Meet Author Christine Meunier

HAPPY NEW YEAR from all of us at JLB Creatives to all of our outstanding fans! We thank you from deep within our hearts for your shared enthusiasm and continued support. Through your support, so many authors and artists had the chance to be seen and heard around the world in 2013. We are looking to achieve the same in 2014, and we thank you for being a crucial part to our success.  Welcome to 2014!

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And now, on with the show! Please welcome author Christine Meunier. We're certain you'll enjoy getting to know her like we have.

Book title: New Beginnings (Free Rein Series)

Synopsis:

A job transfer for Jacqui King’s father means that the 10 year old and her family have moved interstate.  Jacqui is excited that the move has allowed her family to take up a lease on a large property.

Since she could remember, Jacqui King has had a love for horses.  Now with the family’s move she wonders if her dream to learn to horse ride could come true.  Jacqui’s mum Kate plans to turn the property into a place where they can offer horse agistment, only concreting Jacqui’s desire to have a horse of her own.

On a property titled Genesis, it does indeed seem that the new beginnings for the King family are looking promising.

Excerpt:

Geordie Smith worked the curry comb in circular motions, eager to get all of the sweat out of her mount’s body.  Where the girth had lain and up over the pony’s shoulders there were patches of sweat.

“Hannah, can you hand me a body brush?” she asked of her 10 year old best friend.

Glancing around, Hannah realised that their instructor Emmy was focused on a figure headed their way.  Quickly Hannah picked up the body brush from a big pile of brushes in the middle of their tie up area.

She threw it toward Geordie, cringing when her friend’s pony Sheila shied at the sudden object flying toward her.

“Hannah!  Why did you throw that to me and scare Sheila?  I’m glad I finished riding her before you scared her!”

“Sorry,” Hannah replied meekly, putting her body brush back in the bucket.

“I didn’t think it would scare her.  I’ll remember not to throw things around the horses.”

The figure Emmy had been watching was Geordie’s older brother Johnny.  He greeted the red head with a smile and hello before asking the two girls how their lesson had been.

“Great as per usual!” Hannah replied, Geordie nodding enthusiastically.

“I jumped 45 centimetres today, Johnny!  Maybe next time we come for our lesson you could stay and watch us?”

The older male smiled, saying that he might just do that.

“Are you two ready?  I promised Hannah’s mother that I’d have her home before six.”

“Nearly!  Emmy, can you help me with this rug?” Hannah questioned, struggling to pull the heavy material down from the rail it was hanging over.

Their instructor came to her aid quickly, placing it over Dundee’s body after checking that Hannah had attacked all the sweaty areas of the dun pony.  She let Hannah buckle up the straps, reminding her to do the hind leg straps first, then the front and finally the two belly straps that crisscrossed over each other.

“Are you ok, Geordie?” Johnny asked, watching his younger sister stare at her pony, deep in thought.

“Why doesn’t Sheila have a rug, Emmy?”

“She actually does, Geordie!  Unfortunately one of the other ponies must have had a disagreement with Sheila.  This morning we found her rug with two large holes and barely hanging on.  We’ve had to put it in the repair pile and my mother has put in an order for a new one.  When the new rug comes, we’ll put that on Sheila.”

“But won’t she get cold?”

“Horses generally prefer it to be cold, rather than hot.  She won’t get too cold and they can survive without rugs on.  We tend to put them on the horses here so that you who ride them don’t have to spend all of your time brushing out mud before a saddle can be put on!”

“I like that idea,” Hannah stated with a smile, undoing the quick release knot that had been used to tie Dundee up to a post.

Geordie wasn’t so sure, thinking that the horse’s comfort was more important than whether she needed to brush out mud or not.

“Could I bring Sheila a rug to wear?” she asked her instructor.

“That’s such a wonderful offer, Geordie.  I promise you we’ll have one for Sheila to wear by tomorrow though.  Perhaps you can start saving for a rug for when you get your own pony?”

Liking the sound of that idea, Geordie also undid her mount and walked with Hannah out to the pony paddock where they were kept.  Emmy and Johnny followed close behind.

Christine Meunier

http://www.horsecountrybook.com/ - Horse Country available for sale in ebook and hard copy formats!
http://www.facebook.com/HorseCountryBook - like Horse Country - A World of Horses on facebook!
http://equus-blog.com/ - EQUUS - Equine Related Education, Vocations and Travel
http://www.facebook.com/EquusEducation

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Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know Christine. Be sure to visit her links and share them with your friends. Best of all...if you like what you see, why not pick up a copy of New Beginnings. 

We'll see you next week when we'll be featuring author Joseph Rinaldo.

Until then -  as Janet likes to say...stay casual, live life to the fullest and have a piece of chocolate for me!