I bought a calendar at the end of last year that serves me well. It is a one-stop glance for those days when I’m wondering what to post on Facebook.

A few years ago, when I was still in the childcare field as assistant director, I would always add a piece of history or a tidbit of interest to the break and lunch schedule I made out each day. It made it more interesting for me, and hopefully for the teachers as well. I’d check on-line for those odd holidays that might add some spice to a very boring task. I found the website for national days and loved the variety they offered. Some of them were off limits, like National Nude Sunbathing Day, but some fit well, like Talk Like a Pirate Day. Everyone at the school would mimic those scoundrels from the past, with an “Aye, matey.” or “Batten down those hatches.”

The national day calendar still serves me well because it dovetails with some of the my books, and the characters in them, so I can add a bit of marketing along with the post. Today it’s I Love Horses Day and I added an excerpt from the book that spoke to Mia Fisher’s love for her stallion.  She’s one of the women in my Fire and Ice series who grew up on a farm in a small town close to where I lived as a kid. It’s her passion, something she’s relegated to “when I find the time” pile. Only when she goes back, and she renews herself, is she able to give her husband another chance at Rekindling the Fire.

I loved writing about the animals, because I have an innate love for them. I’ve taken lessons, watched them galloping around a field, and have breathed in their grace as they munched grass in a meadow.  My father happens to own a horse farm near Ocala Florida and the most peaceful times in my life have been spent there. It was pure joy to include them in Mia’s story and I hope I did them justice.