The picture above was my Facebook memory today. Nine years ago today, this sweet boy came into my life. He isn’t just a cute little pony that blossomed into his best self at the horse paradise that is, The Franch, but he is also my little muse. Even though he’s not an Arabian, it’s this little halfbreed pony that fired up my dream to be a writer.

Timmy is loved by all at The Franch because he’s the smallest and cutest little guy on the ranch, and oh so loveable. He’s a tough little dude, though. He lets the bigger horses know he’s not a pushover!

I realized I wanted to be a writer way back in seventh grade, but life got in the way for many years, as it often does. Another dream I had was owning an Arabian horse. In my late forties, I acquired two rescue horses: Frisco first and then Timmy. I managed to board them at a ranch that bred Arabians, but that was as close as I got to Arabian horse ownership at first. My circumstances improved and first I acquired, Flame and later his full sister, Honey aka Fyrestorm.

My friend, Stephanie Young, suggested that I write something like The Black Stallion, so I started writing, The Red Filly, which stars, Fyrestorm. My previous writing had been more geared toward adults, but I gained access to my inner child, when I started writing the story of a girl who wanted desperately to ride a beautiful red filly. I then realized that cute little Timmy would be an awesome star in children’s short stories and later I came up with a picture book story which stars the cute pony.

Once I started writing Timmy Tales, my writing juices really started flowing! Timmy is the cutest little muse!