Happy Holidays!

Wishing all my fans a healthy, safe and magical season!

My Holiday Book Sale!

Holiday Sale - perfect for horse lovers!

Buy the 4 book set of the Beloved Horses series, and save $10! They retail for $14.95 each, but through December 31, buy the set for $50. Includes the latest release, Beloved Horses in Second Careers.

• Personally autographed (include the name of who to sign it to with your order)
• Shipping is FREE! If sent to same address.
  
• Master Card & Visa now accepted (including debit cards)- call Sharon at 814-937-0704 with your order.
• Free bookmark with each book

For those who have some of the set, and just want to order the new book, deduct $10 if order ANY four of my books! See my book list at http://SharonMiner.com.

Any questions or problems, contact me at sharonminer@yahoo.com or the number above.

Have a safe, healthy and blessed Holiday Season!

Booksigning at Little Italian Pizza

What a beautiful day in Florida yesterday - sunny and mid-70's - for an outdoor book signing at my favorite pizza shop - Little Italian Pizza at the Shoppes at Sand Key in Clearwater. We set up on their back deck by the water and had fun decorating horseshoes and eating!

Woogie was invited and he enjoyed pizza bones and dog treats from guests like Shea above. Her and her brother, Kaden, stopped by for lunch and had fun with us. See http://woogiestravels.blogspot.com for more photos.

Diane Grace (center of bottom photo) is the manager of the shop and her daughter, Natalie, was one of my book reviewers for Beloved Horses in Second Careers. Natalie and her friend, Shelby, created sparkling horseshoes!

Many thanks to the Grace family for inviting us!

Photos From Fall Events

Pet Extravaganza!

Join me at the Tampa Convention Center this Saturday, November 6 from 9 am - 6 pm! Visit http://www.belladogmagazine.com/

Oct - Nov Events

Fri. Oct 22 6-8 pm CHA Conference (during Trail Encampment)

O'Connor Oaks Equestrian Center, Lake City, FL

I'll be speaking about my passions of horses and writing, and reading from my Beloved Horses series at the Certified Horseman's Assoc. (CHA) International Conference at O'Connor's Signature Facility, Lake City, Fl. My latest release, Beloved Horses in Second Careers, features Jamaica, the foundation horse for Chester C. Weber's International Combined Driving Team. He will autograph Jamaica's chapter.

Sat. Oct 23 10 am - 1 pm St. Petersburg Festival of Reading

140 Seventh Ave South, St. Petersburg, FL

Find me at the Tampa Writer's Booth at this annual book festival in downtown St. Petersburg.

Sat. Nov 6 9 am - 6 pm BellaDog Pet Extravaganza

Tampa Convention Ctr, 333 S. Franklin St, Tampa, Fl

This family event hosted by BellaDog Magazine allows dogs to join in the fun. I'll be signing my books, including the book about my Irish Terrier, Woogie. I'll also do readings with a power point presentation and have horse and dog novelties for sale. Kids can purchase real horseshoes and decorate them with bling!

Sun. Nov 14 2 - 4 pm Little Italian Pizza

Shoppes at Sand Key, Gulf Blvd, Clearwater, FL

Have pizza or other Italian food at Clearwater's BEST pizza place and then visit with me and Woogie out back on the deck! We'll both sign books and kids can buy other novelties including real horseshoes they can decorate with bling!

To read about my books, visit http://SharonMiner.com

NOW accepting visa & Master card at all events and online purchases!

Fun at Greenwell Foundation Barn on my Book Tour!

If you live in the southern Maryland area, you must visit the stable at Greenwell State Park. They have a riding stable with a wonderful handicapped riding program.

During my book tour on the east coast, Cara Fogarty (bottom photo) invited me to speak about my passions of horses and writing at the Greenwell Foundation program. After my talk, the crowd had fun decorating real horseshoes with "bling" and I signed many, many books!

A Paint Horse named Spot from Greenwell is featured on the cover of my new book, Beloved Horses in Second Careers. Gene (in the wheelchair above) is one of Spot's riders and Caitlyn (shown holding the book with me) was his original owner. Their stories are included with Spot's chapter. Of course, that book was the big seller of the day!

