Jess Bowers was fascinated with horses from an early age.
Born and raised in York County, her mother would often tell her she was fascinated by dinosaurs before she realized they no longer existed.
“Then I became interested in horses, the largest animal I could own,” Bowers said.
One summer, Bowers took a writing class at Martin Library with local children’s and fantasy author Nancy Springer.
“She told me she had horses at Jacobs Farm, owned by Ann and Jack Wagner, so I started hanging out there,” Bowers said.
There Bowers learned to ride, which began her lifelong passion for horses. She spent most of her life moving around the country for her studies, including Baltimore and Virginia, and was always able to find a horse to ride.
After all, Bowers owned her first horse when she was 27 and now lives in Missouri with her second horse, Teddy.
“Horse Show”
Her debut book, titled “The Horse Show,” is a collection of short historical fiction about horses in American history and their role in film and photography. Available anywhere, the book contains thirteen stories that explore how humans have used, abused, and made a spectacle of our equine companions throughout American history.
“The only rule I imposed on myself for these stories was that each one had to feature a horse and have some kind of show, whether it be a grand amusement park ride or a TV movie.”
When it came time to pitch her book, Bowers initially chose the agent route and, as a short story lover, decided to compile several short stories into a book and submit it to the Santa Fe Writers Project.
Although she didn’t win the contest, Bowers was on a long list and the project later emailed her saying they wanted to publish her book.
“I said that’s what I wanted anyway,” she joked. “They’re great to work with.”
The publisher agreed to publish Bowers’ book without any edits, changes or compromises. “It’s so surreal because I’ve been working on this for as long as I could talk, and it’s finally happening the way I wanted it to.”
Since the book was published in April, Bowers has given several readings and hopes to return to his hometown of York to exhibit the book.
