Tag: Horses

Q&A With the Author of HORSE SHOW, Jess Bowers

BonnieReadsAndWrites4 Comments

Recently I did a review of HORSE SHOW for The Historical Novel Society. You can find my blog post containing the review, the author’s bio, and purchase links here.

Jess was kind enough to do a Q&A with me as well, and you can find it below.

Bonnie:  Hi Jess and thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions.

Bonnie:  Horse Show is a collection of short stories that include horses in some way.  What inspired you to put this collection together?

Jess: Well, the title, Horse Show, is a bit of a pun—each story in the book includes an equine and a “show” or spectacle of some kind, whether that’s a movie, a 19th century stage show, or a woman having her horse tell fortunes in her backyard. That was really my inspiration—the many ways we put this species on display throughout American history.

Bonnie:  One of my favorites, Two on a Horse, is set on the Steeplechase Ride at Coney Island.   This was a highly dangerous and popular ride in the late 19th and early 20th Century.  I became interested in this ride after reading about it in another novel.  What inspired you to place the story here?

Jess: I first saw the Steeplechase in action while watching Ric Burns’ excellent American Experience documentary about Coney Island. Once I learned that there weren’t any seatbelts or brakes on the mechanical horses, and that a lot of early amusement park attractions were designed to create compromising situations between women and men, I thought about all the different kinds of women who would have ridden the Steeplechase, and all the ways that the ride could become a nexus for danger as well as empowerment.  

Bonnie:  Do you have a favorite story in the collection and why?

Jess: I’m fond of “Based on a True Story” because it really captures my sense of humor, in addition to pushing the boundaries of what a story featuring a horse can be, while questioning why there’s a horse in the story at all. Saying much more would spoil the surprise of reading it, though…!

Bonnie:  Many of the stories highlight the abuse of horses in some way.  I know I learned a lot more about this topic when reading your book.  Has this always been a topic you wanted to share with the world?  And have there been improvements in the treatment of horses in the present day?

Jess:  As a lifelong equestrian and animal enthusiast, the anthropocentric way humans approach and exploit other beings, defining what it is to be “human” in opposition to other creatures, or claiming dominion over them and their habitats, has always bothered me deeply. Just as an anti-war book must contain war, Horse Show includes animal abuse to call attention to its inhumanity. While I do think strides have been made in terms of better understanding horses, institutionalized equine abuse continues, from Thoroughbred racing’s questionable breeding and training practices to less publicized situations such as the ongoing abuse of Tennessee Walking Horses for “big lick” competitions, where horses are cruelly mistreated to achieve a specific high-stepping walk, all in the name of “tradition.” Sadly, many humans still see horses as tools or machines or toys, rather than sentient beings who suffer and experience trauma just as we do.

Bonnie:  Horse Show is your first book, although some or all of the stories were published individually.  For the new writers who read this blog, how would you describe your journey to get published and what advice do you have for them?

Jess: I knew that the stories were good, and if I could place them individually in reputable, well-respected literary magazines, it would strengthen the collection’s case once I was ready to approach presses. Lots of writers I admire constructed their debut story collections this way. Publishing is kind of like rolling a snowball downhill. Each story you place, each contest you’re a runner-up for packs more snow onto the ball you’ve got rolling, and eventually you create an avalanche. Be careful about where you send your work. Aim for the most prestigious publications you can—those are the bylines that make publishers and agents e-mail you asking to see more work. And enter contests! That’s how Santa Fe Writers Project acquired Horse Show, after it made the longlist for their annual contest. Lots of great small presses find books that way.

Bonnie:  I have become a fan of your work after reading Horse Show.  Are you working on another book?

Jess: I am! While researching Horse Show, I developed a folder of “strange animal happenings” that had nothing to do with horses but tickled my brain. So, my next book is throwing the barn doors open to welcome in all kinds of obscure creatures from history. So far, there’s a wombat, a snake, some dogs, and Nikola Tesla’s favorite pigeon.

Bonnie:  Let’s go beyond the bio.  Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn’t know just from reading your bio.

Jess: I really love swimming, so much so that I’m always the first one to kick my shoes off and jump into random bodies of water. No swimsuit? No problem. Cold? I don’t care! Pools, creeks, fountains, holding ponds…I’m like a badly behaved golden retriever whenever water is involved.

Bonnie:  Thanks so much, Jess, for answering my questions today!

Remember to check out HORSE SHOW! It was an amazing read.

Book Review: Horse Show by Jess Bowers

BonnieReadsAndWrites9 Comments

*This is another review I did for The Historical Novel Society. It is an outstanding collection of short stories that was selected as an Editor’s Choice.

This amazing collection of short stories looks at the equine from many perspectives, from 19th-century London to New York’s Coney Island in the early 20th century to Hollywood movies and beyond. The majority of the stories are set from the mid-19th through the mid-20th centuries and mostly in various parts of the United States.

