Friday, January 31, 2014

Releases in January 2014


The following anthology was released in January 2014.



Axes, swords, knives, cursed, blessed or from the Otherlands, this anthology is all about things that cut, slice, dice or amputate. From a buried blade housing one of the protagonists of an ancient battle, to axes wielded by a barbarian at the crossroads of destiny, all the short stories and poems contained in this anthology have one common theme—they are some kind of blade.

An Anthology of Blades is the sixth volume in The Simpson Anthologies and is available from Kindle, Kobo, Smashwords, CreateSpace (in both large and small print), DriveThruFiction, and OmniLit, as well as all outlets to which Smashwords distributes, which include Barnes and Noble Nook and iTunes. While Smashwords, DriveThruFiction, and Kobo had scheduling options, there may be a short delay before CreateSpace, Kindle and some Smashwords distributors list this title.



Wednesday, January 29, 2014

An Anthology of Blades: First Pages - Blood and Iron

Blood and Iron has been incorporated into An Anthology of Blades.

When an Arach raiding party attacks a wagon train and moves on to take on the next town, Dannon is part of the out-riders who must clean up in their wake. The dead girl on the wagon is just one of many reasons he doesn’t like spiders, or the elves that ride them.

Blood and Iron is a short tale of sword and sorcery.

It is available as a free read on C.M. Simpson's blog or as part of An Anthology of Blades.

First Page: Blood and Iron


“The difference is not that he kills, but how and why he kills,” Stanislau said. “Every woman he touches. The only thing they have in common is you.”
Haft knew where this conversation was going. He’d had it before. Next Stan would be telling him they had to leave another city and Haft had his eye on the prettiest wench yet. Stan did not know about her; Haft could keep his secrets better than the petty sneak gave him credit for.
At least Haft did not have to make his living by sneaking. He only had to do that when wenching, sneaking and sometimes running. Angry brothers should be the only reason Haft had to leave a city… and maybe angry tavern owners. Haft did not care. The little people should not make their things so breakable. He glared at Stanislau.
Stanislau was a tall man, dark-haired and bronze-eyed, handsome and smart enough to turn his hand to anything. Smart enough to know an irritable Westlander when he saw one. He caught Haft’s look and raised his hands. He was not smart enough to back down.
“You know I’m right, Haft,” he said, and the Westlander wondered if it would one punch or two to make him stay down.
Stanislau was not a small man, but he was not as big as Haft. Haft curled his lip in a snarl. He knew no such thing. They had left the last city because of the killings, and Haft had been blamed for them. Stan seemed to have forgotten that, or maybe that was something the sneak did not know.
“Haft will be blamed,” he said. “Like before.”
The depth of his voice made it a pronouncement, the words rang like a truth. The bar stilled.
Stanislau looked surprised, and Haft suspected the sneak had known, but had chosen not to share. He reached for the wine bottle and clenched his hand around it, contemplating whether or not to tighten his grip so that the clay shattered or to raise it to his lips and drink. Drinking was the better option, but not too much. Haft was going hunting. He would rather wench, but he would not be blamed when he was innocent of the worst harm done.
“Be gone, wizard,” he said, looking past Stan’s shoulder.
“Our problems are aligned.” The wizard stalked up to the table and reached it as Haft swigged a mouthful from the bottle. Quick as light, the wizard reached across, took the bottle from Haft’s hand and tossed back a mouthful just as big.
“There,” he said, handing the bottle back. “We have drunk together. Now, we will speak.”
Haft had grasped the bottle instinctively. Part of his head wanted his sword, and part of his head reminded him the wizard was right.
“So, speak,” he said, his face like thunder.
“You’ve been seeing my daughter,” the wizard replied. “I do not want the Garitzik to kill her.”
“Garitzik?” Stanislau asked.
“You speak Westlander,” Haft said to the wizard.
To Stanislau, he explained, “The people of stone and shadow.”
He lifted the two, heavy-bladed, short-axes from the table. When he called their names in battle his voice sounded like thunder and rockfalls. He had told Stanislau the words meant ‘Blood’ and ‘Iron’ but they meant much more. The great sword he carried over his back was called ‘Justice’, but Haft had never told Stan that. The sneak might ask him to use it more often.


END OF FIRST PAGE

If you would like to read more, Blood and Iron is available in  An Anthology of Blades, which can be found at Smashwords, Amazon, CreateSpace, DriveThruFiction, OmniLit, Kobo and Smashwords partner platforms such as iTunes, Nook and Sony.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

New Cover: for Candy Cane Dancer by Ellie Moonwater

Well, C.M. has done it again - here's the new cover design for Ellie's February release: Candy Cane Dancer, the first book in the Downtown Weres and Wizards series.

Ebook Cover for Candy Cane Dancer

Print-on-Demand Cover for Candy Cane Dancer

Candy Cane Dancer is a tale of erotic suspense, of bondage and capture and of a woman, who dances for her lover as well as her life.

