Hello welcome to my first blog post. As you will know by now my name is Janette Clennett and I am the author of Riding the Dale, the first in the Avondale series of books.
As this is my first blog post, I suppose I will have to start at the beginning. I have loved horses as long as I can remember, as a child seeing the rag and bone man coming past our house with his horse and cart would make my day. I also loved reading stories as soon as I learnt to read, Enid Blyton being my first favourite author. I remember lying under the bed covers reading about the Famous Five by the light of my torch, knowing I would be in trouble if my mother caught me. Silver Snaffles by Primrose Cumming was completed in one sitting.
Being a horse lover and bookworm for most of my life it seems natural I would want to write a book that includes horses. I really don’t know why I haven’t done this before now but I suppose like everything you have to do it when the time’s right.
I have loved the process of writing this book and have had many hours pouring over my computer, often working until late evening. I have had to fit it in around my job working with my lovely husband, our horses, children and grandchildren so the process has taken about a year to complete.
Although the book is based in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, we actually live on the east coast but visit the Dales as often as possible. After a recent visit to the Dales I thought up the character of Jazz as I was setting off to bring our horses in one wet windy night. Although I was cold I imagined how much colder and wetter it would be at the very top of the Dale. That’s when the idea took root. I itched to start typing but procrastinated for a day or two, then decided to take the plunge, after all nothing ventured nothing gained.
I do hope you enjoy reading about the process of writing the first in my set of three books and watching the journey as they come to fruition.