By
Cheyenne Blue (Guest Blogger)
Like
so many girls, I was a horsy kid. Model ponies, pony stories, racing
around pretending I was Jill from the Jill books, or Callie from
Follyfoot, and living for my weekly one hour ride at a local riding
stables.
When
I was thirteen, I was old enough to work at that same stables. No
money, but I would work from 7am to about 4pm, just for the pleasure
of being around horses and the chance of a free ride at the back of a
string of beginners. I did it for the joy of it. For frosty
mornings, bringing ponies in from the field, muddy legs and rugs
astray, breath huffing in the winter air. For the pleasure of
grooming my favourite horse in a dusty stable, hard muscles under my
brush, horse hair floating in the air. When the horse would turn its
head and lip at the buttons on my shirt, all soft whiskery muzzle and
molasses breath. Sometimes, he’d pull those same buttons off,
leaving me to sew my shirt together with the waxed thread used to
repair saddlery. There was never a safety pin when you really needed
one.
And
the freedom. Incredible amounts of freedom. If you’ve felt the
anticipation of a gallop, of keeping an excited horse reined in as
you jog down to the corner, and you know that once you turn the
corner and the long stretch of green opens up in front of you, you
will ease the reins and the horse will take off like a rocket, and
there will be mud and turf and the wind in your face, movement and
laughter and the wild and free feeling of the gallop.
Horses
taught me hard work too. Long hours of physical, smelly, sweaty work.
Menial jobs: pulling ragwort from a paddock, mucking out stables,
leading a beginner around and around a schooling ring. The joys of an
outdoor life, the harshness of weather. That it’s better to use a
body in a physical way than let it soften. And of course, horses
taught me about facing fear and that you can do things you never
thought possible.
I
haven’t ridden for years now. Moving around, work, other interests
meant it was pushed to one side and eventually faded. But sometimes,
I still dream of horses. I dream I’m galloping, or just spending
quiet time with a horse, scratching them under the mane, the gentle
shuffle of hooves in straw, that warm and rich smell.
Writing
my latest lesbian romance, Fenced-In Felix, brought a lot of
that remembered pleasure back. Talking the language of horse, the
terminology, and writing my main character Felix, her horses and
lifestyle, was a wonderful experience. Felix lives in outback
Australia where horses are primarily working animals. But as in so
many places around the world, rural workers and horses share a close
bond.
I
hope you take a moment to check out Fenced-In Felix and spend
some time with Felicity (“Felix”) and Josie and their lives in
outback Australia. Felix is not just about horses though.
It’s an Aussie romance set in outback Queensland, and as well
horses, there are kangaroos, snakes, goannas, and dogs. It’s a
story of friendship, trust, rural living, horse riding, hard work,
moving on versus staying put, racehorses, mauve pants, campfires,
billy tea and damper and, at the heart, whether love and trust go
hand in hand.
Felix
is the third book in the “Girl Meets Girl” series—standalone
novels with interconnecting characters. You don’t need to have read
the others in the series to enjoy this. I hope you’ll give
it a red hot go.
By the way, I'm giving away a free copy to one person who leaves a comment. Tell me how you feel about horses... and be sure to include your email address in the comment text, so I can find you if you win!
Blurb
Felix
Jameson is working hard to get her outback hospitality business off
the ground. Building cabins, leading trail rides and enticing
tourists means she hasn’t much time for distractions—and that
includes romance. But when she meets Josie, a drifter who picks up
casual work as she goes, Felix is intrigued and attracted.
Josie asks Felix to board her horse, Flame, and Felix is delighted.
Not only can she use the extra money, but it means she will see a lot
more of Josie. Felix finds Josie fits in well into her life, and for
the solitary Felix there’s finally the possibility of romance. But
there’s something suspicious about Flame, who bears an uncanny
resemblance to a valuable stolen racehorse. Felix knows she is
falling hard for Josie, but is Josie all she seems, or is she mixed
up in shady dealings?
Excerpt
I
had two horses to do to Josie’s one, so she finished first. She
came over and rested her arms on the edge of Smoke’s stall.
“You’ve
got plenty of space here. You could have half a dozen more horses.”
I
bent to brush dust from Smoke’s foreleg. “Barn space, yes, but
the land is poor. It barely supports the six I have now.”
“How
many have you had in the past?”
“Nine
was the maximum, back in the days when I took youngsters for
breaking. But that was during the good years, when we had proper wet
seasons.”
“Word
is this year could see some good rains.”
“Let’s
hope. Can never rely on it though. I’ve seen the land go for years
without real rain, and I’ve seen it under a metre of flood water.”
