VBT-Featuring Nancy Famolari

Today I an pleased to be presenting Nancy Famolari, who will be talking about her latest novel – Winner's Circle.

Nancy, what is this book about?
Summer's father is dead; his only asset, a fabulous trotter. Two men want to help her. She refuses Ned, blaming him for her father's death. Davis, a famous racehorse driver, wins her heart but deserts her after she suffers a serious accident on the track. Max, her rival, will do anything to get the horse for his stable. Summer's dream is to race her horse in the Hambletonian Oaks. Will she get there and will she, finally, find love?

Nancy, please tell us a little about yourself:

I live in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania in the summer and on a small farm near Ocala, Florida in the winter. My favorite hobby is trail riding. My horse, Ambrosa de la Pluma is a registered Paso Fino. The breed came to the new world from Spain. Paso Finos have a unique four beat gait that is very smooth. They can go for hours on the trail. They are smart and friendly and make wonderful companions. I feel lucky to live in two areas with lots trail riding.

What inspired you to write this story? 

Winner's Circle takes place in the fast paced world of harness racing. For fourteen years, my husband and I had a small Standardbred breeding farm in New Jersey. We raised and raced these marvelous horses. Harness racing is very exciting. There are many heart warming stories about an owner or trainer believing in their horse and against the odds getting the horse to win a big race. The desire to win drives the plot in Winner's Circle. There are also people who take advantage of both horses and people for personal gain, not caring the least about how the horse is affected. I believed these elements would make a good novel.

Do you have a favorite character?

Summer Langston is my favorite character. She's a very determined lady who cares about her horse, Meadow, and overcomes severe personal and professional obstacles to get her horse to the winner's circle. In the process, she learns something about herself and how to give and receive love. I like the fact that she's gutsy and doesn't give up easily.

Tell us a little about your writing schedule: 

I try to write everyday for two hours. Obviously this isn't easy with farm chores and other activities. During Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) I can almost always keep to the schedule because the incentive is to have a novel at the end of the month. I find the first draft fun and relatively easy to do. Editing is the part that gives me trouble. It takes much longer to edit well than to write a first draft.
What are your future writing plans?
I write a series of mystery novels based on life in the Endless Mountains. Murder in Montbleu and The Lake House are available from Amazon. I'm editing the third book, Death at the Writer's Conference. It will be available later this year.

Nancy’s book, Winner’s Circle is available at Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/Winners-Circle-Nancy-Famolari/dp/1460951476/

To find out more about Nancy, please visit her at:
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/nancyfamolai/

Blogs: Nancy Famolari's Place (http://nancygfamolari.blogspot.com//)

Nancy Famolari's Author Spotlight (http://nancyfamolari.blogspot.com//)

Thanks for stopping by Nancy and giving us a chance to get to know you and your book. Best of luck with your book!

Virtual Book Tour Guest-Nancy Famolari

This month's guest for the virtual book tour is Nancy Famolari to tell us about her book, Unwelcome Guest at Fair Hill Farm. Nancy, please tell us what this book is about.


When fifteen-year-old Meg discovers that a beautiful Swedish student with designs on her boyfriend has come to spend a year on her beloved horse farm, she decides to act. None of her plans to force Katrina to leave work. During foaling season, disaster strikes. Will the girls cooperate to save the mare and foal?


Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I live on a farm in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania. We have dogs, cats and horses. I must admit horses are my favorites. They're kind, gentle, and loving. At times, they seem almost able to read your mind. We've had horses for almost 25 years. I don't know what I'd do without their friendly presence. I love watching them in the field, and of course, riding and carriage driving.


What inspired you to write this story?

When we lived in New Jersey, we raised Standardbred racehorses commercially. Both my husband and I worked full time, so it was important to have help. A Swedish couple owned the farm adjoining ours. For a few months each year, they hosted girls and boys from the Scandinavian countries to work on the farm and get to visit the U.S. One year, she had an extra girl, one who was interested in the breeding aspects of the Standardbred business, rather than the racing. She asked us if we would host the girl for a few months. We were delighted, and Malin became part of our family. She was excellent with the horses, and it gave the boys a sister. When I decided to write a young adult book about horse breeding, the interesting aspect of having a foreign visitor living on the farm seemed perfect. For several years, we had hosted exchange students from Europe and Japan in the summer. Meg's reaction to having someone new living in the house is the same reaction some of the boys had the first time we hosted a foreign student. In the end, it worked very well for everyone. The boys learned a great deal about several foreign countries and made friends.


Do you have a favorite character, if so tell us why?

That's a hard question. Both Meg and Katrina are wonderful characters. I can't say either is my favorite. Meg is a typical teenager, and Katrina is such a basically nice person. There is one other character in story that I, and everyone who's read the book, love, Nicky. His character is based on my Morgan gelding, also named Nicky, and in many respects, he's the favorite.


Tell us a little about your writing schedule. What do you find most difficult, easiest?

I try to write 2000 words a day when I'm doing a first draft. When the draft is finished I put it away for months, then send it to my critique group and finally, do revisions. The hardest part for me is after the book is published, trying to promote it.


What are your future writing plans?

I plan to write two more books in this series about Meg and Katrina. In the second book, the girls go to Arizona for two weeks on a dude ranch. In the third book, it's horse show season and Meg hates watching Cindy, her major rival, drive Nicky in the shows.


To find out more about nancy, please visit her blog at http://nancygfamolari.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by Nancy and for giving us an opportunity to get to know you. Best of luck to you in your writing career.