My heartfelt thanks to Cara and all the Greenwell people and visitors for a fantastic way to end my tour!

More photos from my Equestrian Book Tour!

I was asked to conduct a Writing Workshop at the JT Lambert Middle School in East Stroudsburg, PA while I was in the area for my book tour. What a great class! I spoke about setting goals, why I began writing, a guide to help with writing called the A, B, D's and how to create a character. They had excellent questions for me like - "What was riding bareback like?" See the bio page of my site http://sharonminer.com/ for a photo of me swimming on a horse named Fawn in the Atlantic Ocean!

Many thanks to the reading teacher, Kerrie Symonies, and her team for setting it up!

For more photos of my trip, see previous blogs on this site as well as http://horsebookreviews.blogspot.com/ and http://woogiestravels.blogspot.com/

More from Dutch Wonderland Reading Jamboree!

The Dutch Wonderland Reading Festival was held inside the amusement park, and we were close enough to the pony rides, so (of course) I had to visit them! Besides us authors (see previous blog), some of the participants from this fun event included the Lancaster Library, the Cat in the Hat and Llama the Pajama seen here in front of my booth.

Fun at Dutch Wonderland!

The Reading Jamboree at Dutch Wonderland was fantastic for both authors and readers! We had beautiful weather for this outdoor event held the last weekend in September inside the Lancaster amusement park.

Visitors at my booth enjoyed checking out my horse and dog books and novelties, such as decorating real horseshoes with bling.

2010 Equestrian Book Tour

My Equestrian Book Tour will begin at the end of September with the release of Beloved Horses in Second Careers. More stops will be added as confirmations are made, but here is a preview: (The color highlighted events is where I'll be selling and signing books)

Thu & Fri, Sept. 23 - 24: Tampa, FL to Philadelphia, PA via I-95

Sat & Sun, Sept. 25 - 26: Dutch Wonderland Reading Jamboree, 10 am - 6 pm, Lancaster, PA. See http://www.dutchwonderland.com/events/details.php?event_id=2487&back=1

Mon, Sept. 27: Cookstown, NJ and area -Apple Brook Farm & Tollbooth Saddle Shop - see http://tollboothsaddle.com

Tues, Sept. 28: Chick's Saddlery, Harrington, Del. See http://www.chicksaddlery.com

Wed, Sept. 29: Westport, CT

Thu, Sept. 30: JT Lambert Intermediate School, East Stroudsburg, PA

Fri, Oct. 1: Cabellas, Hamburg, PA

Sat. Oct. 2: Collingswood Book Fair, 10 am - 4 pm, Collingswood, NJ. See http://collingswoodbookfestival.com

Sun. Oct. 3: Greenwell Foundation Stable, Booksigning/Reading Event, 1-3 pm, Hollywood, MD. See http://www.greenwellfoundation.org

Mon - Wed, Oct. 5 - 6: PA to FL via Blue Ridge Parkway


Follow this blog to be informed of updates!

Contest Winner!

The contest result to select a horse for the cover of my next Beloved Horses book is shown above - all four will be included!

More than 300 voted in this Book Cover Contest, and Anne Callahn suggested that all four be featured. The production team agreed since it was a really close race.

Delia Pacheco was the winner in the drawing for a free copy of the book. Anne will receive one too.

Thanks for all the votes. The book will be released in September, with pre-release orders taken starting now with a 20% discount off the $14.95 ($11.96) and FREE shipping. E-mail me your order at sharonminer@yahoo.com

Library Program for kids - with Woogie!

We're excited about holding a children's program at the Gulf Beaches Public Library in the Tampa Bay region. Woogie, our Irish Terrier and the star in his own book, was invited to meet the kids! Address: 200 Municipal Dr, Madeira Beach, FL.

Here is what the library posted on their site and in the local paper:

• Tuesday, July 6, 2 p.m. Sharon Miner: Sharon loves dogs, horses and writing books. What a coincidence! We do too! She’ll talk to us about her work with animals, and how to write about them too.