“The Mammoth Horse,” set in London, is a sad look at the abuse of animals in the circuses and follies of the 19th century. “Shooting A Mule” tells of the violent execution of a mule with explosives at a military base in Willett’s Point, NY, in 1881. “The Lost Hoof of Fire Horse #12” tells the story of a lone horse’s hoof that now gathers dust in the Smithsonian. “One Trick Pony” describes the abuse of stunt horses during the 1939 movie Jesse James.

I was so impressed by “Two on a Horse,” set on the Steeplechase ride at Coney Island in the early 20th century. Although the horses were made of wood, they were part of a harrowing ride, and Bowers describes the personal stories of the riders in vivid detail. From the first lady to attempt to ride the Steeplechase astride to a sexual assault occurring during the ride itself, the story has a strong impact, and the reader can see and feel the violence of the ride as well as the trauma of the riders.

Equally fine is “Of Course, Of Course,” which on the surface is about a young newlywed couple who discover a horse abandoned on their new property. However, underneath lurks a saga of a wife awakening to her own abandonment, abuse, and neglect in 1960s California.

These perfectly crafted tales create a tragic picture that will have an emotional impact on the reader. Highly recommended.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (FROM HER WEBSITE)

Jess Bowers lives in St. Louis, Missouri, where she works as an Associate Professor of English at Maryville University. But she’s originally from York, Pennsylvania, the first capital of the United States (so they claim) and hometown of the 90s rock band Live (that one’s true).

Her debut collection, HORSE SHOW, was published by Santa Fe Writers Project, and recently named one of “The Most Exciting Debut Short Story Collections of 2024” by Electric Literature.

Her short fiction has also appeared in The Portland Review, cream city review, Redivider, StoryQuarterly, The Indiana Review, Zone 3, Oyez Review, and other journals, been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Sundress Publications’ Best of the Net Award, and other honors. She won Laurel Review‘s Midwest Short Fiction Prize and the Winter Anthology Prize, which was pretty cool.

She’s also a co-editor at Cartridge Lit, an online journal publishing literature about video games, which she’s loved since she first played Fishing Derby on her Atari 2600.

Bowers holds a B.A. in English and creative writing from Goucher College, an M.A. in the same from Hollins University, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Missouri, where she studied fiction writing, film, and 19th-century literature and visual culture.

In her free time, she thinks about the hungry ghosts of silent Hollywood while riding her little yellow pony through the woods. She also watches far too much T.V.

PURCHASE LINKS

*Click on the cover to buy on Amazon.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books With Animals On the Cover

BonnieReadsAndWrites39 Comments

Thank you to That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting Top Ten Tuesday. This week’s topic is Books with ____ on the cover. We get to choose which cover item, so I chose animals. Below are ten covers that feature animals. (Mythical animals count too.)

I could have gone on and on with this list! What are your favorite books with animals on the cover?

Blog tour, Book Review, and Excerpt for The Lily of Ludgate Hill by Mimi Matthews

BonnieReadsAndWrites5 Comments

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Lady Anne Deveril doesn’t spook easily. A woman of lofty social standing known for her glacial beauty and starchy opinions, she’s the unofficial leader of her small group of equestriennes. Since her mother’s devastating plunge into mourning six years ago, Anne voluntarily renounced any fanciful notions of love and marriage. And yet, when fate puts Anne back into the entirely too enticing path of Mr. Felix Hartford, she’s tempted to run…right into his arms.

No one understands why Lady Anne withdrew into the shadows of society, Hart least of all. The youthful torch he once held for her has long since cooled. Or so he keeps telling himself. But now Anne needs a favor to help a friend. Hart will play along with her little ruse—on the condition that Anne attend a holiday house party at his grandfather’s country estate. No more mourning clothes. No more barriers. Only the two of them, unrequited feelings at last laid bare.

Finally free to gallop out on her own, Anne makes the tantalizing discovery that beneath the roguish exterior of her not-so-white knight is a man with hidden depths, scorching passions—and a tender heart.

EXCERPT FROM THE LILY OF LUDGATE HILL

The twin fragrances of pipe smoke and parchment met her nose. Lemon polish, too, though there was no sign that the maids had done any recent tidying up. The library was a place of spectacular clutter.

Bookcases lined three of the walls; leather-bound volumes on botany, agriculture, and natural history were pulled out at all angles as if an absent-minded researcher had wandered from shelf to shelf withdrawing tomes at random only to change his mind midway through extracting them.

The fourth wall was entirely covered in framed sketches of flowers and greenery. Some images were produced in pencil and others in delicately rendered watercolor. They were-along with the teetering stacks of botanical journals and drooping maps that spilled over the sides of the earl’s carved mahogany desk-evidence of his prevailing passion.

