makes me want to go to New York in a way that nothing else has.
It *is* amazing. But be sure they’ve reopened the Islamic Wing. . . .
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Thanks for the warning – I think the website says it is still closed. It will be years before I get to leave the country again, so I’m putting it on my wish list. (a matter of funds, not legality ;)
I know what you mean about the Nur-ad-Din room. I felt rather like that my first time there, too. And the first time I went to the Cloisters, when I was about 19…. it was one of those out-of-body moments you’re describing. I was utterly lost, and declared myself as a medieval studies major shortly thereafter. :)
The Cloisters–yes, absolutely. :) One of those places you know magic IS real.
(Sorry Julia–should have said YES The Cloisters! Never mind the blasted Chorus Line! :))
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***I realise that not everyone who reads this blog is still nine years old and horse mad at heart***
It’s ok, Robin, everyone who reads your books understands that horses are very close to your heart. There’s a memorable bit in “The blue sword” where the tribesmen arrive at the colonel’s house, and everyone around her is wittering on about the people, but Harry says in tones of utter longing, “Look at the HORSES.” Could only have been written by a horse-mad author.
I haven’t gone back to the book to check the exact quote, because I know if I do, I’ll get completely sidetracked and start reading it again, and I haven’t got time. I’ve got Ken Follett’s latest book out of the library, “World without end”, the sequel to “Pillars of the Earth”, and it’s 1111 pages long and is on restricted two-week loan!! I can barely pick it up! It’s lucky that I get plenty of reading time whilst commuting on the train.
What a beautiful room–perfectly understandable that it should be a focusing place for the imagination. Maybe you were thinking of that fountain when you described the blue room that was Corlath’s mother’s?
Connie stories are definitely a pleasure. She sounds like the kind of mare you could call sagacious as well as kindly. I’ve been meaning to ask–if white horses are called by convention grey, does this not lead to confusion when you have to talk about an actual grey horse?
If I were sensible I would be asleep, since I have to get up in (ugh) 4 hours to do grunt work at an agility trial, but now that I’ve caught up on all the lovely CHALICE excitement I have to brag on my girl. We went to the Milwaukee Great Dane Club specialty show (this means a show for Danes only) yesterday and she showed beautifully and won Best of Breed, which gives her a Best in Specialty Show win, a very nice feather in her cap. Since I was not handling, I could take pictures–and didn’t forget my camera, either–so she’s up on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/diane_in_mn/
Oh very well done! Congratulations! What a gorgeous girl she is too! –And you’ve been feeling a bit ill done by too, because she hasn’t been placing when you’ve felt she ought. So victory is even sweeter. *And* in a single breed show. :)
White horses ARE grey. They’re just the furthest greyed-out end of the grey spectrum. If someone knows more about horse colours than I do, please weigh in here. But so far as I know a white horse is merely one that has finished greying out. The famous Lipizzaners are born black. (Except for the occasional bay, who will stay bay.) A horse that’s going to go grey can be born any all-over colour–you know that it’s going to be grey first because it has a grey parent and greys produce greys or because you’re looking hard for any sign of ‘spectacles’ around the eyes which show up very fast on a grey horse, even if he/she stays brown or black or chestnut for a while. The speed at which a grey greys varies. But those beautiful dapple greys so beloved of small girls and romantic painters are only in the process of going white–grey dapples don’t last long.
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****And you’ve been feeling a bit ill done by too. . .
Well, I wouldn’t say I’ve felt “ill done by” exactly, because that’s just what happens when you show dogs and the result depends on someone else’s subjective judgment. Have I felt robbed? A few times!! :) But I’m not alone in that. I know what A.B.’s biggest fault is; some judges think it outweighs the rest of her; so they’re nit-brained twits in my book, but hey, they’ve made someone else happy. You’ve shown horses, so you know the score on that.
I would like to do a repeat perfomance at our club’s specialty show next month. No guarantees, but with luck she’ll be in better condition since I will be home until then and we can get some steady exercise. And the judge is European, so he shouldn’t have any prejudices about US dogs. We’ll see.
