It’s been a little over a month now since that late afternoon when I went to Mocha’s field and discovered…she could barely walk. That moment when it became The Time I Knew Was Coming Far Too Soon.

I’ve finally stopped thinking about dividing the apple slices for horse grain. Noticed how slowly both grain and supplements are getting used, now that I’m down to one horse, especially one who just gets the bare minimum of grain to make his supplement palatable because he’s such an easy keeper (for those who are curious, it’s ¼ lbs grain, ½ lbs supplement. He still does well on that and on hay).

I’ll still glance off at that field on the way back from the ranch, somewhat of a habit from the summer when it was Mocha in that field and I wanted to check on her (and noticed that she knew when Her Truck drove by the field. Of course she knew. She knew the sound of my car when I pulled up at Gregg’s place, and would often be standing in the middle of her stall, where she could see me coming through the door. Sometimes she whinnied at me, but she was always, always looking for me).

Haven’t catalogued her ribbons yet, though that day is approaching.

And…it’s moving on with the Boi. A week ago he had the honor of carrying Miss Rodeo Oregon 2025, Mary Makenna Olney, as part of her Miss Rodeo America 50 Horse Challenge, where they have to ride 50 different horses within a set time period. Despite not having anyone besides me on his back since I bought him in August, 2023, he did well by her. I had a brief regret that Mocha never had this opportunity, but oh well. Marker’s path is different from Mocha’s.

I finally tossed the brushes I have been using on both horses. Surprise, surprise, they wear out faster when using them on two horses. I got a marvelous tail tamer brush and had a brief regret that I hadn’t discovered this one for Mocha’s lush mane and tail. But it was one of those moments when I’m aware things are moving on. That said, I’m holding onto one Mocha brush from Gregg’s day, because it still has a tooth mark from one of his dogs who I was fond of—the Bernese-Great Swiss Mountain Dog cross Cowboy. Two memories to cherish when I see that brush. Right now I have two braids, that brush, a custom bar shoe, a chunk of tooth, and several bits that were Mocha’s and Mocha’s only to remember her by.

But. New brushes, not worn out. I also finally found the right snaffle bit for Marker, a three-piece smooth ring snaffle with a dogbone center and a copper roller. He likes playing with the roller, just like he does with the curb bit. I put it on the old snaffle headstall I got over twenty years ago for Mocha, along with the seven-foot latigo leather reins, and the cavasson from Mocha’s early training. It seems to work for him.

Moving on. Our work this summer has made his canter smoother and more consistent. It’s a lovely rocking-horse type of canter that is easy to sit. Now we’re working on all three types of canter lead changes—simple (walk or trot before asking for the change of lead), interrupted (whoa, then pick up the new lead), and flying (change the lead at the canter). He’s starting to get them.

One thing I really appreciate about the training options this time around (as compared to Mocha at the same age) is that we aren’t locked into an arena. Both going down the road or riding in the hayfield allows for simple, straight-line work, just to build up muscle and provide a mental break from arena work. I’m not sure if that is why it seems easier to teach him things or if it’s tied to conformation and mental differences between the two horses. Or a combination of both. Nonetheless, he really settles into covering a lot of ground at the fox trot, which he seems to like doing.

There are some things I haven’t touched on much in our training, but may do this fall now that I have the snaffle. He’s solid in round pen and lunging work, though when I deviate from a pattern he expects he gets worried (well, we’re doing more of that variation stuff so he adapts). The injury to my shoulder earlier this summer means I’m not working on ground driving. Maybe that will be a winter thing. It’s possible.

He also needs a lot more work with ground poles in box and L backing/sidepassing. Again, probably best done in the snaffle, not the curb. It’s the kind of detail work that is best laid down in a non-leverage bit with some horses, and I think he’s one of them. But oh, he is really getting decent at gates. Not crowding my knee into them, either.

I’ve found that lunging or round penning him before I tighten the cinch eliminates a lot of the tension he’s had around saddling. And getting him to settle into the snaffle means I tie the reins loosely to the saddle while he works, then adding the cavasson after he’s had a few minutes to mouth the bit and settle into it.

So we’re settling into fall. For some reason his fall coat seems to be heavier than in past years—maybe due to the supplement he’s getting. He seems to be more relaxed, and…shows signs of becoming a fully mature horse. Oh, he’s still playful and mouthy, but there’s just that filling in of the front end, and a certain calmness that comes with maturity.

And, perhaps, knowing that he is now the Only Horse.

I miss the old mare, but…he’s doing a decent job of filling her horseshoes, in his own way.

Over the past five years, I’ve somewhat evolved a writing process that really worked for me, using Scrivener and Word together. Scrivener was where I put my worldbuilding details. Character notes. Oddball stuff like any weirdnesses about time, including timelines for the stories where timing was crucial. Synopsis. Anything that I needed to know about the backstory, all in one place, with easy access for reference purposes.

