BookView with Christine Meunier, author of New Beginnings

This book formed very quickly after the idea was in my head for a couple of months; it wrote itself in a couple of weeks.

Christine Meunier – 01 January 2014

The Back Flap

A job transfer for Jacqui King’s father means that the 10 year old and her family have moved interstate. Jacqui is excited that the move has allowed her family to take up a lease on a large property.

Since she could remember, Jacqui King has had a love for horses. Now with the family’s move she wonders if her dream to learn to horse ride could come true. Jacqui’s mum Kate plans to turn the property into a place where they can offer horse agistment, only concreting Jacqui’s desire to have a horse of her own.

On a property titled Genesis, it does indeed seem that the new beginnings for the King family are looking promising.

About the book

What is the book about?

New Beginnings is the first novel in the Free Rein series, a horse Christian series for pre-teens.  It explores 10 year old Jacqui King’s move to Victoria from South Australia with her family after her father receives a job transfer.  They are able to take up a lease on a property and it seems that with Jacqui’s mum’s plans to use it to house other people’s horses, the young girl is able to entertain the idea of learning to ride a horse.

When did you start writing the book?

Around July of 2013.

 How long did it take you to write it?

This book formed very quickly after the idea was in my head for a couple of months; it wrote itself in a couple of weeks.

 Where did you get the idea from?

I wanted to create a horse series for the younger reader.  Two characters in my debut novel Horse Country feature in this spin off series.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

Not for this one!

What came easily?

The general idea of the series and how the first two books would progress.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

Entirely fictitious.

Do you have a target reader for this book?

8 – 12 year old horse crazy kids!

How was writing this book different from what you’d experienced writing previous books?

It wrote so quickly and was more based on fictional circumstances; Horse Country was very factually and experientially based.

What new things did you learn about writing, publishing, and/or yourself while writing and preparing this book for publication?

That it is different writing a series and thinking about where it is going as a whole, rather than writing a stand alone novel.  I’m looking forward to continuing the Free Rein series and have released the first two books together.

End of Interview:

For more, visit the author’s page on Goodreads, the website for the series, or like the series page on Facebook.

Get your copy of New Beginnings from LuLu.