There are Only 12 More Days Until Christmas
With only 12 more shopping days left, there’s still plenty of time to buy e-books or gift cards for 3-books. The best part is delivery is usually the same day.
Barbara G. Tarn
As I mentioned last time, I’ve met a new friend. Barb ain’t no ordinary friend. Nope. She’s one of the most prolific, imaginative and creative people I’ve ever met. Just take a look at her website:
https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/
This is from Barb’s profile:
Barbara is my real first name, but I want to be known as Barb when artist (graphic novels & illustrations) and Barbara G.Tarn when writer (novels and screenplays).
I’m a writer and an artist and English is not my native language, so bear with me if I make writing mistakes!
I write heroic fantasy for adults who still like to dream and escape. Mostly medieval settings, with touch of India/Persia, Japan and Africa here and there. The world is called Silvery Earth. The stories… I’m writing them. Short stories, novels and graphic novels are now available at different sites…
Barb has so many storylines that it was hard to choose one. When you check out her blog, just click on ‘excerpts and free reads.’ I was totally amazed at how much she writes, and I thought I liked to write!
I asked Barb for an excerpt from her Amazonian series and she sweetly obliged:
Excerpt from Amazon Sisters
please note that the Amazons of Silvery Earth are not inspired by the historical Amazons of this planet! 🙂
Selene didn’t know why she stayed in Arpeja. She liked the village and its surroundings, but mostly kept thinking about the Uncatchable she’d let go.
Marica’s mother was glad to have her – or maybe Desiderio, who knew – but she was a loner and preferred going for a walk alone or with her men than with the other girls. The only one who sometimes tried to disturb her quiet solitude was the blond Public Man, who still couldn’t believe she didn’t need him.
“I already told you I’m not interested in men like you!” Selene snapped at last. “Leave me alone! I don’t want a Public Man!”
Desiderio and Falco stepped forward threateningly and the young man backed off with a frown. Selene went to her room to brood. There was a man she hadn’t touched – and she still wondered why she’d let him go.
“Selene.” Falco stopped at the door. “There’s another man who wants to see you.”
“I don’t want to see anyone,” she replied bluntly, still lost in the memory of the gorgeous young man she’d let go.
“Not even me?” The unknown voice startled her. He was taller than Falco who blocked his access to her room with a glare.
“Let him in, Falco.” Selene recovered from her surprise – her thoughts had just materialized in the village house.
Falco bowed and let in the newcomer who stared at Selene with an impish smile.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, rising to face him once they were alone.
“You didn’t capture me,” he replied.
“Do you want me to capture you?” she retorted.
“No.” He stepped forward and took her in his arms. “I don’t want to be your slave, I want to be your man forever.”
“You know you shouldn’t be talking like this,” she said, her voice shaky from the closeness. Her heart had started beating faster when her body had touched his. She’d put her hands on his chest to block his embrace and it felt smooth and warm under her fingers – she could almost feel his heart beat.
“I know,” he replied. “But I’ve heard of women who choose one man for life.”
“The Queen, my mother… not me,” she said, trying to free herself from his tenderness and failing – it felt so good to feel his hands on her back!
“Think about it,” he insisted. “We’d live together. We’d shower under the waterfall and sleep in my shelter. You’d be happy with me. Selene, I don’t know what it is but…”
“How do you know my name?” she asked bluntly.
“I asked for the Huntress and they told me your name. What I feel for you is stronger than anything I’ve felt before – I can be the man of your life.”
“Men are chosen, they don’t choose,” she protested weakly.
“I know what I feel and I want to be with you,” he replied with a smile. “It’s the first time it’s happened to me, considering I ran away from Sanuvia because I was sick of you all. But you’re different and I…”
“No!” At last she managed to break the spell and push him away. She stepped back, upset. “Go away! You have no right to come here and tell me these things!”
“Why not? Why are you still here? The daughter of an Aristocrat in a forlorn village – are you feeling something too?”
“Get out!” she screamed. “Out or I’ll have you beaten to death!”
“What for?” he asked sourly. “Why did you hunt me down if you don’t want me?”
She stared at him, shivering with anger. Wretched man, how dare he come and tell her those things…
“Go away,” she uttered. “I don’t want to see you ever again.”
“I’ll stay,” he replied defiantly, crossing his arms on his chest.
