Writer riding high with children's pony stories

By Cathrin Schaer writing in the New Zealand Herald today.

Stacy Gregg's first two books of her Pony Club Secrets series are due for local release on Friday.

Photo / Paul Estcourt

For much of her career, Stacy Gregg has written about fashion. But she is about to show another side to her professional life that may surprise a few of this country's more ardent fashion followers.
Gregg has become a children's fiction author. Her Pony Club Secrets series, aimed at 8-to-12-year-olds, launches here on Friday.
The series is being published by Harper Collins UK, which has made it one of their lead children's series for the year.

It is already doing well in the UK, where the first two books have already made it on to one major chain's children's best seller list. Gregg has also sold the German rights to the eight books and interest has been expressed in the film rights.

All of which - plus the books' combination of pre-pubescents, magic and horses - have led to locals asking the question, could Gregg be the next J. K. Rowling, the British author whose Harry Potter books have made her a household name?
Gregg doesn't think so. "For one thing, she [Rowling] is an anomaly - her sales figures obliterate every other children's book out there, put together," Gregg says. "So there's absolutely no chance of me being her. If I can just be a successful children's pony book author, long term, I'd be happy."