Acknowledgments

This book has been a brand-new adventure for me—one I never expected, but one I’m so blessed to have experienced. A few years ago I attended a conference in Portland, Oregon, and met Alice Crider, who worked as an editor at a major publishing house. I sat at her table at breakfast, arriving before anyone else, and we started to chat. She asked what I wrote, and I told her my newest book, a historical romance, had released earlier that year. When she heard the title, Love Finds You in Last Chance, California, she said she’d spotted it in the conference bookstore and planned to buy a copy, as the picture of the woman on horseback on the cover intrigued her. As we chatted, I discovered we shared a love of horses and riding, and I felt as though I’d found a new friend.

Sometime after the conference, I received an email from Alice saying she’d read my book on the flight home and loved it. She suggested I consider writing a series of horse novels for girls, as so many girls in grade school and middle school have always dreamed of owning a horse. I thanked her and said I’d think about the idea but tucked it back on a mental shelf with no expectation of ever following through. I had already made a change from writing women’s contemporary fiction to historical romance and wasn’t sure my career would be improved by adding another genre.

Several months later, during a Wednesday-night service at church, our pastor challenged us to pray about the direction our lives were headed and to ask God if there was anything He wanted us to change. I did, and I was surprised at the answer. I felt strongly that He was directing me to write the girls’ horse novels, as Alice had suggested.

I was excited and nervous, as I’d never written anything for kids and wasn’t sure I could pull it off. I started to write a story (which ended up becoming the second book in this series) and decided to test it on a couple of girls—Kaitlyn Baker, a (then) eight-year-old who attended our church, and eleven-year-old Jessi Hood, my “adopted” (by love) granddaughter, who lived in Alaska. Both girls were given some chapters and asked to give me feedback. They came back with an enthusiastic report, and Kaitlyn, especially, begged for more. Every week she’d meet me at church, asking if I had more chapters and when my book would be published. That little girl’s faith and enthusiasm encouraged me and pushed me forward. I planned on naming one of my characters Kaitlyn, until my baby granddaughter was born in April of 2013, and my son and his wife named her Kate. I’m honoring her and Kaitlyn, but using Kate’s name instead.

So many others have helped make this series possible: my friends at church, who were excited when I shared God’s prompting and offered to pray that the project would find a home, as well as my family, my agent, and my critique group, who believed in me, listened, read my work, and cheered me on. A special thanks goes to Sue Hentges who helped me have a better understanding of autism. There have also been a number of authors who helped me brainstorm ideas for the series or specific sections of one book or the other when I struggled—Kimberly, Vickie, Margaret, Cheryl, Lissa, Nancy—you’ve all been such a blessing!

But there’s a special group of kids I especially want to thank. Two different times I posted on Facebook asking my readers if they had a child who might be willing to read several chapters and give me honest feedback. A number of people responded, and I had my test group of kids. I want to thank Elly, Bella, Payzlie, Cadence, Alexis, Kyra, Hannah, Kasie, Kylie, Crystal, Amber, Haley, Annika, Katelyn, Karli, Jessi, Hailee, Camille, Kayla, and Elena.

I also want to thank the team at David C Cook. I was so thrilled when Don Pape asked if I’d consider sending this series to him to review when I mentioned I was writing it. The horse lovers on the committee snatched it up and galloped with it, and I was so excited! I love working with this company and pray we’ll have many more years and books together. Thank you to all who made this a possibility and, we pray, a resounding success! Don, a man who truly believes in my work; Ingrid, the lead acquisitions editor, who kindly allows me to bounce ideas and problems off her; Ramona, my amazing editor, who has a wonderful daughter, Kayla, who also loves horses and offered comments on book two; the amazing marketing team and salespeople, who make sure my books get into your hands; Amy and her awesome graphics team, who do a stellar job on my covers; Jennifer, my copyeditor; Michelle, the wonderful woman who sends out the checks and has become a friend; and everyone else who works behind the scenes that I’ve yet to interact with—you guys and gals are the best!

If you haven’t yet joined my Facebook horse lovers’ group for kids, I hope you’ll pop over and take a look. You can find a great group at facebook.com. You can also learn more about me and all of my books at www.miraleeferrell.com. Thank you for taking the time to read my new series, and watch for another book in four months!