Inge Moore

My first career ambition was to become an equine veterinarian. This path was waylaid by circumstances that were not of my own choosing. Despite continued efforts, I was unable to achieve my original career goal of becoming a veterinarian.

Still, after obtaining a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Guelph, I worked at a number of satisfying and challenging occupations over the years: biologist, research assistant, equestrian, office manager, economic development officer, immigration officer, and payment services officer. I found all of my jobs interesting, fulfilling, and rewarding.

I have had a love of books since I was young, which grew into a love of writing. I also have a love of animals in general, particularly horses and dogs. I studied creative writing at the undergraduate and postgraduate level at the University of Alberta. I have also taken numerous workshops, seminars, and other writing courses. Because I love animals and am keenly interested in them, horses, dogs, and other animals frequently appear in my writing.

I am not sure that my background in Zoology influences the way I approach writing, but it does aid me: when writing about animals, I have decades of personal experience and knowledge to call on to help me portray them accurately.

I love horses. Therefore, I love writing about them—it’s as simple as that! I do, however, write about other topics as well as horses. My Equestrian Fiction can be found under IA Moore, but I also write literary fiction as Inge Moore, and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction under the name Inge Anna Moore.

I apply my zoological knowledge wherever it is relevant to the particular story I am writing, for instance, if a horse has an illness, as in the case of Shikoba in A Pony For the Fair, I apply my knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and appropriate veterinary practices to the situation in the story.

Several stories in my collections, Reflections and Accidents, and As Crazy as You, strongly relate my background in Zoology. For instance, the main character in my short story, The Sheets (in the collection As Crazy As You), works as a biologist at the same University where I studied. There are scenes with animals that relate, in a metaphorical and spiritual manner, to the content and themes of the story.

Another story, Monster or Marvel (in the collection, Reflections and Accidents), although science fiction, has a basis in my knowledge of science, birth defects, and animals.

Even a story totally about something else utilizes references to scientific facts about animals. For example, in The Stoat (in the collection Reflections and Accidents), which is a story that is essentially about love, revenge, and betrayal, I use the image of a stoat in the story to bring to life a theme of betrayal.

In my post-apocalyptic novel, Savage Dawn, one of the characters, Nata, is a biologist and her scientific knowledge (gleaned from the knowledge I, the author, have acquired over the years), helps the group survive the wilderness.

Following is a quote from an Amazon review of the book: “I'm sure that if Nata the biologist, was not a part of this group, they would have all perished...how does someone know so much about everything! They had returned to the stone age. This group suffers through attack and molestation by other survivors and wild animals, death, severe injuries, lack of food, zero sunlight, freezing temperatures, hopelessness and a great deal of emotional stress. Does anyone or anything exist outside of this small community? Finally, almost two years later, they discover the truth.”

I don’t feel a need to merge my scientific knowledge into my fiction, therefore I don’t feel challenged in doing so. The process comes to me quite organically and naturally, and I enjoy doing it. The main difficulty is to make the “science” understandable to a reader not trained in sciences, which many of my readers aren’t.

I don’t change my writing method for radio. However, I do select stories that will be most amenable to the medium. Much like audiobooks, the skill of the narrator frequently determines the success of a written piece translated to an oral piece. I read my own writing aloud to ensure that it flows as well orally as it does on the written page. I believe that every writer should do this, and, I believe that most do.

I enjoy living in a small town. It provides me an opportunity to be a part of the natural world, and close to wild and domesticated animals. I also love water and am surrounded by it here, Fort Erie being on the shores of both Lake Erie and the mighty Niagara River.

My horse racing romance novels (Racing Hearts, Racing Fever, Racing Trouble, and Racing Shadows) are all set at Fort Erie Race Track where I, like my characters, have worked.

Some of my literary short stories in Reflections and Accidents and As Crazy as You are also set in Fort Erie. For instance, Something of Substance opens at an actual quarry in Fort Erie, and Niagara Falls is set in an existing neighborhood in Fort Erie. I have also written stories set in other places that I have lived, such as Bath, England; Yellowknife, NWT; and Edmonton, Alberta.

Horses appear in my stories because I love them and they fascinate me. They symbolize different things in different stories. They can symbolize freedom, strength, and resilience. Other animals appear as well and symbolize various themes in the particular stories in which they appear.

Below are some excerpts from a few stories:

Excerpt from The Old Hag and the Spider (from Short Story Pack Number 1) https://www.amazon.com/Short-Story-Pack-Number-Collection-ebook/dp/B093PFYVDG

…But my path was blocked by a fat orange spider perched in the center of a web it had spun beside my bed. I stopped dead and began to for someone to remove it. My mother raced into the room, but jerked to a stop at the spider’s web, not daring to cross it. She just stood there, tears running from her green eyes. Pushing her aside like a bag of rubbish, my father grabbed the spider in his big fist and squashed it. I could almost feel the squashing in myself, feel my body being crushed in his grip, my guts seeping out. Then he grabbed me and slapped me hard, to bring me to my senses he said. I tasted blood.

“Since that day, I’ve been terrified of spiders,” I finish, trembling with the memory. I can hardly believe I have been brave enough to finally put my horror into words…

Excerpt from Monster or Marvel (to be published in my upcoming story collection, with the working title, Hints and Allegations)

…Immediately, Celia opened the cage and scooped up the creature, crooning as she massaged warmth into it. As I leaned over her for a closer look, my eyes widened. The infant was hairless and missing the toes on both of its feet.