I
straightened. Josie leant on the door, fiddling with the thong on her
hat.
“I
want to ask you something,” she said. “Not sure what you’ll
say.”
“Oh?”
I tried to appear open. In truth, I had no idea what she wanted.
“I
like it in Worrindi. The pub’s a good place to be. Nice people.”
Her mouth crooked up at one corner. The motion was fascinating.
“Believe me, that is not always the case.” Her fingers worried at
the thong on the hat. “Anyway, I thought I’d stay around. A
while. Maybe a lot longer, if it works out. I told you I have a
horse?”
I
nodded, my gaze on the restless movement of her fingers.
“I’d
like to have her near. I was given her. Otherwise there’s no way
I’d have bought a horse, not with my lifestyle. But she’s mine,
and I’d like to have her somewhere close. Her name’s Flame.”
Flame.
It conjured up a picture of a delicate, feisty horse, quick as
lightning with movements of fire. But as tempting as the picture was,
I knew I had to say no.
“She
sounds like a beaut horse. But honestly, Josie, I don’t think I can
have her here. I just don’t have the grazing. Most likely, I’m
going to have to buy hay before long, and that’s very expensive.”
“I’ll
pay for her agistment—I didn’t mean for you to keep her for
nothing. I’ve thought about what I can afford.” She named a
figure that was generous.
The
money was tempting. With the extra, I could finish up the second
cabin.
I
shook my head. “That’s a good offer, but it’s more than you’d
pay at other places. But I still don’t think I could do it if I
have to buy hay.”
“If
it comes to that, how about I purchase the hay for her?”
I
ducked down to Smoke’s forelegs again to give myself time to think.
The dollars marching through my head beat a compelling rhythm, but
before I fell on Josie’s neck shrieking “yes!” I had to give
this more thought.
“I’m
a thirty-minute drive from Worrindi. It would cost you to drive out
here, and you may not be able to come that often. I’m sure there is
somewhere closer to town where you could keep her. If you want, I’ll
ask—”
“No.”
She leant forwards, and her face took on a strange intensity. “I
want her to be here with you. If you’ll take her, that is. She’s
special. I don’t want to trust her to just anyone. I can pay, if
that’s what you’re worried about.”
“It’s
not. I trust you.” And I did. I wasn’t just saying the words. For
all her nomadic ways, Josie seemed like someone I could rely on.
Maybe I’d wake up one morning with a horse that didn’t belong to
me and no way of contacting the owner and no money coming in—I’d
heard of that happening to others—but I didn’t think so.
“I
can give you a month up front. I’ll transfer it to your bank if you
agree.”
It
was a lot of money for someone earning minimum wage less board in a
pub. Maybe she had money put aside.
“If
you take her, I’ll know she’ll be well looked after. Cared for.
So many places just throw a horse in a paddock and forget about it
until the next bill’s due.” Her head ducked, and she glanced at
me from under her hat. “And it would give me an excuse to come out
here. To see you.”
It
wasn’t fair of her to play the flirtation card with someone who was
obviously interested.
I
stood up again, with Smoke between us, and rested my hands on her
withers. “Look, I’ll think about it, okay? I can’t give you an
answer now. I need to think about grazing, hay, and things like
that.” And about you wanting to see me again. “Will Flame be okay
in with the others? I don’t think it will work if she has to be by
herself.”
“I’m
sure she will be. Thanks, Felix, for at least thinking about it.”
“I’ll
let you know.”
She
nodded, and with a quick smile, she walked off.
I
watched her go, watched the sway of her backside under those mauve
pants, and tried not to think about the fact that she wanted to spend
time with me.
~~~
Fenced-In
Felix is available now from Ylva
Publishing and from 30 November 2016 from other retailers
including:
About
Cheyenne Blue
Cheyenne
Blue’s fiction has been included in over ninety erotic anthologies
since 2000. She is the editor of Forbidden
Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire,
a 2015 finalist for both the Lambda Literary Award and Golden Crown
Literary Award, and of First:
Sensual Lesbian Stories of New Beginnings.
Her
collected lesbian short fiction is published as Blue
Woman Stories,
volumes 1-3, with more to come. The romantic Girl
Meets Girl
series, Never-Tied
Nora,
Not-So-Straight
Sue and
Fenced-In
Felix
are out now from Ylva Publishing.
Cheyenne
has lived in the U.K., Ireland, the United States, and Switzerland,
but now writes, runs, makes bread and cheese, and drinks wine in
rural Queensland, Australia. Check out her blog at
www.cheyenneblue.com and
follow her on Twitter at @IamCheyenneBlue and on Goodreads
at https://www.goodreads.com/CheyenneBlue