At the same time, I would draft a chapter in Word, with Scrivener open to let me refer back to the synopsis, or any other worldbuilding details—mainly because certain formatting things are easier for me to do in Word. As I finished each chapter, I pasted it in Scrivener, because I found it so much easier to look something up in an individual chapter rather than scroll through a full manuscript or open multiple documents to find a niggling continuity detail—or fix a continuity detail that became problematic later on in the story. I also devised methods for updating the synopsis as the characters changed and evolved, documenting the whole process. Oh yeah, I had it together. Really together. Not just for the Martinieres but for a couple of standalone books plus a couple of novellas.

Then 2025 happened.

I had finished the final work in what I had started calling the Martiniere Multiversal Family Saga. There wasn’t anything else I wanted to write in that world (after twelve books). Along with that also came the need to spend time not writing because we had a major project happening elsewhere. Plus, I needed to do something to revive interest in my backlist books. I spent time writing up some essays about my stories and…well, thinking about the next project.

Problem was, what I was facing for the next project was…something I had been poking at for five years (the Martinieres as well as several other writing projects between 2020-2025 kept me from having to deal with That. Damned. Project). I looked at other ideas and…none of them were adequately fleshed out to be ready to write. Either they required more work than the Damned Project or…they needed to cook for longer.

Sigh. The work in question is a followup series to my high fantasy series Goddess’s Honor, set in the world of the Seven Crowned Gods. I’d poked at the notion for five years, because while I had wrapped up the major threads of the Goddess’s Honor series arcs, there were still…things left dangling. I had intended to get back to the followup series but…it was a mess.

Yes, the Big Bad Emperor was dead. The hero(ine) who killed him in a magical duel (spoiler: he cheated first), also died but was raised up to be a Goddess. The fated hero(ine) became Empress. Meanwhile, in the new Empress’s homeland over the ocean, the Empress’s mother had defeated another Big Bad.

All well and good, except…it was clear within the story that the Empire was a mess. The Emperor had been covering up a lot of problems and they all showed up at his death. Over the ocean, that particular Big Bad showed signs of being defeated for now, but lurked as a potential problem.

I had written a few chapters. So once I was finished with the Martinieres, I blew the dust off, did some revisions, and…reached the 30k word mark, whereupon I realized that nope, what I was writing was more exposition than storytelling. I was facing the infamous “muddle in the middle,” plus…it just wasn’t falling together.

After the ease of writing the Martinieres, this was absolutely frustrating. I’d also started the story too late. Deep breath. Instead of that lovely writing process I had been using for the past five years, I needed to go back and rip everything apart. Expand events that I’d just mentioned as asides into scenes. Damnit.

And life just kept yanking me away from writing, so that I couldn’t give this book the concentration it needed.

Then I ended up with a nice cover for a previously released book from 2018 that I wanted to overhaul for various reasons. The process for doing that revision dragged me back into working exclusively in Word.

I didn’t like that. Especially since I’d gotten used to my combined Scrivener/Word system. Nonetheless, despite everything, I got it put back together, adding about 24k words to what was originally a 62k story. Filled in a few holes, added more material at the beginning, then completely rewrote the ending as well as setting it up for sequels. Klone’s Stronghold: Reeni, is a much stronger book than the original (if you want to check it out, it’s available at https://books2read.com/klonesstrongholdreeni).

But then it was back to the fantasy project. The more I hacked at it, the more I realized that the material I had originally considered sufficient for one book is…more like two books. There were conflicts I needed to expand upon, especially since my original concept was for a trilogy—and I couldn’t figure out where on earth the material for the next two books would come from.

I lacked subplots and subarcs.

Well, it was time to do the pantser thing. I had 30k, and too much of it brushed over what I had originally dismissed as not important to the main story. I’d made a big mistake.

So I returned to carefully expanding the story. But something happened as I worked. The stubborn, evasive story started coming to life. More backstory started hollering at me. Before I knew it, all the revisions expanded that initial 30k to 50k. I had a credible early arc, along with development of deeper themes and richer characters.

I’m now at the point where I can start ripping apart the synopsis for this fantasy novel and revising it. Back on track for my original methodology—once that synopsis is written. But at least I’m back on familiar territory, with a method that works for me. And I figured out the problem 30k into the book, rather than falling apart later. Definitely an improvement from my earlier writing days. Both books are stronger, thanks to those revisions. But it’s taken me…several decades of off and on writing to get to this point.

The lesson, of course, is that no one writing process is carved in stone. Different books will require variations in the process. I’ve been known to develop extensive and detailed scene matrices, but that won’t be necessary for this trilogy. The key is remaining flexible, and meeting the needs of whatever the story requires.

Sometimes those needs require a more structured process. Other times…a more flexible process. After twenty-four books, I’m still learning lessons about drafting my stories and—each book is a different lesson.

Which is as it should be. A good writer should never stop learning.