I have been honored to join the Back To School Blog Hop for
  Linda Ulleseit, author, teacher, mom, and everything else. The first of her
books that I read was Under a Wild and Darkening Sky. From the first line I was
  hooked and promised myself to purchase all of her books. Linda is not only a
  talented writer, but she gives us a look into a long forgotten world. The
  winged horses carry the reader into breath taking adventures, the characters
  pull at your heart, and the drama keeps you reading until the very last
page.

 

Under A Wild and Darkening Sky

 Alyna is weary from traveling around; weary of working for her
parents in the bakery, weary of covering for her brother who always seems to
find an escape from work. And she is frightened of the winged horses which make
this town famous. This town was her father’s dream, not hers, but how can she
break away? By redefining herself. By finding her own identity. And by doing
what every teenager in history has done, rebel.

 As her father finds his place among the elite and powerful barn
leaders, who control the last living herd of winged horses, he aligns himself
  with the most powerful of these barn leaders. But Alyna makes friends with the
  daughter of that same leader’s arch rival. Soon Alyna not only loses her fear
  of the flying horses, but learns to love them and takes a job as a groom for
  one special filly.

 Soon, Alyna and her brother Ralf join a group of young people
bent on righting a terrible wrong of the past, and find themselves banished from
the town. Danger abounds with every revolution, but sometimes revolution is the
only answer.

 When I finished reading this amazing adventure, I turned around
and read it again, then immediately purchased the other three books in the
trilogy. I give it five stars and if there were six, I’d give that as well. I
highly recommend this for anyone who can read; young or old, horse lover or not.


Author Bio: Linda Ulleseit was born and raised in Saratoga,
  California, and has taught elementary school in San Jose since 1996. She enjoys
  cooking, cross-stitching, reading, and spending time with her family. Her
  favorite subject is writing, and her students get a lot of practice scribbling
  stories and essays. Someday Linda hopes to see books written by former students
  alongside hers in bookstores.

 Her first novel, ON A WING AND A DARE, was published in 2012. It
is a Young Adult fantasy set in medieval Wales, complete with flying horses, a
love triangle, and treachery. It’s sequel, IN THE WINDS OF DANGER, was released
March, 2013. The focus of that book is the misty past of a groom and the murky
future of a rider. The last book in the trilogy is UNDER A WILD AND DARKENING
SKY, May 2014. It follows a brother and sister, new to High Meadow, who become
involved in a plot to steal flying horses.


Linda Ulleseit

 As a child, Linda always loved to write. She took her first
  creative writing course in seventh grade, accumulating a closet full of stories
  that she never showed anyone until 2007. At that time, she gave the first draft
  of a flying horse book to a teacher colleague to read. ON A WING AND A DARE
  began as a NaNoWriMo novel in 2009. It was revised with the help of reviewers
  on thenextbigwriter.com over the next two years. For NaNo 2011, Linda drafted
  the sequel, IN THE WINDS OF DANGER. NaNoWriMo 2012 brought the first draft of
  UNDER A WILD AND DARKENING SKY, and NaNoWriMo 2013 saw the completion of UNDER
  THE ALMOND TREES. This last is a historical fiction that follows three women
  who struggle for women’s rights in early California.


As with THE HOBBIT a story that will forever span the ages,
  Linda’s latest book, is actually the introduction to the trilogy. I recommend
you first read: WINGS OVER TREMEIRCHSON, released as an ebook in Fall 2013. It
is the story of Hoel and Neste, parents of a main character in ON A WING AND A  DARE.

 Please visit Linda’s page: http://ulleseit.wordpress.com/ 

And, September 6: Angela Fristoe  http://angelafristoe.blogspot.com


Be a part of the flight, and check these fabulous blogs. Indeed, I walk among
giants in this lineup. And don’t forget to comment.

 I have been graciously invited to join a blog
hop hosted by one of the most talented children’s authors I’ve had the pleasure
of working with; Linda Ulleseit, mom, teacher, author, and everything else. And  the best part of her story is horses!

 Not just your average horse hero of the race or the range, not
even close to our favorite horse heroes of New England stables, or Arizona
mountains. These horses fly! Set in old Wales – a long time ago – winged horses,  a remnant of a much earlier age, fly with their devoted riders over northern  mountains. The saga, penned by Linda Ulleseit, covers generations of horses and  villagers through love lost, and love gained, through joy and sorrow, betrayal  and forgiveness, terror and success.


