Have you ever heard about the two horses that survived the Great Storm of 1900 by climbing upstairs in a Galveston mansion? If you haven’t, then you are clearly not on my email list! And if you have, as most readers of this blog surely will, then I am convinced you must want to learn more about them. If you are completely unfamiliar with this story, it’s Galveston lore, and plays an important role in my novel, Storms of Malhado.
Over the years, several readers told me the story of the two storm survivor horses needed to be told in more detail. I couldn’t agree more, and, in fact, I’ve been dying to give one of the horses a voice and hear about the whole ordeal from her perspective. I’m partial to Fiona, the spirited mare, always have been. Sorry, Jack!
I wrote a short story in Fiona’s voice recounting the night of the storm and the days and years that followed. From an upstairs window, Fiona saw it all, though some of the things she saw were so terrible that she had to eat the velvet curtains to distract herself. If you love Galveston, are fascinated with stories of the Great Storm, and most importantly, if you enjoy my writing, you will want to read The Mare in the Mansion. And the good news is, this unique little story is available for free! You just have to sign up for my email list to get it, and you can do so here.
You do not have to be familiar with Storms of Malhado or any of my other Galveston novels in order to enjoy this short story. Though I do believe that if you’ve read Storms, your enjoyment will be enhanced.
Also, let me tell you, that getting this story up on BookFunnel, the website that will let readers download it for free and even send it to their e-readers if they so wish, was quite an accomplishment for me. See, I love painting and I love writing stories. I love coming up with adventures for imaginary horses, and imaginary people too, but I often neglect building a system that will allow me to do the necessary things to market these stories to a growing audience. I’m more a student of chaos theory, and figure that if I throw enough creativity at the internet, the right readers will find me. And many have. Thousands, in fact! But have I established a way to communicate with these people in the long run, tell them about upcoming releases, offer them ARC copies, etc.? Nope. It was more of a catch and release kinda thing.
I’m working on remedying this before my next book launch. So, I created The Mare in the Mansion, set her up as a reader magnet, and now I’m hoping this will help me be more organized and professional as an author. Wish me luck! And enjoy the story of Fiona, the storm survivor horse!
