Sandra Alonzo

Horses inspire me to write. These animals have made a huge impact on my life, but please don't let my three dachshunds hear about that! When I was seven, after listening to me beg and plead for three years, my parents finally gave in and bought a horse for my most memorable Christmas ever. That gentle yet spunky friend started my lifelong love affair with equines.

My husband and I retired and moved from a rural area in Southern California to a foothill community near Yosemite. Between mucking out the corral, keeping the pasture areas green, and grooming and exercising three horses, it’s amazing that I have time to write. However, I do write almost every day because I'm pretty much addicted to writing. They say ‘write what you love,’ so a frequent though not exclusive subject matter for my poetry, picture books, and YA novels is the horse.




			Riding Invisible illustrated by Nathan Huang Hyperion Books for Children, 2010 ages 12 to 15, ISBN 978-1-4231-1898-5 “Everyone has to know the truth in case I get killed on the trail. It’ll be My Escape all written and drawn WHILE IT HAPPENS. Could be a little raw. I’m a little raw. “I’m going to lay low, still and quiet, blend in, harmonize with the world out there. It’s not an easy thing to be, a boy on a horse...riding invisible.” So begins 15-year-old Yancy Aparicio's adventure journal. Tormented and abused by his older brother Will, Yancy runs away from home on the night that his brother viciously attacks his horse, Shy. With just a backpack, a flashlight, his horse, and a journal, Yancy takes to the California desert on a journey of self-discovery. There, he will learn the hardships of being homeless, experience his first kiss, and meet a Mexican laborer, Tavo, who has a thing or two to teach him about life and love.



			Gallop-O-Gallop illustrated by Kelly Murphy Dial, 2007 ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0-8037-2967-4 Whether you have a horse, want a horse, or just love to read about horses, this book will gallop-o-gallop away with your heart. Get swept into these twenty-one poems all about horses, plus pages and pages of dazzling illustrations. Alternatively rambunctious and lyrical, Gallop-O-Gallop invites readers to celebrate our special relationship with these beautiful and inspiring animals.