I’m so thrilled that Lamplight is finished, the cover is sorted and it’s being proof read! I’m going into Pontypriddd once this is done (so I have a publication date), to arrange a book launch at Storyville Books. Never done one of those before, so am both excited and nervous. I’m looking at invites and bookmarks to give away and all sorts of ideas are bubbling away.

I should also hear by the end of May if In Plain Sight has got into the final six of the Dr Tony Ryan Book award in the US. If it doesn’t, I’m going to put a new cover on it as I still really don’t like the present one!

Now, here’s this month’s Author Interview with Jennifer Kelly.  I understand her passion for writing about racing as I really got into researching Lovely Cottage for In Plain Sight.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Jennifer Kelly. I live in Madison, Alabama, just outside of Huntsville. I am married with two sons, ages 11 and 15. We are sadly petless! We have multiple allergies in our family so we opted to defer having pets for now. I eventually hope to adopt an OTTB, but that will wait until the boys are on their own. I hope to have a corgi named Sammy then too.

How did you get into writing?

I have been writing since I was a pre-teen. I wrote my first novel at age 12, after falling in love with the Black Stallion series. I wrote about a jockey named Alexandria Hamilton, who wins not one, but two Triple Crowns in her career and survives a scary spill in between those two accomplishments.

In high school, I discovered how much I enjoyed academic writing and then in college became motivated to teach because I wanted to make sure other students had better preparation than I did in my K-12 years. I eventually transitioned from teaching writing to writing full time, but that time as an instructor gave me valuable experience with writing for a variety of audiences and purposes.

Longhand or on PC?

PC for sure. My work requires is often done in tandem with copious amounts of archival research so I spend many hours at the computer. I am always amazed how many words I have in my head!

Are you a plot already in head person, or you let the characters write themselves?

My focus is nonfiction, so I get to start with a set of names and faces. The fun part of research is discovering the layers of each person’s and horse’s life. My biggest motivation is to take the story we think we know and to dig deeper into it and find the more nuanced reality behind those events. Some of these true stories are as compelling as the wonderful fiction I have read.

MY BOOKS

https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813197371/the-foxes-of-belair/

https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813197401/sir-barton-and-the-making-of-the-triple-crown/

My focus for my long form works to this point has been about the American Triple Crown series. When I was working on the first book, on Sir Barton, I discovered that several of these iconic horses did not have books on their career so I decided to tackle those stories. Thus far, I have explored the first three winners and plan to add more in the future.

Coffee or tea?

Lattes or cappuccino, please.

Chocolate or crisps?

Hm, depends on the crisp. I am a big fan of oatmeal cookies, but I also love dark chocolate with sea salt. So good!

Most favourite book ever?

That is a tough one. I have my favourite horse books and my favourite non-horsey books. Ironically, I read far less now than I did before I started teaching and then transitioned to writing. My favourite horsey book is Dorothy Ours’s Man o’ War: A Legend Like Lightning. Her storytelling simply sings. My favourite non-horsey book is the Outlander series.