So it is that we move into the final stages of editing a novella I wrote, and many of you enjoyed, in 2013. Cowboy summer has since been through the editorial wringer, combed over in fine and nagging details by the lovely Rustle, then nit-picked to within an inch of my life by Kitt. I have lost count of how many times it's been read through, how many times I've stared at the words trying to find errors and fix grammatical issues. Now it is with Vinnie, the man who did the final checks on the published issue of Born Wolf, and my oldest friend, for a last clean-up.

And soon it'll be time, and we'll have another paperback and e-book out for you all to partake of if you wish.

Some people think that all these stages should happen regardless, but the reality is that no one works for free, not really, and the hours involved in a full publishing edit are insanely high. People who buy the book (regardless of format) do get more for their money, something just that bit more polished, something with covers and sleek formatting, and my adoration and love. Not that those who read online doesn't get love too, and just as much.

Cowboy Summer is a book very close to my heart, because despite the fact that Shura is a dapple grey quarter horse, and I cannot race around barrels or throw a lasso to save my life, it is a story almost entirely inspired by the horse I love. Copper taught me a huge amount, about horses, about riding, and about myself as a person. There were others too: Christian taught me about the art of long reining, my sister explained long and hard over skype about the right technique to throw a lasso, Ma showed me how to ask with my heels rather than the reins. But it was Copper who put in the hours with me: stood in the pouring rain while we waited to cross the road, argued back when I asked wrong, and taught me what it was to fly. He is an older boy now than he was the day we came to the start of a hedge line and in one and the same breath we both decided to run as fast as we could. I never asked, he never told, but I felt his pulse through my legs where we touched and there was nothing either of us wanted to do other than go together. I know how Rhyder Markey feels about his horse, because you couldn't make me choose between the horse and the man I love.

So off we go, to share another part of ourselves with the universe at large.