I’d like to introduce you to Jadi Jones, author of Moonlit a YA Fantasy. It is a delightful story that will keep you reading to the last page. Jadie has stopped here on her Blog Tour presented by WOW, Women On Writing. Jadie explains how she weaved her passion of horses into Moonlit.
“Write what you know.” I’ve heard this piece of advice more times than I can count. But when I wrote the first draft of Moonlit, I minimized the appearance of horses, worried that it would scare off non-horsey readers. My main character Tanzy Hightower began her journey at her father’s farm, and then they never made an encore appearance.
After I felt like I had a solid draft, I sent it to a friend I went to high school with, who edits for a legal publisher, and asked for her opinion. She’s about as non-horsey as you get. Her feedback: you need to weave horses more into your story. You really found your voice in the scene with horses. I was surprised, and initially reluctant to take her advice. How will I incorporate horses more without bogging down the story? Then it hit me: Horses were Tanzy’s heart… what if they were somehow in her blood… literally? This eureka moment reshaped the entire arch of Tanzy’s journey, and Moonlit is so much better for it.
Horses have been a lifelong passion of mine. I’ve worked as a barn manager, a trainer and coach, an exercise rider, a groom, and more. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so I paid for most of my horse related activities through barn labor, and rode anything they would put me on. This upbringing carried over into Tanzy’s personality, and shaped her calloused hands and can-do personality. Even now, as I edit the sequel to Moonlit, I work out plot tangles in the saddle, and seek refuge in the sights, sounds, and scents of the farm where I work.
Synopsis:
Eighteen-year-old Tanzy Hightower knows horses, has grown up with them on Wildwood Farm. She also knows not to venture beyond the trees that line the pasture. Things happen out there that can’t be explained. Or undone. Worse, no one but she and the horses can see what lurks in the shadows of the woods.
When a moonlit ride turns into a terrifying chase, Tanzy is left to question everything, from the freak accident that killed her father to the very blood in her veins. Broken and confused, she turns to Lucas, a scarred, beautiful stranger, and to Vanessa, a charming new friend who has everything Tanzy doesn’t.
But why do they seem to know more about her than she knows herself? Is she really Tanzy? Or someone new? Was she ever Tanzy? And how will she choose between the many realities she’s coming to know?
About the Author: 
Jadie Jones has been dreaming about being an author since she wrote her first book in the seventh grade in a black and white composition tablet, of course. But life happens…jobs, husband, baby. Jadie has that magical time known as naptime to thank for Moonlit. Because, when all was quiet in the house (with the exception of the washer humming in the background) Jadie could hear Tanzy, who she thought she had long ago relegated to past dreams, calling to her. And one day Jadie pulled out a pen and answered. The result was Moonlit.
Author’s Websites:
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Leave a comment on how you put passion into your stories or why you think passion helps a story soar and win a PDF of Moonlit.
Till next time,
Elizabeth