I'll also be drawing the name for the Book Cover Contest.

Wow! 284 people voted for their favorite horse for the cover of the next Beloved Horses book!

I'll post results of the cover and winner of the book here after the event.

Thanks for all the votes!

Contest to Win a Free Horse Book!

Vote in my Book Cover Contest and have your name entered in a drawing for a free copy of the book - Beloved Horses in Second Careers. Follow these steps; no cost to enter:

• Select your choice of which horse looks best on the cover (from the selection here - the name is under the photo), and e-mail me at sharonminer@yahoo.com.
• Your name will automatically be entered in the drawing to be held on July 6^th at the Madeira Beach (FL) Library during a children’s program I’m conducting.

• If your name is pulled, I’ll contact you for your address to ship the FREE book when it’s released this fall.

• Anyone may enter (children under 18 must have parent’s permission) but only enter ONCE. Entries close June 30, 2010.
  

Thanks for participating!

JULY 1: VOTING HAS ENDED! See results here for contest and winner of book after July 6th Library event at Madeira Beach.

Beloved Horses in Second Careers Contest!

My 4th book in the Beloved Horses series will be released this fall and I need help deciding on the cover - which horse should be featured?

The Beloved Horses series are illustrated collections of true horse stories and the other three books can be viewed at SharonMiner.com or Amazon.com with their Search Inside feature. Horse and animal lovers of all ages enjoy the uplifting, funny and amazing stories about the special bonds between horses and their riders.

I decided to hold a contest where anyone can vote for selected entries. The horse with the most votes will win!

Everyone who has voted will have their name placed in basket, with the name selected during a drawing - the winner will receive a free copy of the book upon its release.

The random drawing will be held during my visit to Gulf Beaches Public Library in Madeira Beach, FL on Tuesday, July 6th. I'll be there to read and entertain the children during the summer program at 2 PM, and at the end I'll have the youngest child pick a name from the basket.

By the middle of June, I will have photos of the featured horses posted on this blog, and voting will be done via the comments with that blog. I'll need a name, user name or some form of identifying the person for each comment. When that name is selected on July 6th, I'll post the name of the winner. That person will need to e-mail me their snail mail address so I can ship the book this fall.

Entries for this contest will also be accepted in person (such as at that July 6th event or any other time I meet people who mention the contest) or via e-mail - sharonminer@yahoo.com.

Click on "Follow this Blog" so you will be notified of updates to this contest!

HITS Young Artists!

We had a fantastic day at HITS Ocala Kid's Day!

I met several wonderful young artists at the Ponies & Puppies fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. They all received prizes from local businesses, and the Grand Prize winners received copies of my books, Beloved Sport Horses and Woogie's Travels.

Participants who drew or colored horses and dogs included:

Top Photo: Hannah (left) and Rebekah were the Grand Prize winners

Middle Photos: Amelia, Cai & Kia, Ava, April

Bottom Photos: Megan, Destiny & Carly, Mae & Hannah with Woogie, Lindsey

Many thanks to Lisa & HITS Ocala for hosting Kids Day, the local businesses who donated prizes and items for the St. Jude table, the young artists for sharing their artwork and all the people who kindly donated to this St. Jude fundraiser.

Last but not least, thanks to my husband, Bob, and our Irish Terrier, Woogie, for helping me!

Online Fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

For the month of March, I'll be donating 20% of my book sales to the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in conjunction with the fundraiser and Ponies & Puppies Young Artist Contest at HITS Horse Show in Ocala, FL on March 14th. See the previous post.

Having lost a son last October to cancer, and a nephew the year before, I firmly believe in cancer research and St. Jude's has a great site and mission statement, as well as a track record of helping numerous patients. See http://www.stjude.org/about to learn more.

About my books - the Beloved Horses series. They are illustrated collections of true short stories about the wonderful bonds between horses and their riders.