Desiderio and Falco were already at the door, called by her previous outburst. Selene signaled them, so they grabbed the Uncatchable and dragged him out of the house. Since he tried to go back inside, Falco punched him a couple of times, and he crumbled in the dust, bleeding from a split lip.
“Enough.” Selene called her men back inside, glaring at the rebel gathering himself as the women of the village surrounded him.
She wanted him, damn him. But so did the girls who had ogled him for months. Two of them were already trying to rip off his clothes, and soon others would join in.
“Lisa, Marisa, let him go,” she ordered from the house’s door.
“But… Selene!” they protested.
“He’s my prey, so he belongs to me. He’s not for sale yet, thus I do what I please with him.”
The two girls let him go with a sigh.
Again Selene signaled Desiderio and Falco, and went back to her room. The two men brought back in the Uncatchable, bruised and shaken.
“Thanks,” he whispered, lowering his eyes in submission when they were alone again.
“I didn’t do it for you,” she lied.
“Really?” He half-smiled. “For who then? Yourself? Your Huntress’s pride?”
“What’s your name?” she asked, not realizing the absurdity of her question. Slaves and Uncatchables had no names.
“Ardor,” he answered, looking her in the eyes.
“Who gave you this name?” she adjusted the question – must be the name he had before running away from Sanuvia.
“I did. I chose it. By listening to the ardor of my heart.”
“You shouldn’t have a name in that case,” she objected weakly.
“Well, I do,” he replied, closing his eyes and wincing in pain.
She wondered what his mother had called him. She wondered where he really came from.
She cleaned the blood and dust from his face, thoughtful.
“Ardor, will you sleep in my bed tonight?” she asked then – another unconventional question. Should have been an order.
“Only if it’s the first of many. I don’t want to go to heaven and then be thrown back to hell.”
“You’re my prey, you know? I could force you.”
“But you will not do it, or you’d have issued an order. Besides, I came here on my own. You let me go, remember? You have no rights over me – I’m not your prey.” He flashed his smile at her.
“Ardor.” She sighed. “You can’t ask me for exclusivity.”
“Then I don’t want anything from you. I shall leave and be the most wanted prey of this county again.”
He turned his back on her, frowning and ready to leave, but Marica burst into the room.
“Selene, you caught him?” she asked, excited, then gasped in awe at the sight of him.
Ardor thinned his lips and lowered his eyes. The bruises were starting to show.
“What happened?” Marica asked, surprised.
“He needed a lesson,” Selene replied. “Uncatchables need to be tamed, you know?”
“And is he tamed?” Marica insisted. “Can I try him?”
Ardor turned back to Selene, furious. “You didn’t capture me! Many saw me walking here, they even told me where to find you. They were too stunned to do anything, but it wasn’t you who dragged me here!”
“True.” Selene smiled. “But you still needed a lesson, you Public Man! I thought you were an Uncatchable, but you behave just like one of them!”
Ardor clenched his teeth, glaring at her.
He grabbed Marica, who was too surprised to react, and pulled her closer, kissing her deeply, his eyes still on Selene.
Marica fell back, breathless, when he let her go. Ardor pushed her out of his way and stormed out. Nobody stopped him.
“Goddess!” Marica whispered, incredulous. “Selene, why did you let him go?”
“He’s dangerous,” Selene answered, averting her eyes from the other girl’s face. Marica’s lips were still wet from Ardor’s kiss. “A runaway Public Man could seduce anyone.”
“I must have him,” Marica decided, rushing after him.
“Good hunt,” Selene grumbled.
She kept seeing Ardor’s lips and hands on Marica. The Uncatchable must be a runaway Public Man for real – and one of the best a city like Sanuvia could offer. And she’d been so mean with poor Biondo… Men were all the same!
BLURB
“He needed to ponder all those strange words. Even women could be hurt and violated. He hadn’t thought that was possible in this world ruled by women. Even women could be kind. He never thought a Healer would ever consider curing him…”
Life isn’t easy in the Queendom of Maadre. The Daughters of Amazonia have very strict laws for men – but also for women. Follow the life of two sisters and their men. Love and death in the Amazons Country.
Amazon Sisters on Smashwords, Amazon, Kobo, Barnes&Noble, Apple and DriveThruFiction
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barbara G.Tarn is a writer, sometimes artist, mostly a world-creator and story-teller.
