There’s a saying in the horse world when it comes to jumping your horse over an obstacle: throw your heart over the fence and the horse will follow. It’s a saying that while it’s been over thirty years since I’ve jumped a horse even over a small log (oh what a feeling, like flying!) I’ve kept my heart and mind.
I’m not going to lie, the last four to five years have been exceptionally rough on me. There’s been personal things, realizations that completely changed the way I looked at myself and the way I’d been treated (hello, AuDHD diagnosis!), and there was one defining moment where it all crashed down. I called it “the big burnout”. In psychology’s language, it could be called a “nervous breakdown” only there is no language for what happens when you are so burnt out, so beaten down, and yet you still have to go to work every day, take care of your family, and of course the animals/livestock, so you can’t do what you want, which is to lay in bed and cry and sleep until you somehow muster the energy to feel better. The problem is, when you go through a burnout like this, and keep working because you’re the sole support and have to, well that just makes things worse. And so, while “the big burnout” only lasted about two years (2021-2023) I’m still paying the price and still trying to come back from it.
Part of that is returning to the roots of me, who I am, what makes me tick, and following my heart. Only this time, I’m throwing my heart into a story, and yeah, the horses are following because I write a lot about horses, I’m hoping the readers follow. Or in this case maybe return is better.
I wrote equestrian literature as Mary Kit Caelsto from 2018-2022, and i have never been prouder or more authentically myself when I was writing those books.
Like I said, a lot of things happened. I pivoted to fantasy. I even went back to a genre I thought I was finished with, burnt out on during “the big burnout” only to find out yeah, I’m still burnt out on that genre and not sure I want to go back anyway. So I am pleased to announce that I will be going back to writing equestrian literature along with my fantasy.
This has been several months in the making, and one of the things is the pen name. Going forward all my equestrian fantasy will be written as Kit M Caelsto. Look for more news and announcements and updates to the website. I’m very excited about bringing back my contemporary equestrian fiction alongside my fantasy world, and I hope you are too. Stay tuned!