The puppy question is still open. We are waiting to see what Sister’s boy starts to look like. I saw one of A.B.’s brother’s boys, from his first breeding to the bitch in Wisconsin, on Friday; his breeder hasn’t yet made any decisions about what will be available from the repeat litter. So–nothing definite–HOPE HOPE HOPE.
Hope indeed. :) I@m really up for some VICARIOUS puppyhood.
Can you explain what AB’s biggest fault is in terms a non-Dane person would understand?
She is a little straighter in the shoulder than I would like, but that’s not at all uncommon in our breed (or lots of others, for that matter). But she has loose shoulder ligaments, especially on the right side, and can sort of pivot out her shoulder which makes her toe in. She moves correctly, but the toe-in is more or less visible, depending on how she chooses to stand, when she stops and sets herself up. If I (or a handler) set her up and position her leg, the toe-in position can be corrected. I keep telling her to stop doing that thing with her shoulder, but she doesn’t listen to me. :)
That being said, outdoor shows are better for her because grass can help hide things!
****VICARIOUS puppyhood****
Like being a grandparent–just the fun part, right? I sent the breeder many pics of the A.B., the dog that sired Sister’s litter, and Brother’s offspring, and was hoping there might be puppy pictures coming back, but no dice. She tells me it’s done nothing but rain, so no photos. If I can’t get pictures, I’d at least like some of the rain!
Is this something you’d worry about passing on to puppies? It sounds like it might be dangerous in a dog as big as a Dane.
We FINALLY had some rain last night. I was wondering if I could *stand* a riding lesson today–we could have just gone hacking again–but
Happy you’re enjoying Connie, despite the heat. The room is gorgeous. We have a newly opened Islamic Art Museum in Athens. It is unfortunately rarely visited by the natives, who are extremely racist on the issue of what is worth seeing and propaganda-ridden about their (our) history. However reluctantly, the Greek mainland was part of the Ottoman empire for four hundred years, and there is a wealth of Islamic art around. The museum is a wonderful jewel box and has a similar room, but it was the outdoor-room, all in marble and a sense of peace permeates the atmosphere, but just as you say, the feel that stories were told here has sunk into the stones. Places like these are precious, I think, because they allow us to feel at one with people in foreign lands, to imagine ourselves in their shoes, to put a human face on an unknown land and make it more than simply “other”.
Places like these are precious, I think, because they allow us to feel at one with people in foreign lands, to imagine ourselves in their shoes, to put a human face on an unknown land and make it more than simply “other”.
******** Yes EXACTLY. –Is there a photo of your room?
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No and I didn’t take any when I was there because, for once, I just wanted to absorb the atmosphere and be IN the room, rather than be an observer photographing it.
http://www.benaki.gr/index.asp?id=40203&sid=0&cat=0&lang=en
This is the page on the museum website (the museum has a number of buildings dealing with different kinds of art) and this particular building is in the Keramikos area, with a view over the Acropolis, the Kerameikos graveyard and half of Attica. It sits on top of the ancient walls of Athens, which they have excavated and have on display in the basement. The picture on the right (which doesn’t change) is of the fountain in the room and the changing picture shows just a hint of the chamber from which you view the room.
Gosh. And they even have it available in English. Thank you!
I try to keep my horse-longing in restraint most of the time, but you’re making things difficult. I’ve even started looking around online a bit to try to see what lessons would cost. This is beyond stupid for a couple of reasons: 1. we just bought a house and have no extra money at the moment for lessons, and even more relevant at the moment, 2. I’m seven months pregnant, so it’s not like I could take them right now even if I were rich!
*envies much from afar*
You could go hang out. :)
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You could go hang out. :)
Yes–look and inhale the wonderful smells (not meant as a joke–horses smell wonderful!)