She’s been building her world of Silvery Earth for a number of years – stories, comprise shorts, novels and graphic novels. Her novella “The Hooded Man” has received an Honorable Mention at the Writers of the Future contest.
Used to multiple projects (a graphic novel is always on the side of the prose) this year she’s publishing under 3 pen-names – Barbara Sangiorgio writes in Italian, B.G.Hope writes in English (contemporary fiction including M/M romance). And yes, this is a pen-name too.
Find her books at various retailers: http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com…
You can also “like” her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barb-a…
She doesn’t tweet.
So well-written and intriguing, isn’t it?
Well, I wanted to read more, don’t you? So I downloaded one of her free works:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/132577
and then I asked her for another excerpt from another work:
Excerpt – The Hooded Man
The hooded man appeared first in the market square, forcing wealthy customers to pay the right price for their goods. His pole-arm was usually enough of a threat, although in some cases – where the rich buyer put up resistance – he had to show the other end of the shaft, where the seal of Goddess Zindagi was embedded.
The usually hidden seal was imbued with a minor spell that left a burning sign on the skin. Nothing dangerous or life-threatening, but a mark of Zindagi’s wrath for all to see – although Hrithikesh never struck on a person’s bare face or hands.
Next, he stole the guards’ pay and left the symbol of the goddess inside the safe. Many artisans and other needy citizens found small purses of money at their doors.
“He’s an avenging spirit!” the lower class whispered with awe.
“He’s a bandit!” the noble and wealthy screamed. “Catch him and throw him in prison!”
The governor seemed only mildly irritated, as if the hooded man were just a nuisance. He paid the guards from his own coffers and sent them on the hunt.
But the hooded man was everywhere and nowhere, seeming to vanish after every stunt or tease or robbery. He moved so fast, many thought he was a spirit. He was nimble and strong, and when he swung his pole-arm, he looked like a real warrior, even if he never took a life.
Ten days after the hooded man first appeared, the tax collector was expected any day and the coffers for the king were still half-empty. The upper class gathered at the palace to protest, since they’d have to contribute extra, if they didn’t want the king to show up and deliver true justice.
Hrithikesh knew the palace quite well by now, and since his pupil was in the great hall with his parents and hadn’t requested his presence, he decided it was the right time to change into the hooded man and take on the governor himself. When he squeezed in the room, everybody was talking at the same time, and Kibriya was losing his patience.
“Silence!” he shouted. The noise became a grumble, then slowly stopped under the governor’s glare.
“I know you’re angry,” Kibriya continued. “Do you think I’m happy? A single man is stealing our money and my guards are too stupid to catch him!”
He glared at Lokesh and a few others who stood to the side with blank expressions.
“I won’t pay you next month if you don’t find him and bring him to me,” he threatened.
“We’ve never seen his face! How can we catch him?” Lokesh protested, too outraged to be afraid to argue with the governor. Hrithikesh thought Lokesh was a fool. Brave, but a fool. He dropped his tunic to the floor to wear the hooded vestment.
“He’s just one!” Kibriya exclaimed, furious. “How can he always get away from all of you?”
Because I’m better. Hrithikesh wrapped the scarf around his head and pulled up the hood before slowly moving along the wall towards the governor, keeping the pole-arm low. Everybody was riveted and didn’t think of looking his way. The small crowd covered him from the governor and the guards facing him.
“You’re a bunch of incompetents! I’ll hire real mercenaries from now on!”
“And where will we find them, and how will we pay them?” Kibriya’s brother protested.
“Why don’t you sack that useless tutor for your son and help me pay real soldiers?” Kibriya snapped.
“Oh, more unemployed people is not going to help, governor.” Hrithikesh was close enough to Kibriya now that when he pulled up the pole-arm like a lance, the point of the blade touched the governor’s throat.
Kibriya stiffened as he came forward, and everybody shrank back in fear.
“You’d better tell your guards to drop their weapons,” Hrithikesh continued, the curved blade ready to cut Kibriya’s throat.
Some weapons fell to the floor, but Lokesh and a couple of others held their sabers ready.
“Do you really think these incompetent fools can protect you?” Hrithikesh asked.
Kibriya clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes, calculating, then said, “Drop your weapons.”
