CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

My novella-length steampunk horror set in Australia released today! It's available, or will soon be available, from all the usual outlets, including Smashwords, Amazon, OmniLit, Kobo, DriveThruFiction in most ebook formats and PDF, as well as the CreateSpace bookstore in mass market and large-print trade formats. Rendezvous at the Raptor's Rest EBook Cover Rendezvous at the Raptor's Rest Trade PoD Cover Rendezvous at the Raptor's Rest Mass Market PoD Cover When his flying ship, the Red Horizon , was shot down, Tescher told no-one he had a woman on board. Three years later, he returns to the ship wreck and finds Marianna not only survived the crash, but left him a message. She found what she was looking for aboard his ship, and she’ll wait for him at the Raptor’s Rest , but once a year—tonight. Tight flying will get him there in time, but it will take more for him to navigate clear of the criminal shores on which Marianna has landed...

Right, I was going to push these through until December 16, but I’m going to call it now. Yes, it is , technically, a challenge fail, but it is also an important point on the learning curve. Put simply: there are other things I want to do. I could push this challenge through, and maybe catch up what I was supposed to have written during the challenge, or I could stop pfaffing about and get on with what I’ve decided I really need to do. I don’t like failing, but I never was one for pfaffing. So, I’m calling it now. Here’s what I achieved in spite of myself. The Story-A-Week Catch-Up Challenge: In the Story-A-Week Challenge, I wanted to try and write a story a week (originally from December 13, 2015, through December 17, 2016), hence the title. I didn’t manage to keep writing once the university semester started, so, in July, I thought I would try to catch up by writing two stories a week, beginning with one brand new story, coupled with completing the stories I’d sta...

Just to let you know that the novella-length dark fantasy short story has released, and will soon be available on the following platforms in a variety of formats: Amazon.com, Smashwords.com, Omnilit.com, Kobo.com, DriveThruFiction.com; and trade and mass market paperback versions are being released via CreateSpace. Distribution will also occur through Draft2Digital.com. Being a bodyguard isn’t easy, not even when you’re the seventh son in a long line of seventh sons, not even when the magic comes when you call—and especially not when the man you are protecting is a treacherous, lecherous spoilt son of wealth and privilege, who betrays you for a pretty girl. Transported to the far north, Seppelitus must extricate himself from a deal between gargoyles, ogres and a demon lord, and then work out what he’s going to do about the dragon.

Right, getting into the swing of things. Gardening is supposed to be part of my writing fitness regime—it also gets me out from in front of the computer, keeps the landlord happy, and makes getting ready for the annual rental inspection much easier, thus reducing stress. It’s mid-Spring in the Land DownUnder, and season and garden waits for no man. Imagine my surprise when I went out after a long, wet winter and a fairly sploshy spring, to find my rose bushes already in full leaf, in need of a prune and covered in black spot… and then I looked at the peach tree. I learned two things that day: black spot treatment and prevention, and leaf curl treatment and prevention. Here’s what I started with: It took me a good hour to hand-pick all the black-spot-infected leaves off the rose bushes. I’m still working on the peach tree. This is what one of my poor rose bushes looked like before I picked off all the black-spot-infected leaves:    And here it ...