Beloved School Horses features amazing, inspirational and humorous stories from my Unicorn Stables (20 years in Salisbury, MD and 5 years in Honesdale, PA) Some stories include: Windfield Farewell, a Morgan Horse who helped a scared Girl Scout earn her equestrian badge; a double amputee Viet Nam vet who rode Knipper just to prove to himself that he was still a cowboy; and Dennis, a gentle horse who made an autistic 6 year-old boy smile for the first time in his life.

When I went on the road in 2004 to market this book, so many other horse owners wanted to share stories of their remarkable equines. So, a series was born. Beloved Horses From Around the Country include inspirational handicapped riding horses, a funny police horse, a wise Belgium trail horse and many special backyard horses.

With Beloved Sport Horses, I interviewed all types of competitors with a variety of breeds and backgrounds. Some riders are famous - Katie Prudent, Carole Fletcher, Lynn Palm, Mary Alice Malone - to name a few. Many are beloved horses of those who enjoy the sport in which they compete, from Western to Eventing, and everything in between.

I'm now interviewing and writing stories for the fourth book in the series - Beloved Horses in Second Careers. It will be released this fall and prepaid orders for it in March will also be included in this fundraiser. This book will have even more stories than the others and the price will be the same at $14.95.

All the stories are enjoyed by readers young and old, and reviews and excerpts of the current books can be read at my publisher's site http://www.BBOTW.com or Amazon.com and search by title.

I also have three mystery novels for Middle Grade and Young Adult readers, and a Beginner Reader book about our Irish Terrier, Woogie. See info on his book at http://woogiestravels.blogspot.com/

Visit my site at http://www.sharonminer.com and print out the Order Form. Mail to me during March and you'll not only receive an autographed copy of wonderful horse stories, but also you'll be helping a worthy cause.

Just e-mail me at sharonminer@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Thanks for your support!

Young Artists Contest at HITS Ocala!

I'm hosting another young artist contest, "Ponies & Puppies," this time to benefit St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital - http://www.stjude.org. After our son died last fall, and my nephew the year before, I'm a firm believer in cancer research.

It will be held during Kids Day at Horse Shows In The Sun (HITS) on Sunday, March 14 from 11 am - 4 pm. The show grounds are located on SR 27 in Ocala, Florida. See http://www.hitsshows.com/

There is no entry fee and each child who submits a drawing or painting will receive a gift, with the winners receiving copies of my books. Beloved Sport Horses features a leading Grand Prix rider, Tracy Magness, and several other riders and trainers from Florida.

I will be selling and signing my three Beloved Horses books, Woogie's Travels (about our Irish Terrier) as well as my three young adult mystery novels. See http://sharonminer.com and http://woogiestravels.blogspot.com.

Donations of 20% of all sales will be sent to St. Jude's, and other donations will be appreciated.

Please spread the word by sharing this information to an horse or dog loving child in the area!

What a Great Writer's Conference!

I has such fun at the SCBWI Miami Writing Conference, and also learned valuable insight from the speakers.

I met numerous other writers and authors, including Peggy from Orlando pictured left in 2nd photo. I even bought five books to read that were written by some of the speakers including Richard Peck (bottom photo) who gave a fantastic opening speech.

The 3rd photo is the panel that discussed first pages submitted by writers. They are from left: Marietta Zacker, agent at Nancy Gallt Literary Agency; Jennifer Rofe, agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency; and Kathleen Duey, author of numerous books including the Hoofbeats series (see my blog http://horsebookreviews.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html) I loved her writing so much that I bought the other three books of the Lara series and had her sign them!

The top photo is attendees dancing the Salsa after the Sat. night dinner! Some even dressed in costume for the Havana Nights theme.

To learn more about the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) visit http://www.scbwi.org/ I highly recommend joining if you write for children!

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Florida Chapter, will hold its regional conference in Miami from January 15 through 17, 2010. Visit http://www.scbwiflorida.com/Jan_2010.html for details.

I'll be attending - traveling and rooming with Betty, a writer from Bradenton.

I'm looking forward to the educational seminars, meeting other writers and brainstorming ideas!

If you write for children, I highly recommend joining SCBWI - see http://www.scbwi.org/