Author Interview with Kathy O’Neill

Next week, I’ll post a review of a new book, Hoofprints of Hope Devotional, published by Tyndale Kids. But today, I want you to meet the author, Kathy O’Neill. I’ve followed her blog, Kathy The Picture Lady, for some time, because we both have a love of history and His Story. We both enjoy art, too, but Kathy is gifted in it.

With a degree in education and concentrations in psychology and art, Kathy has over 30 years of experience teaching art to students in kindergarten through high school. She now teaches elementary art and loves helping her young artists discover the wonder of God’s creation.

Want to know more about Kathy? Check out the following interview. And be sure to check back next week, when I review and give away a copy of her book.

The Interview with Kathy O’Neill

Kathy, congratulations on your new devotional book for kids! What were some of your favorite books growing up?

I rode my bike to the library every week to hunt for horse books. I loved sitting with a book open before me, and sea breezes billowing out the sheer curtains. My favorites were Marguerite Henry’s horse books, and I still have copies of King of the Wind and her Misty of Chincoteague series. The Black Stallion books by Walter Farley conjured up dreams of riding a horse along the beach, splashing through the shallows. I have ridden most of my life since, doing some jumping and trail riding, but mostly dressage.

Did you enjoy writing stories as a child, or did that come later in life? How long did you write for magazines before writing book manuscripts?

When I was a child, we didn’t do much writing at school, but many of us girls kept diaries. The covers came in pastel colors, but I especially liked that they locked with a small key you could hide somewhere safe from prying brothers. After a month or so, though, I usually quit writing and went back to drawing. It’s great that some journals today have room for both.

Later, as an art and history teacher, I began researching interesting and fun stories about artists to use in my classes. Soon I used these in my blog and in articles for magazines. I guess I wrote for magazines like Highlights, Appleseeds, DevoKids, The Quiet Hour, and others for about 5 years before approaching agents with an idea for a book. I still write for magazines such as Clubhouse Jr.

Tell us something many people may not know about you.

Maine has a very rocky coast, and like the artist Winslow Homer who once lived and worked in my hometown, I love fall storms. I clamber out on those rocks and watch huge waves crash onto the rocks, sending spray flying off on the wind. My Scottish ancestors called that spray “spindrift.”

I know you’ve mentioned having ample opportunities throughout your life to ride different horses. Did you ever have a favorite?

That’s a hard question, because each horse had its own personality and talents, and I’ve loved them all. Nick was an off-the-track thoroughbred (OTTB) who was smart and full of energy. Mandy loved carrots and taught me lots about dressage. Brumby tried to avoid work, but once saddled, he worked well with the other horses on our dressage drill team. Hoofprints of Hope Devotional came into being because of the knowledge and inspiration I gained from many of those horses.

But I would say my favorite horse was Chico. I met him when we lived in Oklahoma. Chico was a Quarter Horse who lived up to the breed’s reputation as a dependable, friendly, and hard-working horse. He could do lower-level dressage, and yet he loved when we went trail riding. Jackrabbits jumping up under his nose? No problem; Chico just watched them bound away.

Reading your blog, KathyThePictureLady.wordpress.com, is a treat! I like the way you weave fascinating tidbits of history into your posts. You do that in a few of the devotions in Hoofprints of Hope, too. I loved the piece on Mr. Ed, the talking horse, and how they used fishing line to train him to move his mouth.

When researching for your book, were you surprised to learn something you didn’t know before?

I love research, and I learned lots of new things about horses. For example, I’d always thought the long flowing hair on the lower legs of some draft horses was beautiful, but I didn’t know it served a purpose. In the cold northern regions where many draft horses were bred, these “feathers” help keep a horse’s legs warm and dry and protect them from stones and briars.

What else excited you about this book while writing it?

It was great fun to learn so much about horses to share with readers. I was amazed so many times, and I pray readers will be, too, by how our wise Creator made horses able to survive in the wild or to be friendly and helpful companions to us. 

What do you hope readers will consider after reading this book?

My hope is that kids will enjoy the stories of famous horses and different horse breeds, marvel at how God made horses so special, and enjoy learning about all the fun activities you can do with horses.

I pray that the fun information will corral their attention and lead them to know how much God loves them and longs to be their guide. Life is a little like a trail ride—mostly adventurous and fun, but sometimes a little hard or even scary. I hope Hoofprints of Hope will assure them that God is always with them on their trail ride (Deuteronomy 31:8).

Kathy, thank you for taking the time to let us get to know you better. I look forward to sharing more about your book, Hoofprints of Hope Devotional, in next week’s blog post.

Motivated by the power of story, history, and His Story, Sally Matheny’s passion is telling the next generation wondrous things.

Her nonfiction writing appears in national and worldwide publications, including Appleseeds, Clubhouse Jr., Homeschooling Today, and The Old Schoolhouse.

She and her husband live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and are blessed with three children, two sons-in-law, and armfuls of grandbabies. Connect with Sally on several social media sites, but her favorite hangouts are at SallyMatheny.com and Pinterest.