The Wild Ones

 photo unnamed 1_zpskatw641j.jpg

Young Adult
Date Published:  December 19, 2018
Publisher: Books To Go Now Publication
 
 photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png
The Wild Ones is about 7 young wild horses left on their own. How they survive and are eventually gentled by the men of the Circle bar X ranch. The horses talk amongst themselves but not to the humans in the story. It is told from one of the mare’s point of view. This is her first novel written from a picture of two black/grey horses on a calendar and what her father taught her.

Excerpt

Chapter Two

Over the next year, Molly did a good job of caring for her six foster babies and her son. We formed a strong bond. The older colts helped her as much as we could to look after the younger ones.

Then one day, Molly told us, “I’m going off alone. I want time to myself. Do not follow me this time. You older ones look after the young ones. I love you all. Good bye.” Molly looked at her foster family and her son for the last time. She had felt age creep up on her. Pain replaced her zest for life. She was going off to die alone. She knew we were old enough now to care for ourselves. It had been a long scary year for her. She knew Baby would be her last and may have grown up with one of the other mares as a foster mother. But it was she who became the only mother for all of us. She knows she had done a good job, as she tiredly trudged around the lake.

We don’t know what she meant as we watched her walk away over the rise. Usually we followed her wherever she went. Now we were alone.

We knickered and whinnied, and waited for Molly to return. I finally believed she wasn’t coming back. The way she said good-bye and not to follow her. What are we going to do now? I wonder, and when should I tell the others I think she isn’t coming back. Sooner would be better than later. Then we can decide what to do and who will lead us now. I call, “Hey, guys come here. I want to tell you something.”

“What is it, Angel?” Blaze asked, as he came over to me. He was the oldest by two days.

“I think Molly isn’t coming back.” I said and looked at Baby and Cheekie, they were closer to Molly because they nursed longer than the rest of us. The rest of us took what was left one at a time when they were finished.

Baby was upset, “Why do you say that about mother? She loved us and wouldn’t leave us alone.”

“Baby,” I said softly, “I am sorry, but the way she said good bye and not to follow her. We had always gone with her. She was old and tired. It was a hard job to look after us. We hadn’t always been good. Yes, she loved us; that is what kept her going as long as she did.”

Blaze said, “Angel is right, we are on our own now. We must decide what we are going to do and who is going to lead us.”

Cheekie said, “Blaze and Angel are the oldest and if we all co-operate like the family Molly taught us to be, we can survive on our own.”

About the Author


 photo unnamed_zpsedeg5jnl.jpg

Gladys Swedak lives in Vancouver B. C. with her partner and two cats. She likes to read, do handcrafts and is learning art. She is a spiritual person and a member of Unity of New Westminster. She likes to write fiction and about animals.

Contact Links

 
Purchase Links

Beau and the Clockwork Girl

 
Title: Beau and the Clockwork Girl
Author: Kami Bryant
Genre: Steampunk Fantasy Romance
 

 

Blurb:
In this steampunk, fantasy, romance, Beau’s lost love has been enchanted to forget her memories and to suppress her emotions. Beau meets a dragonfly fairy, Juniper to assist him in the quest to save his love and break her enchantment. Beau has to teach his princess to feel, for she replaced her heart with clockwork and now she has become evil and cruel. Beau has loved his princess Em, since they were children but Em has forgotten what it is to feel because, if you decide to give up your emotions so that you are not in pain, you will also lose your ability to love.
Buy Link:
Kami lives in the Pacific Northwest with her son and her two cats. She has been writing stories since she was six, when she wrote a story about a white cat who wanted to be a black cat for Halloween.
Beau and the Clockwork Girl is her first published novel and she intends to write more gender bending, genre mixing, fairy tale re-imaginings.
She thanks everyone for their support as she continues her journey as a self-published author.
 
Buy Link:
Emberlyn’s thighs gripped her sturdy mount as the black horse galloped through the forest. Her painfully tight plaited dark brown hair pinned in an intricate knot held back at the nape of her neck with a brass comb. She laughed as she and the large horse flew down the path, the wind hitting her in the face. It was the smell of freedom. Out here no one could tell her how a proper princess should act. There were no rules out here and she loved it.
“Faster Onyx,” she urged. Princess Emberlyn wore black leather pants much like the ones her mother wore. She also wore a black leather corset that was a twin to her mother’s and a bright, blood-red blouse. Her heavy black leather boots, adorned with buckles, gripped the sides of her horse as she urged him to a faster pace. She risked a quick glance behind her shoulder and saw the pale horse named Buttermint and the mare’s rider quickly gaining on them. Onyx tossed his black  mane and seemed to chuckle a horsey nicker as he continued racing down the forest path.
The mare Buttermint and her rider quickly overtook the racing Onyx and pulled abreast of Emberlyn. The princess squealed as the rider reached over with his long arm and pulled her out of her saddle with his left, while holding Buttermint’s reins tightly in his right hand. He plopped the princess in the saddle in front of him, pushing her firmly against the pommel. Emberlyn squirmed in Buttermint’s saddle and slid her bottom farther down and settled against the boy’s strong, broad chest. The youth reached over and grabbed Onyx’s reins. The black stallion shook his mane and whinnied his chuckle. Buttermint answered with a softer neigh.
“Whoa,” said Beau as he slowed down the two horses. Emberlyn was trapped in his muscled arms and his broad chest which was her favorite place to be. She felt safe and loved. She loved the feel of the vibrations of his deep voice rumbling against her back and her nipples hardened with her excitement. Emberlyn squirmed away from Beau’s right arm that trapped her against his body as he struggled with Onyx with his left. Emberlyn gripped the pommel of Buttermint’s saddle and lifted her body up, sliding her right leg underneath her bottom and then slid her right leg across the back of the horse until both of her legs were leaning against Buttermint’s left flank. Gripping the pommel tightly with her right hand, Emberlyn shouted “Watch out!” Beau dropped Onyx’s reins and leaned back into a laying position, his head resting on Buttermint’s rump. Emberlyn lifted her body up with her right hand, balancing on her tail bone and kicked her left leg up and over Beau’s reclining form, and then sat up in the saddle facing Beau. The boy with the dirty blond hair sat up and tightly grasped Emberlyn’s waist keeping his balance on the horse with his strong thighs.
“What are you doing?” he chuckled in his deep voice.
Emberlyn’s brown eyes gazed into the boy’s bright blue ones and she leaned into his strong torso, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer against his chest, her warm lips meeting his in a deep passionate kiss as her breasts pushed up against her corset. She pulled back and smiled shyly as Beau smiled back at her.
“That was extremely dangerous,” Beau admonished. “What would I tell the queen if you fell?”
“You would never let me fall,” replied Emberlyn.
Beau shook his messy, long, loose dirty blond hair. “Of course, I wouldn’t, but what if…”
“I was taught that move by the best horse rider in all of Mirovia. Maybe the best rider in all the land,” interjected Princess Emberlyn. “Want to see what else I can do while on top of this horse?
“No. Enough of your trick riding,” scolded Beau. “How can you even do all that while wearing a corset?” he asked running his hands down the tight binding and boning of the princess’s garment.
“You would be amazed about the amount of things I can do while wearing a corset,” she replied with a grin.
“What can you do out of your corset?” purred Beau.
Em arched her brow and slapped Beau’s arm playfully.