CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

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 ...

Carlie Simonsen's Dear Tiger is a young adult science fiction story told in a series of letters written by Simone Michaels. Simone’s parents are exploring another planet and she’s stuck in boarding school when things go terribly wrong.  “Dear Tiger, this has been the best day ever… but I lie.” Simone Michaels is in trouble, but she doesn’t know how deep. Her letters to old friend, Tiger, reveal that her parents are missing, and that she is afraid she’ll go missing, too. When her parents’ employer takes her in, and takes care of her education and living arrangements, she is drawn more deeply into the mystery. Simone keeps her secrets as best she can, including the secret of the mysterious box her parents sent before they disappear, but she is just as afraid of opening it, as she is of the company discovering its existence. Does it contain the only clue to what really happened to her parents, or does it contain her doom? Dear Tiger is the first book in the L...

Jalaya is the fourth and final short story to be found in An Anthology of Battle . It is also available as a stand-alone short story. Jalaya is a story of family, long-standing love and of sacrifices made for the sake of community, duty and loyalty. It is a story of heroes, fire-fights, wits and courage. And it is the story of a last battle in a ten-year war. Jalaya is available as part of An Anthology of Battle or as a stand-alone title from Smashwords , Kobo , Kindle , iTunes and Nook. First Pages: Jalaya Michael looked down at the town in the sand. Red, flat roofs of clay interspersed by the elegant, wooden gables of buildings from northern climes, still stood in a basin of protective hills. From where he stood, the rotting boards were invisible, as was the sand that swirled along the unkempt streets. He tried to see the town as it had been ten years before. There had been trees standing inside walled islands of stone dotting the center of the main streets, and ...

All Alone is a short tale about the trials of two children after their parents go missing while Christmas shopping in a shopping centre that suffers a bombing attack. Jason must look after his little sister Emmie when they find themselves alone in a city, in another country, far from home. Did their parents survive the bomb blast, and can they find them, or will they be stuck growing up in the care of strangers and never see home again? All Alone is the debut chapter book for tweens by Carlie Simonsen . It is currently available from Smashwords , and will shortly become available from Kobo, Kindle, and CreateSpace. First Chapter: A ll Alone The gun spat bullets at the night. Bark! Bark! Bark! Jason could hear it yelling in the dark. He could see the yellow flash every time it barked up another bullet. He slid off his bed and lay down on the floor. Bark! Bark! Bark! The gun yelled again. Jason heard footsteps outside his room. Someone knocked and ...

Danzer is a VR combat star. Unfortunately, somebody wants him dead. Is it a private vendetta from someone he’s defeated, a disgruntled fan, or someone else entirely. Whoever they are, their poetry stinks, but its meaning is clear. Security personnel for the VR games insist on overseeing the match between him and his most dangerous opponent, but no one knows if it will be enough. Will Security succeed in their intervention, or will their efforts result in more than Danzer losing their lives? A Battle of Minds is a speculative science fiction short story about what the world of virtual gaming might be like. It is available from Smashwords , Kobo, Kindle, Amazon, Nook and Kobo. It will one day be incorporated into An Anthology of Minds .

Jacob’s Vision is the third short story to be found in An Anthology of Battle . It is also available as a stand-alone short story. Erin writes of her earthbound memories of an interplanetary war, of the fate of a war hero, and of the start of re-building. Jacob's Vision is available in An Anthology of Battle or as a stand-alone title at Smashwords , Kobo , Kindle , iTunes and Nook. First Pages: Jacob's Vision The hill, with its footing of green-studded black, was the same as I remembered it. I stood at the top of the ridge looking out, seeing the city ruins, imagining the glow from its center at night. I’d seen the ruins, and watched that glow before—with Jacob. It had always been his dream that we would return, that the beacon he had set would bring rescue, or aid in the rebuilding he had envisioned. Sighing, I settled myself at the foot of one of the scarred and blackened statues, and set my notecase beside me. I took the hardbound notebook from the c...