Thursday, May 5, 2011

Find my New Blog at www.cynthiaderrico.com

Hello Everyone! If you've read my novel, Ground Manners, you've come here looking for my blog...look no further: http://www.cynthiaderrico.com is where I've relocated. I'll meet you there! Cynthia

1 comment:

ArtemisMay 5, 2011 at 8:44 PM
To Anonymous who reported that Jane Smiley, one of my favourite authors, is pro-horse slaughter...I can't thank you enough. I am sorry to hear it. Jane obviously hasn't heard of bute or the dangers it poses to human consumers of horsemeat. I will pursue the matter with her.
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Publication of Ground Manners. A Novel

Horse Abuse Issues Featured in ‘Ground Manners’

New book is a moving—and often, chilling—story about horses and the people who love them

Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, QC, Canada – (Release Date January 13, 2011) – The controversy created when the US banned horse slaughter in 2007 created two opposing factions all over North America: those who promote the slaughter of horses for meat and believe that such slaughter should be re-instated in the US; and those who insist that horses are sport and companion animals, and have no place in the slaughter pipeline. Ground Manners is a novel backlit by these widely different views of the horse in our culture, and, in a bold and unexpected move, author Cynthia D’Errico lets the horses tell their own stories throughout Ground Manners.

Set in the province of Québec, Ground Manners follows the fortunes of a horse refuge run by a gifted animal communicator, Skye Spahro, and her daughter, Belle. A year after the Québec Ice Storm of 1998, Skye relocates the refuge, known as The Institute of Nature Communications, to a tiny island just outside the city of Montréal, unaware that intrigue and treachery lay in wait for her and her horses. When a powerful businessman, John Rash, discovers that a former mare of his with a rare breeding gene is living at the refuge, he connives to get her back. Rash enlists the services of his shady assistant, Matteo Volpone, to kidnap the mare. As Volpone’s search for the mare falls apart, the frustrated henchman decides to stalk Skye. As his madness escalates and the horses and a young woman try desperately to save Skye, a torrential landslide threatens to devastate the entire area. Will Volpone succeed in his despicable mission? Will the Spahro women and the Institute survive or will the landslide claim good and evil alike?

Ground Manners takes Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty up a notch and depicts the fate of horses in the 21^st century. If you were moved by Sewell’s classic, and enjoyed the subtle ironies in Babe and Charlotte’s Web, you will find Ground Manners an engaging read, right up to its thrilling ending. Threaded throughout the novel is the history of a very special breed, le Canadien, Canada’s National Horse, as well as Québec’s pioneering efforts to preserve le Canadien as its heritage breed.

About the Author

A former ESL teacher and business editor, Cynthia D’Errico, M.A., has always felt a special empathy with animals, especially horses with whom she was raised. In 1995, she began actively advocating for animals, writing to local and international governments on their behalf, and volunteering for, and supporting shelters and global advocacy organizations. She continues to promote animals’ rights to live in whatever is left of their natural environments free of human interference.

Trade Paperback; $19.99;

Trade Hardback; $29.99;

eBook; $9.99;

Contact the author at artemis22@sympatico.ca or purchase copies from Xlibris at (888) 795-4274 x. 7879.

www.Xlibris.com. As of March, buy the book from www.amazon.com or from your favourite online bookseller. Local Book Launch tentatively scheduled at Librairie Clio at Plaza Pointe-Claire. Date and time TBA. Check here regularly for Book Signing dates and times.