Lokesh snarled, and then all weapons clanged on the tiled floor.
“Thank you. Now you should apologize to these poor people who are just doing their job. You should have trained them better if you wanted them to be more professional.”
Hrithikesh knew Kibriya trained his men himself, and not with blunt blades. Some probably hadn’t survived the training, since he was a very skilled swordsman. He now sat with his hands on his knees, but Hrithikesh knew he must not allow him to unsheathe his sword if he didn’t want a bloodbath.
“Lokesh, take the governor’s sword and throw it with the rest,” he said bluntly. Ordering Lokesh around after being bullied by him felt good, but Hrithikesh kept his emotions in check.
Lokesh unwillingly obeyed. As he was about to drop the saber with the others, he suddenly turned and attacked.
Hrithikesh swiftly turned the shaft of the pole-arm, whispering, “Tum zinda ho” to activate the spell on the seal, and hit Lokesh with it.
The seal burned Lokesh’s skin near his navel and he was thrown back with a scream. Before Kibriya could move, the curved blade of the pole-arm was at his throat again. Ali rushed to Lokesh’s side, but the young man was only dazed, not wounded.
“You’re fast,” the governor said. “Who trained you?”
“Not you.” Hrithikesh smirked behind his scarf. “Now you will behave, governor. Stop abusing your men and your citizens, or I’ll come back.”
Kibriya scoffed. “And then what, you’ll take my life?”
“I don’t kill. But I might put the seal of the goddess on your forehead. You’d be marked for life for all to see.”
“Bastard,” Kibriya muttered through gritted teeth.
“You have enough money to pay the due taxes without starving this town,” Hrithikesh continued. “Either you become the good governor we all wish we had, or you’ll be a marked governor forever. Your choice.”
He looked Kibriya in the eyes, waiting for a quick nod of acknowledgment.
When it came, he said, “Thank you.” Then he took the blade away from the governor’s throat. “Nice talking to you.”
He sprinted for the window and jumped out: Before anyone realized it, he was gone. He wasn’t happy to have burned his future brother-in-law, but Lokesh had asked for it.
Now we’ll see if words are enough or if I need to be tougher…
He removed the blade from the staff and took off the scabbard, wrapping the weapons in the scarf. He put them under his arm and lowered the hood as he mingled in the crowd. Time once again to become the “useless tutor” and hear how his pupil would relate the encounter.
BLURB
Going home after fifteen years can be surprising…
A young man heads back to his hometown to his beloved and finds a cruel governor ruling the city. But now he has secret skills to help him overcome.
A Silvery Earth novella.
You can read the story on Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords, B&N and DriveThruFiction and Apple!
This novella has won Honorable Mention in Writers of the Future.
This novella is also included in More Tales of the Southern Kingdoms.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barbara G.Tarn is a writer, sometimes artist, mostly a world-creator and story-teller.
She’s been building her world of Silvery Earth for a number of years – stories, comprise shorts, novels and graphic novels. Her novella “The Hooded Man” has received an Honorable Mention at the Writers of the Future contest.
Used to multiple projects (a graphic novel is always on the side of the prose) this year she’s publishing under 3 pen-names – Barbara Sangiorgio writes in Italian, B.G.Hope writes in English (contemporary fiction including M/M romance). And yes, this is a pen-name too.
Find her books at various retailers: http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com…
You can also “like” her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barb-a…
She doesn’t tweet.
AND STILL –
She also illustrates her works.Her novella (Hooded Man) won an honorable mention at Writers of the Future.
Here is another of her fantastic illustrations:
Besides all she’s done, she also has 2 short stories in our ‘Strange Portals Anthology’. Both were brilliantly written.
If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, it is free:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/499789
(amazon has yet to set the price at free so it’s 99cents there right now)
Isn’t she amazing? Be sure to check out her sites and follow/like. Browze through her works. There’s sure to be something for that hard-to-gift person on your list. Don’t forget to buy some for your own e-reader too.
LHR my wonderful friends.
DM Yates Journalings 
Reblogged this on creative barbwire (or the many lives of a creator) and commented:
check these free excerpts on D.M. Yates blog!
Thanks for this introduction to Barbara G. Tarn’s work! Looks great!
You’re welcome. I love discovering fun new authors.