Jessie Haas

Had a wonderful time in Albuquerque, Saige's hometown. Beth Larsen, the art adviser, showed me and Michael around--we saw a couple of places where the movie was shot, as well as a school that looks just like the one I imagined her attending. Best of all, I met so many girls who said, "I  Read More 

Two fun school visits last week, at the Mater Christi School in Burlington, and Elm Hill Elementary in Springfield. I always use the hush-test to discover if fiction is working. If the room gets quiet, I've got them!
My best chapter ever for silencing a room is the first chapter of Fire!, which ends  Read More 

Thanks to the Authors' Guild and iUniverse, Uncle Daney's Way will be back in print and available in a couple of weeks. This middle-grade novel, told in simple, accessible language, tells the story of Cole, a Vermont boy whose family suddenly has two new members--Mom's Uncle Daney, a crippled logger, and Nip, Daney's horse.  Read More 

If you want good work done, ask a pro!
I love my Authors' Guild website, because it's affordable and because I could put it together myself. But I am so not a pro. Fortunately I'm related to one, my sister Martha Haas, a wonderful artist and graphic designer. In one Sunday morning session, while  Read More 

American Girl really gets creativity.
Now that I can talk about Saige and her new books, what I most want to say is how much fun it's been. I loved the process from my first phone conversation with Erin Falligant. The creative team at American Girl is such a great bunch of smart, artistic  Read More 

If your horse lives outdoors, this is the season when you might use a baling twine grooming mitt. (learn how to make one in HORSE CRAZY!) It's a simple project to knit, using something you're throwing away every day. Robin loves the scratchy texture, and it really knocks off the outer crust.

Riding season is about over for me. I've gone from obsessed, and starting every day with a ride, to having to push myself to squeeze one in. In part I'm transitioning by writing a story that features a horse almost identical to Robin--so I'm still obsessed, just not getting as much exercise!

A first for me--last week I went to a model horse show and signed my first model, with a Sharpie, on his belly. It was a fascinating scene that I would have loved as a kid. In my day, boys and girls, we clomped our models around on the floor and made up stories  Read More 

What happens out at pasture, stays out at pasture. Last week Robin came in with a big egg on her leg and a couple of nearly invisible scratches on her nose. Over the next few days the scratches morphed into an ugly infection, and the egg on her leg (hey, sounds like a title!)  Read More 

I'm thinking about Keeping Barney, my first book, and suddenly the one I'm hearing about from fans--young women now, who say it was an influential book for them. It was a long time ago for me, that book. I wrote it during my junior year at Wellesley, while taking a semester off and working  Read More