Yes, they do. :)
Hey I could do that whole opening and shutting gates thing on my (now deceased) Quarter Horse Smoke. He was a former ranch foreman’s horse and roping champion, and I always felt that he thought I was making awfully heavy work of it despite his assistance. He was, of course, great with cattle as well, even though I never asked him to do more than push back young steers who were making other horses (or their riders) nervous. He always seemed disappointed that I didn’t ask him to do more.
I never came off of Smoke, and only twice came close: once when he decided to zig and I thought he was going to zag around a yucca plant while we were hunting, and once when I was fooling around with neck reining in the arena, and he gave me a cutting horse turn instead of what I expected.
Gosh he was a great horse.
Connie stories are wonderful… I get to live vicariously- at school the stable is an hour’s drive and I have no car or way of getting there. Plus I am not on the equestrian team. So I don’t think I would be allowed.
Sigh.
I just want to be NEAR horses again.
And for now, your tales of riding are what I’ve got.
:)
So though I’m 18, not 9, I think I do qualify as a blog reader still horse mad at heart as well. Oh well! Not a bad thing. At all.
And I was actually just wondering about the nuraddin email myself!
All I can say about both picture and the story of why Nur-ad-Din is Oh Wow.
I was at the Metropolitan Museum a few months ago, but only made it as far as the Egyptian wing, and the new Classical Antiquities Greco-Roman Whatever It Is-Wing, and a lot of other rooms that I was awed by, I didn’t get to the Islamic art. I’ll have to go back anyway… I said so as I was leaving to catch the train back… how much I had seen and how much more still remained to be seen and so on and so forth, and how amazingly wonderful in the truest sense, full of WONDERS!, (so much so that it gets an exclaimation point), the whole place was/is… but now I MUST go back specifically to see this room.
If they allow me to take a picture, or several million, when I go, whenever that ends up happening (BUT IT WILL. I just don’t know WHEN.), I’ll send them to you, if you want.
[plotting ways to get family to go to NYC-- Also because A Chorus Line is closing Aug. 17, and I MUST see that if at all possible. So maybe then we can all go, and go the the museum at the same time! And to The Cloisters, because I have been trying to pursuade family to go there since 6th grade when I learned that tthey have the Unicorn Tapestries there.
If that doesn't work, you might have to wait till I go back to school in September, because my college is in NJ, and thus NYC is just a short train ride away. So I WILL get there. Just a question of how, when, and with whom, I suppose!]
–Julia
I just want to be NEAR horses again.
******** Yes. That’s kind of my definition for a ‘real’ horse person: you miss horses more than you miss riding. One of my (many) fantasies is to provide a retirement home/field with shelter for a few old horses that have some perfectly enjoyable years left in them so long as they’re not hassled by things like being *ridden.*
The Met Museum is very, very, very wonderful, and you can’t get round it in one visit or twelve. So is the Fine Arts in Boston. So is the V&A in London. So is . . .
A Chorus Line! Good heavens. I saw it in first run and . . . was underwhelmed.
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Underwhelmed by A Chorus Line?
Hm……..
I only know that I listened to the CD rather obsessively for quite a while.
But you didn’t like it?
Hm……..
I did just see Gypsy [with Patti LuPone!!!]– I went with my Girl Scout troop. And it was very awesome.
The Met Museum IS very, very, very wonderful…
MFA in Boston is ALSO very very wonderful, agreed.
I have yet to go to London. So the Victoria and Albert (I assume that is the V&A to which you are referring) still awaits me. I have been to the Louvre, though. Which was UNBELIEVEABLE.
I think that your fantasy/dream/idea for a home for retired horses is just perfect– one I have thought about, to be perfectly honest. But I am busy concentrating on the future that is rather nearer… like what to do next summer, what to do after COLLEGE, what to do…..
Oh, horses. Sigh. Happy sigh. :)
–Julia
Yes, yes, Julia! Go to the Cloisters. Keep in mind it’s a good long slog away from the Met–but worth every moment on the train, not to mention the joyous walk up the Hudson through Ft. Tryon Park. The Unicorn Tapestries are only the tip of the iceberg. :)
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Yes. Much agreement. It’s a HELL of a long way but it makes it more magical when you arrive. Just leave LOTS of time.
