First Pages: Pigs Might Fly by C.M. Simpson

All her life Lily has prepared herself for taking over the family farm. The property talks to her, the animals and plants thrive under her care, and even the old tractor bends to her will. Her brothers have other careers planned, and help Lily position herself to take over when they are gone, but her father has other ideas. He wants to pass the farm on to one of his sons. He says pigs might fly before a girl would be any good at running a farm. How is Lily going to convince him that farming is the only thing she has ever wanted to do, and that she is the best of his offspring to take over when he is gone? And what do her dreams and hopes have to do with flying pigs?

Pigs Might Fly is a story of magic realism, where the world we see is only nearly as it seems to be.

Pigs Might Fly is currently available as a stand-alone title at Smashwords, and will soon be available via Kobo, Kindle, iTunes and Nook, but will one day be incorporated into An Anthology of Sorcery and Magic.

First Page: Pigs Might Fly

Lily wept as her father scolded her, fresh, hot tears that made tracks in the dirt her hands had smeared across her cheeks.

"No daughter of mine!" her father bellowed. "No daughter of mine..."

Lily listened as he launched into another roaring spiel of dismay and disapproval. Her feet, clad only in thin, leather boots and not the protective rubber of galoshes, sensed the stone floor of the kitchen. Without her approval her toes began to tap, a coarse discordant beat that melded with her father's torrent of words. She had been to the pigsty again.

She had seen the sow through her farrowing and counted the piglets into the sty. She had ensured the mother slept in clean straw, safely separated from her young by a metal gate to prevent her from crushing them, and she had gone to the fields afterwards.

The noisome waste of the pig's birthing she had burnt in the incinerator, leaving the ashes to cool before burying them in the compost, and washing their remnants from her arms and face with a hose. She had sought the clean, fresh smell of earth to drive it from her mind.

There was no plowing to be done. Instead, Lily had traversed the fields, plucked the weeds from amongst the cabbages and ripped competitive growth from beneath the tomatoes. It was nothing her father would not have done had he not been in town seeing to his wife and their newest daughter.

Lily had cleared the weeds from the cabbages and the tomatoes and wiped the sweat from her face with hands stained by dirt, then she had set about gathering her garnered piles together and carrying them to the furnace. Her father would not compost the weeds for fear the seeds survived to contaminate his crops, but he gladly used their ashes.

"…and to see you heaving wood into the furnace like a charcoaler's son, well..."

Her father continued. Lily felt her foot tapping harder and harder against the stone. He had almost finished his tirade, and she had managed to say nothing against him.

He wanted to send her away, to have her become a nurse, a secretary, some rich man's wife. He did not want her to become a farmer; he had sons for that.

It did not matter to him that farming was all she was good at, or that none of his other three children wanted his place on the land. Lily listened as her father finished shouting, then hurried upstairs to wash as he instructed.

Lily heard him stomp out to the sty to check on the sow. She did not tell him the beast had already farrowed. Let him discover that for himself and think one of the boys had seen to it.

END OF FIRST PAGE

If you would like to read more, Pigs Might Fly is currently available as a stand-alone title at Smashwords, and will soon be available via Kobo, Kindle, iTunes and Nook.

First Chapter: Long Hair by Carlie Simonsen

When Michael sees movie star, Ky Lin, taking down the bad guys with her long-hair karate, all Michael wants is to be able to do just that. He convinces his karate teacher to train him, and works hard, even when the kids at school tease him. Michael is super-excited when he finds out Ky Lin and her co-star, Joe Wy, are coming to visit his school, but when thieves strike, the visit is in danger of being cancelled. Can Michael discover who is stealing money from the kids and offices at school before the head master calls the movie visit off? Or will his long hair just get in the way?

Set in a world similar to our own, where long hair really can be used as a karate fighting style, Carlie Simonsen's Long Hair is a teen to young adult story that deals with issues of teasing and working towards one’s dreams even when those we want to please most don’t support us.

First Chapter Extract

The Girl with Long Hair

Michael saw a karate movie where the hero had long hair. The hero was a girl. Her hair came down to her feet.

She would braid her hair with wire and spikes and use it to hit the bad guys she went after. Her hair was deadly in a braid, and her name was Kay-Lin. She was in a lot of karate movies. Michael loved karate movies.

Michael did karate after school. He was getting good at it. He was two belts from getting his black belt, but that was going to change.

Michael bet he could grow his hair long and put it in a braid. Anything a girl could do, he could do. He might even do it better.

He could fight with his hair if it was in a braid. He could be as good as Kay Lin. And then he could be in movies as well.

Kay Lin had a partner. His name was Joe Wy. Joe’s hair was short. It was cut so close to his head that it looked like he had no hair. He was nearly as good as Kay Lin at karate, but he used jumps and flips. Joe was in a lot of movies, too, but not all of Joe’s movies had karate.

Like Joe, Michael had short hair. It stuck up from his head in short, sharp spikes. Like Joe’s hair, it was no good in a fight. Michael looked at his hair in the bathroom mirror. It looked back at him. Its short, sharp prickles were too soft to be any use, even when he added gel.

“I will grow my hair,” he said, “and no one will laugh, because I will be as good as Kay Lin and Joe Wy.”

END FIRST CHAPTER

 

If you would like to read more, this non-illustrated version of Long Hair can now be found at Smashwords, and will soon be available from Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iTunes.