Lord March’s love of exotic plants was legendary. He’d spent much of his life traveling the globe, from the wilds of America to the highest peaks of the Himalayas, bringing back rare seeds to nurture into bloom.

A distracted fellow at the best of times, but a kind one, too, as far as Anne recalled. It had been a long time since she’d darkened his doorstep. A lifetime, it felt like.

She tugged restlessly at her black kid-leather gloves as she paced the worn carpet in front of the library’s cavernous marble fireplace. She’d never excelled at waiting for unpleasantness to arrive.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long.

“Hello, old thing.” A familiar deep voice sounded from the library door.

Anne spun around, her traitorous heart giving an involuntary leap in her breast.

Mr. Felix Hartford stood in the entryway, one shoulder propped against the doorframe. Lord only knew how long he’d been observing her.

She stiffened. After all these years, he still had the power to discompose her. Drat him. But she wouldn’t permit her emotions to be thrown into chaos by his attractive face and figure. What cared she for his commanding height? His square-chiseled jaw? For the devilish glint in his sky-blue eyes?

And devil he was. The very one she’d come here to see.

“Hartford,” she said. Her chin ticked up a notch in challenge. It was a reflex. There was no occasion on which they’d met during the course of the past several years that they hadn’t engaged in verbal battle.

This time, however, he made no attempt to engage her.

He was dressed in plaid trousers and a loose-fitting black sack coat worn open to reveal the dark waistcoat beneath. A casual ensemble, made more so by the state of him. His clothes were vaguely rumpled, and so was his seal-brown hair. It fell over his brow, desperately in need of an application of pomade.

There was an air of arrested preoccupation about him, as if he’d just returned from somewhere or was on his way to somewhere. As if he hadn’t realized she was in the library and had come upon her quite by chance.

An unnatural silence stretched between them, void of their typical barb-filled banter.

Greetings dispensed with, Anne found herself at an unaccountable loss. More surprising still, so did Hartford.

He remained frozen on the threshold, his usually humorous expression turned to stone on his handsome face.

At length, he managed a smile. “I knew one day you’d walk through my door again. It only took you”-withdrawing his pocket watch from his waistcoat, he cast it a brief glance, brows lifting as if in astonishment at the time-“seven years to do it.”

She huffed. “It hasn’t been seven years.”

“Six and half, then.”

Six years and five months, more like.

It had been early December of 1855, during the Earl of March’s holiday party. She’d been just shy of seventeen; young and naive and not formally out yet. Hartford had kissed her under a sprig of mistletoe in the gaslit servants’ hallway outside the kitchens.

And he’d proposed to her.

But Anne refused to think of the past. Never mind that, living in London, reminders of it were daily shoved under her nose. “You’re not going to be difficult, are you?” she asked.

“That depends.” He strolled into the room. “To what do I owe your visit?”

“Presumptuous, as always,” she said. “For all you know, I’m here to see your grandfather.”

Hartford was the only child of the Earl of March’s second son-the late (and much lamented) moralist Everett Hartford. Anne well remembered the man. He’d been as straitlaced and starchy as a vicar. Rather ironic, really, given his son’s reputation for recklessness and irreverence.

“My grandfather is in his greenhouse,” Hartford said, “elbow deep in chicken manure. If it’s him you’ve come to speak with, you’re in for a long wait.”

She suppressed a grimace. There was no need for him to be crass. “Really, Hartford.”

“Really, my lady.” He advanced into the room slowly, his genial expression doing little to mask the fact that he was a great towering male bearing down on her. “Why have you come?”

Anne held her ground. She wasn’t afraid of him. “I’ve come to ask a favor of you.”

His mouth curled up at one corner. “Better and better.” He gestured to a stuffed settee upholstered in Gobelins tapestry. “Pray sit down.”

Excerpted from The Lily of Ludgate Hill by Mimi Matthews Copyright © 2024 by Mimi Matthews. Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

BOOK REVIEW

Since the death of her father six years ago, beautiful Anne Deveril spends most of her time caring for her ailing mother. Any free time is spent with her close group of friends, riding their horses in London. She has given up on romance, or so it seems. Then she makes a deal with Felix Hartford (Hart), and change begins to bloom.

This is the third book in the Belles of London series and another delightful novel from Mimi Matthews. This captivating group of equestrian friends in Victorian London continues to intrigue the reader and their gentlemen admirers. This time the focus is on Anne, and Matthews gives us a wonderful second-chance, former friends-to-lovers romance that does not disappoint. The description of the fine horses that the women ride adds another layer to the story that will please fans of all things equine. The wonderful stars of the first two books, Julia and Evelyn, make plenty of appearances in this book as well. Romance, friendship, horses, and second chances all make this an endearing and captivating read. Although it is Book 3 in a series, it can easily be read as a standalone.

I received a free copy of this book from Berkley via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mimi Matthews
Photo by Vicki Hahn

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