WARNING: Candy Cane Dancer contains explicit sex scenes and language, paddling, dubious consent, bondage, murder and a menage. It is not suitable for readers under 18 years of age.

Monday, January 27, 2014

An Anthology of Blades: First Pages - The Buried Blade



The Buried Blade has been incorporated into AnAnthology of Blades.



When the grass in one of her uncle's fields starts to die, Amanda tries to work out why, but her uncle only sees stones, where she sees fragments of pottery. In a war as old as time, will Amanda convince her uncle of the truth, and remain unscathed, or will she fall under the control of an old and subtle power?


The Buried Blade is a short tale of dark fantasy, which will later be incorporated into An Anthology of Blades.

The Buried Blade is available from Smashwords and Kindle and will soon be available from Kobo, iTunes and Nook.

First Page Excerpt: The Buried Blade

The sword sang in the darkness. It sang through the rubble that buried it. It sang through the bones of skeletal fingers that had wrapped themselves around it.
The song could not be heard through the muffling shroud of earth covering the sword although it echoed throughout the ancient citadel that was imprisoned with it. The song seeped through the earth for an age, pushing upwards and infecting the soil as it went. It was inevitable that, where the song forged the way, the ghosts would follow.
Nature tried to sound a warning but its guardians were gone, driven out or sleeping or unaware of their powers—and the responsibility that went with them.
Animals fled the mounded earth beneath the grassy field. At least, they fled it where they could. The wild ones forsook it with the freedom that only they possessed, while those of domesticity's prison could only show their reluctance for the field, before their masters forced them into it.

*   *   *

“Durned beast!” Willis Harran cried, bringing his willow switch down upon the milk cow's rump.
She was the last of the herd to be forced through the gate and, though she had been the easiest of them all, Willis was ready to send her to the knackery. He waved his switch at her once more as his niece closed the gate behind her.
“Don't know what's got into them,” he muttered, as he climbed the fence beside the field. “They've been right skittish of late.”
Amanda looked at her uncle. The cattle weren't the only ones who'd been skittish about the field. She'd watched the rabbits forsake their warren, and the morning fox skirt cautiously around the fence instead of cutting straight across the field as he usually did.
Even the birds had stopped hunting for worms within its bounds. Amanda said nothing of this to Willis. He wouldn't have believed her. He might even have laughed.
She followed his broad no-nonsense back towards the small house that served him and her aunt as home, the smell of breakfast driving the field's strangeness from her mind.
The sword's song kept upwards until the cattle began to lose their milk, and Willis's threats of both knackery and willow switch were no longer incentive enough to goad them through the gate.
The field's grass began to fade. Willis moved the cattle to another field and watched their milk improve. Amanda, interested by this unseasonal change, began collecting soil samples to...

END EXCERPT

If you would like to read more, The Buried Blade is available from Smashwords and Kindle and will soon be available from Kobo, iTunes and Nook. 

Saturday, January 25, 2014

New Release: An Anthology of Blades by C.M. Simpson

An Anthology of Blades releases today!

 
Axes, swords, knives, cursed, blessed or from the Otherlands, this anthology is all about things that cut, slice, dice or amputate. From a buried blade housing one of the protagonists of an ancient battle, to axes wielded by a barbarian at the crossroads of destiny, all the short stories and poems contained in this anthology have one common theme—they are some kind of blade.

An Anthology of Blades is the sixth volume in The Simpson Anthologies and is available from Kindle, Kobo, Smashwords, CreateSpace (in both large and small print), DriveThruFiction, and OmniLit, as well as all outlets to which Smashwords distributes, which include Barnes and Noble Nook and iTunes. While Smashwords, DriveThruFiction, and Kobo had scheduling options, there may be a short delay before CreateSpace, Kindle and some Smashwords distributors list this title.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

2014: Quarter 1 Release Schedule



The release schedule for Quarter 1, 2014, is as follows:

January 25: An Anthology of Blades, C.M. Simpson

February 22: Candy Cane Dancer, Ellie Moonwater

March 22: Country Rush, Madeleine Torr

Please Note: Release dates are Australian Eastern Standard Date/Time, and are accurate for availability on Smashwords, OmniLit and RomanceEBooks, Kobo and DriveThruFiction. They may be a day or two too early for Amazon-Kindle and CreateSpace, who have delays between upload and release.

UPDATED (27 January 2014)

We now have a cover for Candy Cane Dancer


Print-on-Demand cover for Candy Cane Dancer
Ebook cover for Candy Cane Dancer

Monday, January 20, 2014

New Cover: An Anthology of Blades by C.M. Simpson

An Anthology of Blades, the sixth in The Simpson Anthologies series, will be released next week. Here is its new cover.

Cover for An Anthology of Blades
Axes, swords, knives, cursed, blessed or from the Otherlands, this anthology is all about things that cut, slice, dice or amputate. From a buried blade housing one of the protagonists of an ancient battle, to axes wielded by a barbarian at the crossroads of destiny, all the short stories and poems contained in this anthology have one common theme—they are some kind of blade.