Wonderful! The proof needed to save much human misery was right here! I looked at Celia, ready to share the joy of our success but she wouldn't meet my eyes. Instead, she smiled tenderly at the infant as it jerked back to life.

Softly I said, "Celia, don't bother. It'll be euthanized." She didn't seem to hear me—her face stayed soft. "I'll go get Prof." I backed out the door as she cradled the ape in her arms.

She lifted her head. "No," she said...

Excerpt from Dancing Lights (from Short Story Pack Number 1) https://www.amazon.com/Short-Story-Pack-Number-Collection-ebook/dp/B093PFYVDG

…Over the rest of the summer and fall, Carla made it a ritual to bring the dog treats, then sit and visit with him. Strangely enough, the dog seemed like more than an animal to Carla. He seemed almost human. He reacted to Carla’s words as if he understood them. When she was with him, Carla could relax. She’d watch the Northern Lights dance over the lake, their haunting music lulling her. And finally, three months after her arrival in Yellowknife, she could sleep—without chills or sweats or panicked awakenings. For this, she thanked the dog...

When I set my stories in the world of horses, which is a world I am familiar with, depending on the particular story, a reader might have to have a knowledge of horses to totally understand everything in the story. At other times, horses can be more of a symbol, which readers will relate to without having had any actual horse experience.

Some of my stories are taken from my own fictionalized experiences. Others are purely imagined.

In the story Cowboys, I use “horses” and some of practices employed by certain people in dealing with horses to draw a parallel to my main character’s journey.

Excerpt from Cowboys (A short story from the collection, As Crazy as You)

…Cowboys did not take unnecessary risks. She'd even heard they didn't cry. They and their spurs, ropes, whips, quirts, blinders and guns.

Yes, she'd prepared. Over the past year bought the big stiff saddle, yes, and a bridle with a punishing bit, leather hobbles, tie downs, tie backs, chains, nerve lines and more. She'd planned to do it systematically—force her young horse into submission. Turn him into a reliable servant—proof of her newfound ruthlessness. If she was going to win, she would have to learn how to play the game. First Flax, then John, then...

And what did she do? Follow her plan, controlling the situation and its outcome? No. Not her. Not Celeste. Instead she acted impulsively and recklessly, reciting poetry in her head…

I know it sounds simplistic, but I “just write.” The literary techniques follow along naturally after decades of writing and honing my skills as a writer.

I don’t believe that any other author has influenced my writing style, especially since my style varies with whichever genre and particular story that I am penning and the audience I have in mind for that particular story or book.

I do love reading. A recent favorite of mine was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Lifetime favorites have been the James Herriot books (All things Bright and Beautiful, All Creatures Great and Smal,l and so on), The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Misery by Steven King. I also enjoy the more modern post-apocalyptic tales of Kyla Stone (Edge of Collapse, Edge of Madness, and so on).

If there is something that comes up in a story that I haven’t personally experienced or seen, I would research it much in the same way that I would research any other topic, such as historical clothing, a geographic locale, or a particular psychological condition. To research animal behavior and relationships, I would start with general research such as books written on the topic by experts and then move to specific research such as papers in scientific journals.

I can’t think of any one experience that has had an overall profound impact on my storytelling—my writing is too varied. However, as an example, the story, The End of Her Time (which will be published in Hints and Allegations, my upcoming collection of short stories) was written because of my personal involvement in an actual case of horse neglect. In the story I attempt to delve deeper into one such tragic situation, fictionalized of course, and bring light to all sides of the situation. The following is a story excerpt:

Excerpt from The End of Her Time (to be published in my upcoming story collection, with the working title, Hints and Allegations)

…On Sophie's seventy-sixth birthday, she sat at her kitchen table, closed her eyes and pictured another morning, so long ago—crisp bacon, yellow-yolked eggs, and sliced red tomato presented on white-and-blue china with a tall glass of milk and a big slab of carrot cake topped by a pink candle, all served by her dear husband, now gone.

She sighed as she chewed her piece of moldy bread.  One day she might get the electric back.  Right now she could barely afford to turn the generator on long enough to water the horses.  If she sold some foals or puppies, maybe she could get it turned back on before winter set in.  Her horses and dogs used to be the best in the province.  People had come from across Canada and the United States to buy them.  Once…

Science is part of my life in the same way that storytelling is part of my life—they are bound to intersect, even sometimes collide!

As for future projects, I am currently working on a sequel to A Pony for the Fair. The working title of the sequel is, New Bloodline.

After that, I plan to edit and publish a previously written book in a genre new to me, the thriller genre. The working title of the book is, Etched in Blood, and it is about a small town plagued by a serial killer. I am deciding whether to use a new penname for that book or to shelve it on the same author page as my Post-Apocalyptic Novel, Savage Dawn, by Inge Anna Moore.

Additionally, I plan to write more novellas in my Fort Erie Racetrack Romance Series. Also in the works for the future are sequels to Savage Dawn and Racing Shadows.

A fellow writer told me AllAuthor. I looked into it and it found it to be a great community. It helps increase my visibility to readers, which is of prime importance for a writer. I love the banners that AllAuthor prepares for my books and love checking out the books of other authors featured on the site. I can’t think of anything about the site that I dislike.