Meet Horse Fiction Writer Catherine Hapka

Catherine grew up horse-crazy and now has three horses of her own.

Horse fiction writer and lifelong horse lover Catherine Hapka has written many books including for the Horse Diaries and Pony Scouts series. If it feels like you can never get your hands on enough horse books, then you’ve probably already fallen in love with one or both of these awesome equine-themed series.

The Horse Diaries novels offer a unique spin on historical fiction. Each book is written from the perspective of the horse, and each one takes place in a different location and time period—perfect for horse-crazy readers! Catherine says the publisher first came up with the overall concept, but the authors had the exciting opportunity to develop their own ideas and details for each individual book. Several writers have contributed to the series, and Catherine is proud to be among them.

“I enjoyed researching and learning more about the different breeds and time periods featured in the various books and found all of them exciting in different ways,” she says. “It was a lot of fun to write for such a wonderful series!”

Growing Up Horsey

Writing books for young readers is a dream come true for Catherine, especially when she gets to write about horses, since she grew up a horse-crazy kid herself. As an adult, she has three horses of her own.

many young horse lovers, Catherine didn’t have her own horse as a kid. “I rode every chance I got growing up, which unfortunately wasn’t much,” she recalls. “I had to make do with occasional vacation trail rides or rides on friends’ horses, and—once—a glorious two weeks of summer riding camp.”

To make up for a lack of riding opportunities, Catherine read as much about horses as she could.

“Among my favorites were The Sweet Running Filly by Barbara Van Tuyl and Pat Johnson, and the Black Stallion series,” she says.

As a young adult, Catherine started taking riding lessons and never looked back! When she isn’t busy penning another book, she still squeezes in lessons whenever she can.

“I love trying all different types of horses (and ponies!) of many different breeds and mixes,” she says.