Did you know that you can buy reproductions of the unicorn tapestries??? (wantwantwantwant) I’d love to see the Cloisters sometime. That would be a big road trip, though. Hm.
Hmmm. There are things that don’t really reproduce and my guess is these are one of them.
Yeah, I’m with Robin here–the unicorn tapestries are so large and so… well… old. I can’t think that repros would do them justice. You know they were found in a barn in the 19th c? Someone had been using them as tarpaulins, or something, back when medieval art was not so appreciated as it is now.
Julia, if you can, go when the weather’s nice. :) The galleries are open to the air, and while the museum professional in me is stunned at the collections-care issues this creates for things like tapestries, the effect is like walking through a time machine, it’s not like being a museum at all. (In winter they seal the whole place down with plastic, and it mars the experience a bit. :) )
Yes. Absolutely about the weather. Oh, golly, I’m really ACHING to go back myself . . . (hellhound eyes pop open and view me narrowly . . . )
Well there is one other reason to go to New York City right now, the exibit on the horse at the American Museum of Natural History. I stumbled over this a few weeks ago and have been plotting how to get out there ever since. It looks fantastic.
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/horse/
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Oh WAAAAAH. Well, if you go, please tell us about it . . . sigh . . .
I volunteered at a horse rescue place for a while… you should look for one in your area! That will get you your horse fix, and you can help at the same time by volunteering. Most stables don’t like non-paying people just hanging around unless you’re a close friend of someone who owns a horse there (from experience).
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P.S.
Oh, and I hope your shoulder stops itching like crazy, heals quickly, and doesn’t hurt.
Plus anything else that could be going not-entirely-wonderfully…
[time for another general happy hellhounds [and digestive systems], well-behaving computers, healthy teeth, healing of various things etc etc etc…. type comment.]
Chocolate and hugs. Just because.
Hooray.
And I recommended Sunshine AND all of your other books to someone at the library yesterday.
:)
–Julia
The shoulder stopped hurting very quickly, although that was probably the arnica. I can *live* with itching. :)
If you can find a way to solve teeth and hellhound digestion . . . I am your slave.
And I recommended Sunshine AND all of your other books to someone at the library yesterday.
******** THANK YOU. Go you librarianish people. :)
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I’ll keep working on it, but virtual hugs and chocolate are the best I can do so far…
Librarianish people! Hooray!
–Julia
[SEE! I CAN write a short comment. I just don't tend to do so terribly often. Kind of like you and short stories, I suppose! [runs away, fearing retribution for insolence. but giggling.]]
:)
MSM lotion is also very good. It actually stops the hurt in a ferw minutes, on a lot of things. Some products put arnica AND MSM in the same goop.
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MSM? Don’t know this. What do I look for? Literally ‘MSM’?
Congratulations on Chalice!! I pre-ordered Chalice from Amazon, and am so looking forward to it! I know I’m not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover, but the cover looks like it’s right down my alley!! =) I’m very excited to get it. The expected delivery date is Sept 23, for regular 3-day shipping if you pre-order (I live in Cali). The last time I ordered Dragonhaven from Amazon, they dropped the ball on me and I didn’t get it for 2 weeks after the promise date, but I’m crossing my fingers on this one. Don’t know if it makes a difference to pre-order. Anyways, I know I’ll love the book, if PW compares it to Hero and Beauty. (altho, it annoyed me too that they called it a children’s book!).
Thank you! The dreaded pigeonholing. Yes. –Preordering is nice because it suggests to the publisher that people REALLY WANT TO READ IT, they’re not hanging around desultorily.
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Connie sounds wonderful. I used to ride almost every weekend, but I haven’t in oh so long… maybe I should fix that. There is a place in town that gives lessons, and I would need lessons because I always rode western tack (though I never hung on to the saddle horn). Riding is like flying sometimes. OK, now I really want to start again.
