Horse of the Same Colour

 

One bright autumn morning, Megan Crewe wakes early, to find herself pitched into a horsebox and into a nightmare she thought she’d left behind in the summer.

It’s not her only problem. Tensions are growing between her and her best friend, Amy Atkinson – all because of Naylor O’Neill.

There has to be a way out of her problems and Megan thinks she’s found it. But when she confides in Amy, she gets an unexpected response. Suddenly, everywhere she looks, trouble is looming.

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Horse of the Same Colour is the sequel to Horse of a Different Colour.

Both books are available in ebook and paperback format.

Check out the new book HERE

Could we have made it to the moon 8 centuries ago?

 

Image credit: Marsyas: Cornischong at Luxembourgish Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CLICK HERE to read the amazing story of the technological achievements of over two millennia ago.

Animal Tales (5) - Sniffer Dogs Join the Fight Against Covid

 

CLICK HERE to read how sniffer dogs are detecting covid faster and more accurately than PCR tests.

Animal Tales (4)

It really is amazing what you can find when you're just looking for trees.

A TRIP TO FIND TREES (where we return with more than we'd bargained for)

Animal Tales (3)

When you go shopping for your dog or pony, do you let them come into the store to choose for themselves?

Animal Tales (2)

Chickens are not dinosaurs ... but ... their ancestors go way way back.

READ MORE HERE

Animal Tales (1)

While Horse of the Same Colour is getting ready for the showring, I have looked out some animal tales to entertain you. Here is the first. It chronicles the reading habits of a dog.

READING THE CANINE CHRONICLE

Horse of the Same Colour Gallops Towards the Line

Horse of the Same Colour - sequel to Horse of a Different Colour - is fast closing in on the finish line. There is a whole book now in existence and it just needs a lick and a polish. That is to say, it has worked hard over the past year training itself up for the big show. It is fit and ready to go, but not yet ready for the show ring. With a bath to clean its coat, some firm application of brushes and combs to neatly plait its mane and tail, some trimming round the hoofs and a sparkling finish on all its tack, it should be heading for the book shelves before too long.

CLICK HERE for a reminder of the new cast members.

How do you wash your hair in space?

Astronaut, Karen Nyberg, washes her hair on board the International Space Station. It looks kind of odd because there's no up or down. Water stays where it's put or floats away, and hair totally does its own thing. 

How to clean your teeth in space

Have you ever wondered how to do everyday things in zero gravity - like cleaning your teeth, using the toilet or sleeping without floating away? Megan and Amy sometimes discuss these things.

Here's astronaut, Sunita Williams, giving us a tour of the International Space Station and showing us how they manage the everyday things in life.

More ponies having fun in paddling pools

This week another five minutes of fun activities with Emma Massingale, some of which probably come under the umbrella of don't try this at home unless you have some amenable ponies and plenty of room.

Cross country training with a mule

Today, we're back with pony lover and horse trainer, Emma Massingale, as she takes her Connemara, Evenos, and Manuel the Mule on a cross-country adventure. Check out the video to see how they got on.

The pony who didn't like being bathed, shows how it should be done

Today, I want to introduce you to someone who loves ponies. She's called Emma Massingale and she has 11 miniature ponies. When she couldn't take them to the beach during lockdown, Emma decided to get a paddling pool.

Check out the video to see how they did - or didn't - like it. And who got the wettest...

What do unicorns love to eat that can get them into trouble?

Naturally, I'm not going to give you the answer, but I'm going to point you to a real cool video where one of the riddles involves this stuff:

Imagine a unicorn in the stickiest of situations and you will have one of the answers. And to get all of the answers, you'll need to take a look at this video:

Real horses really flying - what's more, travelling business class

The Japan Olympics has recently ended. There were a lot of horses there. They'd come from all over the world.

How did they get there and why weren't they exhausted when they arrived? After all, some of them travelled half way around the world.

Check out this video to see the preparations and travel arrangements for a whole plane load of dressage horses.

Why do horses react differently to different people?

Here is a video where Callie gives us some useful information on how and why horses can act differently with different people.

Callie gives 5 reasons, but those who already know Jack, Megan and Amy will be able to add a 6th. And when the new book is out, there will be more ponies than Jack to think about. A lot of new characters have already been introduced earlier on this blog.

Cats and birds are not always the best mix

Share some fun feline-avian interaction videos with Jack while we’re waiting for news:

Things are not always as they seem - in a lot of different ways

Here are Jesse and Mike getting it all wrong on video, but in an entertaining way.

What's the lesson? 

Answer: Don't feed gummy bears to any kind of horses.

And what's the link between Jesse and Mike's shenanigans and Megan and Amy's? 

Answer: In an odd kind of way, there are quite a few links and once you get to read what Megan and Amy get tangled up in, you'll see just where Jesse and Mike got things wrong. 

Almost time for lift off

I have been counting up for 28 weeks* now, and although it's not quite time to start counting down, I've decided it's time to stop counting up. Here's why:

The first draft of Horse of the Same Colour is nearing completion.

That doesn’t mean it will be published next week or anything. There is still a lot to do. It must be polished up until it shines. Then it will be thrown to the fearsome editors at Fantastic Books Publishing who will kick it about and try to break it (that’s their job). And after that it will go into the mysterious process known as ‘production’ whereby a raw manuscript gets sucked in at one end and a shiny new book pops out the other.

We are getting closer to the point where it will be given a publication date. You’ll hear the champagne corks pop when that message arrives.

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*It seems to be 28 weeks but I'm prepared to be caught out if anyone has been counting closely.

A fascinating fact that can be written in cake

 

Jack and I are always interested in odd facts about numbers (or odd facts about even numbers, or even peculiar facts about odd numbers).

This is a quirk of the number 40 which, as you can see above, can be made into delicious party food. I should say it's a quirk of the number 'forty' because it relates specifically to the spelling. 

The letters in FORTY are arranged in ascending alphabetical order.

That might not look so special at first glance, but in fact it's the only number where that is true.