CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

  As Carlie Simonsen, I originally wrote this piece for the Dark Side Down Under website, six months ago, and we’ve asked her to repeat it here. Carlie writes mostly speculative and paranormal fiction for Younger readers, and very rarely hint at romance. She also writes science fiction ( Dear Tiger , Rocky to the Rescue ), fantasy ( Assassin, Not ), contemporary ‘reality’ with a twist ( Long Hair , Tag Man One , The Dog’s Way ), science-fiction-fantasy blends ( Spit ), and contemporary reality with no twist ( Legacy of Dreams , All Alone ) . So, p eople ask me why I write for a younger audience, and what they need to do in order to write successfully for that age group. Over the years, I’ve come up with the following tips, or rules: The first rule is DON’T WRITE DOWN: No one likes being talked down to, or having it all explained as if they are too stupid to work it out for themselves. Just write the story. Write to entertain. Youngers are *young*; they’re not morons, ...

You can find the links to each of the preceding episodes of the Babes in London adventure sequence HERE . To play or run this game you will need the following: PLAYERS: Fireborn Player's Handbook ; GAME MASTERS: Fireborn Gamemaster's Handbook ; This is a piece of fan fiction. It is NOT endorsed or acknowledged by Fantasy Flight Game s; it is IN NO WAY official; it DOES NOT indicate any form of relationship between myself and Fantasy Flight Games; and I DO NOT CLAIM any of the setting specific material or setting specific concepts as my own. Warning: Due to a lack of playtesters, this section has yet to be tested. GMs may need to adjust opponents to suit the level of your PCs. PLAYERS SHOULD NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT                 Scene 2: Follow-Up (LN7) It takes an hour or so, but in the end you find them. The dolphin-shirt-wearing dog boy is in the same café as before, and this tim...

So, sometimes insects get inside and get stuck behind the glass and get a bit poorly. Most don't survive, but this one is one we were able to take outside in time. Clear plastic containers are a must, and you never put hand over the base, but always on the edges. Most insects (and spiders) are used to looking out for predators from above. Having a hand on the base of your clear, plastic containers kinda defeats the purpose. He was much happier once we got him outside. I'm not sure what he'd doing here - hunting? eating? Whatever it is, it kept him busy for ages.

And here is the result of this week's terribleminds' flash fiction challenge - the first line is from David Novack's entry to last week's challenge . Enjoy!   The Dinabranki in Defeat “Well,” Jimmy muttered, “it was clearly a mistake picking this room to piss in.” He’d give them this: they hadn’t taken the safeties off until he’d closed the door behind him—and then a volley of clicks had clattered around the room. Add the sudden presence of a large, square barrel pressed against his skull, and Jimmy had very nearly wet himself. It was clearly a mistake to have come in here at all, but Jimmy hadn’t been planning on pissing when he’d tickled the lock and slipped quickly inside. Jimmy had been planning on finding out exactly what the dinabranki were hiding behind their corporate front, what interest they had on a colony world so distant from their own. He looked over his shoulder, saw old-fashioned side arms, and well-armoured soldiers, and slowly turned....

Last week's flash fiction challenge over at the terribleminds blog was to write a 15-words-or-less opening line. I missed that by making the mistake of putting it off until later. My bad. This week, however, the challenge is to select one of the 15-words-or-less opening lines and write a 1,000-word-or-less piece of flash fiction. Now don't getting all excited on me; I haven't finished it yet... actually, I haven't started it BUT I have, at last selected an opening line. Of the five pages worth of opening lines, there were a few that were clearly over the limit, and a number that didn't grab my creative conscious by what passes for its throat... and there were a number of opening lines that missed the throat but caught my attention. My first pass brought the number of lines down to 20 written by: Arwa Stone , mikepaul , Jera , Tony Taylor , Kevin George , Alecia Millar , thatcalamity , Jess , jebdarsh , JD , Julia , Brennan , Gabe K , feralbulb , Sean Tadsen ...