Whether you love horse stories, or historical novels, or light
romance – or the drama of growing up and struggling to find your own identity,
you will be enthralled by the four books Linda has blessed this world
with.


So, in the first six days of September, join me in this journey
and get to know the drama, the horses, and their riders. I will be posting on
September 6. The lineup goes as follows:



September 1: Linda Ulleseit  http://ulleseit.wordpress.com   kickoff/welcome


September 2: Charles Ray   http://charlieray45.wordpress.com


September 3: Apryl Baker  http://mycrazzycorner.blogspot.com


September 4: Victoriya Aliferchyk 
  http://viktoryarch.wordpress.com 



September 5: Connie Peck  http://mrspiddles.weebly.com/blog  Under a Wild and
Dangerous Sky, final book in the saga.


September 6: Angela Fristoe  http://angelafristoe.blogspot.com



Be a part of the flight, and check these fabulous blogs. Indeed,
I walk among giants in this lineup. And don’t forget to
comment.

Finally
I’m invited to join a blog tour – and I go off on vacation! I can tell you, Alaska is well worth the trip, but then I lived there for fifteen years. Now, I’m back in Texas.


Suzanne Purvis invited me to join the World Blog Tour. She is an author and artist and has published several books.

Stop by her blog: http://www.suzannepurvis.blogspot.com/ or her lovely website: http://www.suzannepurvis.com/ .


Who am I? Easier to say who I am not. Eclectic is a pretty good
description, but I’ve been called ‘jack of all trades….’ And you know the rest
of that one. I’ve been an airplane pilot student, a bike rider (Harley
Davidson, of course), a dog musher, and a traveler driving the highways and
byways of the USA. However, I’m a horse woman, a science and reading teacher, a
wife, a mother of three, and Gramma to seven. I built my own house – twice. And,
I’ve been writing stories since childhood. Now I weave that childhood into
fanciful stories of girls and ponies. To date, I’ve self-published three chapter
books with a dozen more on the table. I’m the impatient sort, so after only a
year of queries – I do it myself. Oh, yea, did I mention that I’m hard
headed?


The four questions of the tour:


What am I working on?


Scrambling like mad with revisions on another volume of The
  Black Pony Adventures, middle grade chapter books. This one is called Legend of
  the Superstition Gold. The story sprouted in my head on my first ride into the
  mountains and has been rattling around in there for forty years. I’m also
  putting the final touches on a book of short stories inspired by the art of
  children who entered my contest. They’ll both be on the shelf in September
  2014, whether I get any sleep or not!


I have a romance on the back burner, centered around horses, of
course. I even belted out a 65K mid-grade adventure for NaNoWriMo. That burned
out a couple of brain cells, but I’ll get up the nerve to revise it one of these
days.


How does my work differ from others of its genre?


Horses. Horses with a voice. Maybe that’s not so different from
others, but with my own experiences thrown in, and using the language and terms
I truly love, maybe my words will stand out.


Why do I write what I do?


Because not writing is not an option. Brain clicks – fingers
  twitch – heartbeat races – and if I don’t find a pencil and paper quick I may
  hyperventilate. So much of my work has been confined to a classroom, but a few
  articles have popped up in magazines. The novels flowing from my pen now are
  simply the reflections of a girl who suddenly found herself in a creaky old
  body.


I don’t expect to get rich, or even make a living – but it’s fun
to dream. I write for the joy of watching a child’s imagination grow in the
  pages of a book.


How does my writing process work?


Did I mention eclectic? Does that translate to crazy and mixed
up? Sometimes I word-barf, free-write without stopping to make changes or even
to correct grammar. If I don’t like the way a scene is running, I skip a line or
two and write it again, just as it plays out in my mind like a movie. Sometimes
I start with an idea, draft an outline, create scenes and characters, then join
them together in a rich setting and rushing adventure. Both systems take me back
to the drawing board many, many times, with more gray hair each trip.


I also attend conferences, workshops, and online classes to hone
the craft. And I listen to my critique partners and editors.



I’m grateful for the opportunity to join the blog tour. Thank
you, Suzanne.


However, I’m so very new in the real world of writing
  professionals that I don’t know too many bloggers and I wasn’t able to locate
  three hearty souls to follow the path. But I sincerely hope that my generous
  readers will trace the wanderings of this particular tour and treat themselves
  to truly amazing talent.


Let not the trail grow cold at the end of my path, but press
  onward – to the stars and beyond.