2022 EQUUS Arts Festival Literary First Place Award Winner

Will Emma have a chance at love and the new future she has worked so hard to build, or will an unknown stranger bent on destroying her life do so first?

For twenty-two year old Emma Walker, there is one thing that has been at the center of her world since the age of twelve: Horses.

As Emma tries to balance a job, her last year of college, and the fallout of a bad breakup, she is thankful for the escape being at the barn around horses still brings her in adulthood.

Despite torn feelings of guilt for being drawn to a new horse after the death of her first horse, Emma finds she has an undeniable connection to a chestnut mare named Valentine and begins training the mare to compete in the sport of show-jumping.

Then, one seemingly ordinary day, Emma receives news that impels her to make a life altering decision, turning her entire world upside-down and taking her on a journey to a new life in a place far from everything she’s ever known.

While Emma is fighting to create a new future for herself, she is surprised when a guy from her past life back home shows up in the present. But is she ready to trust him given her current circumstances and especially since his arrival is timed perfectly with a threatening note?

Not to mention Michael, the farm's live-in handyman, who is slowly becoming her friend and confidant despite his original aloofness. Is there a spark between them that she has been denying because of the complications of working together, knowing that could threaten everything she’s working so hard for?

Emma’s decision will not only change her life in ways she never anticipated, but will put her directly in the path of someone who will threaten her future and everything she loves–not to mention her and Valentine’s lives.

Impelled will take you on a journey to some familiar and tropical horse capital cities of Ocala & Wellington, Florida.