Trainers - a twenty-fifth anniversary
This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the release of my very first fiction book, Trainers. To celebrate the anniversary Trainers has been re-released with bonus content. Getting Trainers published and becoming an author was something I had longed for all my life.
The year before another book, The Shane Broderick Story, a non-fiction, sports biography had been accepted for publication. The publishing company asked if I would like to write some fiction for them. Would I! Yes of course. I spent months coming up with plots for some forty books – that was how keen I was! The slightly bemused publisher asked me to ‘pick one and write it.’ So I did. And Trainers was that book.
Absolutely over the moon with delight at being ‘allowed’ to write – a proper publisher liked what I wrote, I set to work. Just as the first 250,000 word draft was finished the publishing company changed hands and the new management did not want fiction. I don’t know if I sold the idea well, or the plot resonated with someone in the office, but the next publisher I tried were interested in the book. I’m aware now of how hard it is to get accepted by a publisher, so think I was very lucky to be given the opportunity.
A quarter of a million words is very slightly too many for a book, especially for a first-time novelist, so half of the book had to be cut. Oh, the pain of losing characters I had come to know and love. And then after a lot of work with an incredible editor, the book was released.
Fast forward many years, and many novels later Trainers is now being re-released by publishers Lavender and White. The revised edition features additional content. I’m so happy that the book is going to be available for a new audience, some of whom may not have been born when the first edition came out.
Inspired by my then author hero Jilly Cooper, Trainers is a racy romance set in the world of Irish horse racing.
Trainers
‘You’re going to have to choose, once and for all…’
Ireland. 1997.
The attraction spirited Tara Blake feels for a stranger takes her by surprise, especially when she discovers he is her brother’s arch enemy, the brooding Morgan Flynn. With the men locked in a bitter battle can Tara’s love for Morgan survive the twin obsessions of his hatred of her beloved brother and his passion for a wild, but brilliant horse.
Feisty Sarah Connors longs for her boss, the promiscuous Derry Blake to fall in love with her. Unfortunately, Tara’s brother, Derry never seems to see her as anything more than an employee. Sarah is totally unprepared when love does strike.
Two men. One woman. And a devil of a horse. Trainers is a multi-stranded romance set in the glamorous and fiercely competitive world of fanatical trainers, courageous horses and valiant jockeys.