Setting for My Books

As you can guess from the covers of my books shown here, the stories are set in country life (in which Kelly, the border collie plays a significant role) and in the thoroughbred horse-racing business. These are the worlds I know quite a lot about - although horses keep you humble - I continue to learn every day.
There are many ups and downs.
We have a three-year-old called George, who did poorly in training last year, so came home early and didn't race.
We decided we'd give him a head-start this year and send him for preliminary training in Florida - a big step for us. At the beginning of January, two days before we'd arranged for him to leave, he got into trouble in his stall and demolished a wooden wall (we don't know what happened). His injuries were serious including a fractured jaw, cracked gum, broken hyoid apparatus (supports tongue and larynx), chunks of his lower leg missing (one was the size of a tea-cup). We were in shock.
The snow was bad. The vet got stuck. Transport was hard to find. But we finally got him to the equine hospital at Guelph University. There was little they could do - he needed TLC and time.
At first he wouldn't eat, but things gradually improved. He loved having four small meals a day along with his grated carrots. Then the bandages could be left off. He got stronger. We regained hope that perhaps he could go back into training at Woodbine one day.
Sure enough, he went back on April 25. But it was a slow start. Nevertheless, we all decided to be patient. He had been through so much.
And yesterday he ran his first race and came third. I don't think we've ever been so pleased with a third place before. I'm posting the video on the page "Wins at Woodbine Racetrack" - even though it's not a win. His racing name is I'm a Home Brew, he's number 4 and has white blinkers, and he's the only one who's not raced before ("maiden" means having not won a race). Wins at Woodbine Racetrack Page Yeah, George!!
Perhaps this will give you a taste of the setting that I enjoy to write in and why. Hope you have fun reading my books.
See you at the launch on Saturday, October 13, 2pm to 4pm, Blue Heron Books.