Farley, Terri

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FARLEY, Terri

PERSONAL: Born in Los Angeles, CA; married (husband a journalist); children: two. Education: San Jose State University, B.A. (secondary teaching credential in English); University of Nevada, Reno, M.A. (journalism).

ADDRESSES: Home—Verdi, NV. Agent—Karen Solem, Spencerhill Agency, 24 Park Row, P.O. Box. 374, Chatham, NY 12037. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Formerly worked as a waitress and journalist; teacher of remedial reading in Los Angeles, CA; instructor in college English in Reno, NV; participant in writing workshops.

MEMBER: International Reading Association, National Council of Teachers of English, National Education Association.

WRITINGS:

Seven Tears into the Sea (young-adult novel), Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2005.

"NOVELS; "PHANTOM STALLION" SERIES

The Wild One, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Mustang Moon, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Dark Sunshine, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2002.

The Challenger, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2003.

The Renegade, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Desert Dancer, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Golden Ghost, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Gift Horse, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Free Again, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Untamed, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Rain Dance, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Heartbreak Bronco, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Moonrise, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Kidnapped Colt, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Growing up in the suburbs of southern California, Terri Farley was frustrated in her love affair with horses, but although she was not able to ride the range or keep a pony in her back yard, she learned to ride at local stables and sustained herself on books about horses. After she and her family moved to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, an opportunity to go on a cattle drive rekindled Farley's love for horses. She was able to pursue her dreams of making horses a major part of her life when she and her family moved to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Leaving work as a teacher to devote herself to writing, Farley shares her passion for all things equine in her "Phantom Stallion" novel series, which follow the adventures of friends Samantha and Jake, as well as an elusive gray stallion known as the Phantom, in novels such as Desert Dancer, Mustang Moon, and The Wild One. In a Booklist review of The Wild One, Kelly Milner Halls praised Samantha for her "infectious, independent spirit," and added that Farley "proves herself to be an able storyteller," while in School Library Journal Carol Schene predicted that the novel's action-packed plot will make the novel an "entertaining read for fans of [the] … genre."

In addition to her "Phantom Stallion" books, Farley is the author of the young-adult novel Seven Tears into the Sea. Based on the Celtic myth of the selkie, the book introduces readers to seventeen-year-old Gwen Cooke. When Gwen was ten years old she had an unusual experience: Prone to sleepwalking, she ended up on the beach one night and encountered a strange young boy … or was it all a dream? Now returned to her family's seaside home to help her grandmother run the family inn, Gwen becomes haunted by this memory, and her meeting with a young man named Jesse makes her realize that, along with her childhood memories, there are other things she may have wanted to forget. Noting the fairy-tale quality of Farley's story, School Library Journal reviewer Ginny Collier added that Seven Tears into the Sea contains enough "romance and mystery" to keep teens "reading until the very end."

In an interview for the Lazy Lion Books Web site, Farley commented: "I've loved reading as long as I can remember and when my mother gave me her electric typewriter, I immediately started writing." "Writing fulfills my wildest dreams," she added. "I get to go anywhere I want and do what I want…. It's the perfect intersection of all my goals—writer, teacher and mother—when I hear from readers who can't put the book down or who talk about my characters (human and equine) as if they're real."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2002, Kelly Milner Halls, review of The Wild One, p. 123.

School Library Journal, December, 2002, Carol Schene, review of The Wild One, p. 137; June, 2005, Ginny Collier, review of Seven Tears into the Sea, p. 156.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), August 24, 2003, review of Phantom Stallion, p. 6.

Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 2005, Christina Fairman, review of Seven Tears into the Sea, p. 145.