Verna Dreisbach's Blog

Sacramento Book Review gives Why We Ride a great review:

Like many girls, I fell in love with horses at an early age. I've owned several and currently care for two. My fascination has never faded. Even now, my breath will catch as I watch my mare fly across a field at full gallop. Therefore, I was very interested to read Why We Ride and I was not disappointed. Verna Dreisbach, the editor of this book, did an excellent job of selecting the essays that comprise it. No two stories are the similar. Each writer in this book faces a different situation. One woman takes years to see her father in a new light. Another watches underserved children bond with the horses they ride in an equine program. One woman faces deepening anxiety issues, while another watches her son growing into a responsible young man. Another helps her 92-year-old grandmother ride once more. In each of these situations and the others in the book, horses enrich these women's lives in different and surprising ways. This book will make a great read for every woman who has dreamed of riding, has owned a horse, or is awestruck watching a horse run free.

Reviewed by Annie Peters

Click here to see the article online.

Beach books by and for animal lovers....by OregonLive.com

Why We Ride is a collection of 27 short essays by women who are both writers and riders. Best-selling author Jane Smiley leads the way, in a story that ends with: "It's time to give them some credit for having an inner life, and past time to study it." Needless to say, she's talking about horses.

Smiley's introductory essay perfectly sets the scene for the writers that follow, and each gives ample credit to horses for having an inner ...

Contributor Jill Widner's story, Akualele, has just been published in The Hummingbird Review. Be sure to check out this great literary magazine.

Verna Dreisbach sponsored the first ever non-fiction writing contest this year for the San Mateo County Fair, Literary Arts Division, in California. The Why We Ride contest was open to both men and women, all ages and ended on April 30th. On June 13th, the winner of the writing contest, Melanie Denman, received an autographed copy of Why We Ride and a cash prize of $100. While at the fair, Melanie read her winning piece "All There Is To It." Congratulations!
Verna will sponsor the Why We R...

Five of the contributors met at Powell's Books in Portland on June 6th at 7:30 p.m. to read from the anthology, Why We Ride. Contributors included Samantha Ducloux Waltz, Janice Newton, Chansonette Buck, Valerie Riggs and Jill Widner.

Seven of the contributors to Why We Ride, from 4 different states, were able to attend the Seattle reading at The Elliott Bay Book Company on June 5th at 4 p.m. Contrubitors were: Samantha Ducloux Waltz, Janice Newton, Chansonette Buck, Valerie Riggs, Kathryn Hohmann, Diane Mapes and Jill Widner.

Lisa Romeo, one of the contributors to the anthology, posted an interview about Why We Ride to her blog. For the chance to win a free book, respond to her blog by Sunday, June 13.

You can also find Why We Ride on the following sites:

Equine Chronicle

Horse Girl TV

American Horse Publications

Please take a look the website for Why We Ride at www.vernadreisbach.com. There, you can also read an excerpt from Jane Smiley's foreword.

Join us on Saturday, June 5th from 5-7PM, at ELLIOTT BAY BOOK COMPANY in Seattle, WA.
Contributors reading are: Michele Scott, Diane Mapes, Janice Newton, Valerie Riggs, Samantha Ducloux Waltz, Chansonette Buck, Kathryn Hohmann and Jill Widner.

Join us on Sunday, June 6th from 7:30-9PM, at POWELL'S BOOKS in Portland, OR.
Contributors reading are: Michele Scott, Diane Mapes, Janice Newton, Valerie Riggs, Samantha Ducloux Waltz, Chansonette Buck and Jill Widner.