New Release: Pigs Might Fly by C.M. Simpson

Introducing the latest C.M. Simpson short story: Pigs Might Fly.

All her life Lily has prepared herself for taking over the family farm. The property talks to her, the animals and plants thrive under her care, and even the old tractor bends to her will. Her brothers have other careers planned, and help Lily position herself to take over when they are gone, but her father has other ideas. He wants to pass the farm on to one of his sons. He says pigs might fly before a girl would be any good at running a farm. How is Lily going to convince him that farming is the only thing she has ever wanted to do, and that she is the best of his offspring to take over when he is gone? And what do her dreams and hopes have to do with flying pigs?

Pigs Might Fly is a story of magic realism, where the world we see is only nearly as it seems to be.

Pigs Might Fly is currently available as a stand-alone title at Smashwords, and will soon be available via Kobo, Kindle, iTunes and Nook, but will one day be incorporated into An Anthology of Sorcery and Magic.

New Cover: Pigs Might Fly by C.M. Simpson

 The third cover for this week's releases - another short story by C.M. Simpson, this one in the magic realism genre.

All her life Lily has prepared herself for taking over the family farm. The property talks to her, the animals and plants thrive under her care, and even the old tractor bends to her will. Her brothers have other careers planned, and help Lily position herself to take over when they are gone, but her father has other ideas. He wants to pass the farm on to one of his sons. He says pigs might fly before a girl would be any good at running a farm. How is Lily going to convince him that farming is the only thing she has ever wanted to do, and that she is the best of his offspring to take over when he is gone? And what do her dreams and hopes have to do with flying pigs?

Pigs Might Fly is a story of magic realism, where the world we see is only nearly as it seems to be.

Pigs Might Fly is currently available as a stand-alone title at Smashwords, and will soon be available via Kobo, Kindle, iTunes and Nook, but will one day be incorporated into An Anthology of Sorcery and Magic.

New Cover: Long Hair by Carlie Simonsen

Carlie Simonsen's newest chapter book has a cover and will release shortly.

When Michael sees movie star, Ky Lin, taking down the bad guys with her long-hair karate, all Michael wants is to be able to do just that. He convinces his karate teacher to train him, and works hard, even when the kids at school tease him. Michael is super-excited when he finds out Ky Lin and her co-star, Joe Wy, are coming to visit his school, but when thieves strike, the visit is in danger of being cancelled. Can Michael discover who is stealing money from the kids and offices at school before the head master calls the movie visit off? Or will his long hair just get in the way?

Set in a world similar to our own, where long hair really can be used as a karate fighting style, Carlie Simonsen's Long Hair is a teen to young adult story that deals with issues of teasing and working towards one’s dreams even when those we want to please most don’t support us.

The non-illustrated version of Long Hair will shortly be available from Smashwords, Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iTunes.

First Chapters: Legacy of Dreams by Carlie Simonsen

Carlie Simonsen's Legacy of Dreams is a teen to young adult story about how Tanya learns to cope with losing her ability to walk, the withdrawal of her best friend, the disappearance of her boyfriend, and her ability to do the sport she loves. Faced with the chance of losing her beloved horse as well, Tanya has to come up with a plan that will somehow let her salvage something of the life she used to have, and the dreams she was making reality. Legacy of Dreams is a tale of learning to live again.

Tanya knows her parents have been tip-toeing around the problem of keeping a horse she can no longer ride, and whose very name makes her burst into tears. Tanya has only just discovered something that might help things, when she is faced with having to face losing her horse, Copper, altogether. The only question is, whether the family budget can stretch that far. Must she lose the only link left to the life she used to have?

The non-illustrated version of Legacy of Dreams can now be found at Smashwords, Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iTunes.

First Chapter: Legacy of Dreams

If Copper hadn’t bolted—set off as fast as a scalded cat and taken a running jump over Brumby’s fence with my best friend and my new saddle on his back—I’d never have met Daniel Tulloch.

Now some of you will say that meeting Daniel was a bad thing, anyway. Some would even say that, if I’d never met Daniel, I wouldn’t be in this wheelchair now.

I can’t argue with you about the wheelchair thing. At least, I can’t argue with you about it in a way that will make any sense. Someone once told me that ‘these things happen for a reason’. If they’re right, then I’d probably be in this wheelchair, Daniel Tulloch or not, in which case not meeting him wouldn’t have helped.

To be honest, I don’t think they were right. It’s possible that there were some things I had to learn, but I didn’t have to be in a wheelchair in order to learn them. The hiking accident with Daniel was just that—an accident. You can argue with me until you’re blue in the face, but don’t you ever try and tell me the wheelchair was a thing that ‘had to happen’. If you do, I’ll ask you to leave, because you won’t be my friend any more.

Do you know what I miss the most? Riding in the moonlight on the track by Maple Creek. Actually, no, that isn’t what I miss the most. I think I miss Daniel’s company the most. I miss that a lot.

He went away after the accident. He didn’t even say goodbye. I’ve asked all my friends at school if they know where he’s gone, but none of them do. It seems he didn’t tell them he was leaving.

Now, I’m leaving, too.

END FIRST CHAPTER

If you would like to read more, Legacy of Dreams can now be found at Smashwords, Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iTunes.