Give Connie a kiss for me.
The Nur-al-Din room is amazing!
I notice that the new picture of CHALICE, here, has a link to its Amazon.com page underneath it. Would it be useful to put a link to the same page for Amazon.co.uk, perhaps? I know British sales are small beer in comparison but…
Hot, init!
I’m not sure what for? It’s an American book. I don’t have a publisher over here (except however it is that Merrilee inveigled Transworld to reissue SUNSHINE :)).
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**I’m not sure what for? It’s an American book. I don’t have a publisher over here (except however it is that Merrilee inveigled Transworld to reissue SUNSHINE :)).**
Yes, but you can still buy it from the UK amazon, (I know because I’ve just pre-ordered it):-) And for us UK-dwelling minorities it means less time to wait for it than ordering from the US site…
Oh. The things I (culpably) don’t know. I assumed for an American book you’d want to order it through the American amazon because it would be coming from America. I’ll ask Blogmom to post. Thanks.
“I assumed for an American book you’d want to order it through the American amazon because it would be coming from America. ”
Well, I rather thought that (in line with your comment further up this posting’s list) pre-ordering is A Good Thing in that it indicates strong reader interest and therefore if it happens thorough the UK Amazon then it might send a sort of UK-interest-ish message…?
And I’d rather not pay the shipping charge from the US if it’s avoidable (more money spent on books = good, money spent on shipping charges = not so good). You wouldn’t want Vikkik and us other Brits to be disadvantaged now, would you. :)
This may not make sense – 8 hours travelling today so I’ve got mush brain. Sheesh. It’s not that it wasn’t lovely on the Isle of Wight and the meeting went well but…
I am useless enough not to realise that amazon uk would *have* it, that you wouldn’t have to pay import from the US. By all means. And I think Blogmom has already taken care of the uk link. Thanks. It’s never a bad idea to assume that I DON’T know something, especially about the real world. . . .
My Quaker great grandfather ( so the family history says) ran a retirement home for the horses which had pulled delivery wagons for Wannamakers in Philly. I’ve always wished I could have met him. I grew up imagining shady fields in the rolling hills of southeastern Pa. full of elderly horses of many colors sighing blissfully at finally having the chance to graze, roll on their backs, and drink from streams of delicious water.
Between you and Jessie Haas ( a writer of contemporary/ historical fiction horse stories) I may decide to try riding lessons … after all I waited until I was 45 to take figure skating lessons!
Yes, I’ve been reading Haas from the beginning too! :)
One of my fantasies is to have a Very Large Field with a lot of retired horses in it.
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You know you’ve had a busy week when you haven’t made an entry in your own blog or read anyone else’s in the last five days.
Sending canine prayers your direction for the Hellhounds. I admire your endurence, I would have probably had a nervous breakdown by now if my Winkle (the great Dane) was sick two years long.
The picture of Nur-ad-Din is lovely. If this city-phob is ever in N.Y.C. and it’s open, I’ll have to see it.
Rebecca WinkleBeam
I AM HAVING the nervous breakdown. Sigh.
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Just stopped by to tell you that I just finished reading Sunshine for the first time, thanks to NPR’s recommendation. I think I’m going to read it again before I return it to the library. And then buy the new edition in October and read it AGAIN.
Your name has assumed rather mythical proportions in my mind, as the author of one of my favorite books growing up (Beauty). So imagine my delight when I read this blog and discovered that you’re a horse person, too! Okay, so that probably shouldn’t delight me quite so much, but I’m shamelessly in love with my little 3-year-old Arab cross, and I gravitate toward other horse people the way I gravitate toward good books.
I actually keep a horse blog with some pictures and stories. If you are interested, it is http://www.PonyTalesBlog.com.
Oh, and I know this is about 5 years late, but thanks for Sunshine. It was amazing… Count me among those hoping for a sequel! :)
Please. The person who wrote BEAUTY couldn’t *possibly* NOT be a horse lover. :)
Thank you!
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