CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

The third book in my Wings series, In Full Flight , is now available for pre-order from Smashwords, and should soon make an appearance on Amazon in Kindle format. It will also be coming out in print (via CreateSpace distribution) and PDF (via DriveThruFiction) and will be available via Smashwords and Draft2Digital distribution. Jack’s dad has a secret—a sad secret. He has never told Jack how he lost his wings. One day he does, and Jack’s world changes. At the same time, someone from his parents’ past comes into their present, and they must work out how to stop things from the past happening all over again. In Full Flight is the third book in the Wings chapter book series, set around a family with wings and bird-like feet. This book is darker than the other two, dealing with themes of difference, discrimination at a state level, and finding a place to belong.

The ebook for A Planet's Ransom my latest young-adult, science-fiction novel as Carlie Simonsen , is now available for pre-order from Smashwords – and it will soon be available from Amazon for pre-order. It’s ready for its release on January 13, 2018. It’s another one I thoroughly enjoyed writing. Made hostages for a world whose international leaders didn’t know how to behave, we ended up on a new world, one we have to make our own, where every step of civilisation has to be earned, all over again. It’s meant to be a world to hide the secret of our survival—but not all the aliens believe we have a right to survive. Torn between two rival factions of an alien race, we have to save our keepers, defeat our hunters, and get a message to the stars. And that’s just if we want to live. Making a place for humanity, is another task altogether. A Planet’s Ransom is the second book in the Space Adventures series, a series of science fiction adventures set in space, or on...

Happy to say that this little monster released today, and is now available from Smashwords (in all formats), Amazon (as an ebook and paperback ), DriveThruFiction (PDF), and via Smashwords and Draft2Digital distribution. Inside these covers is a short story for every day of the leap year, some of which tell of the fantastic, others which take us to the stars and a myriad of other worlds, and still others that horrify with creeping tales of the undead. Every story is an exploration of something that might have been and never was, or something that might yet be. Take a break from the world that is, and explore other possibilities.

The ebook for my latest dark urban fantasy short story, The Queen’s Game , is now available for pre-order on Smashwords , and will soon be available from Amazon, DriveThruFiction and via Draft2Digital distribution. Flash fiction with these characters can be found in 366 Days of Flash Fiction , which releases at the end of this week.   Never get involved with the Otherworld Fey. Take my word for it. I saved the Queen of Summer, and was betrothed to a lord of Winter by way of thanks—and then the human underworld got involved. So what do I do, when every choice is bad? What would you choose: death by troll, or the mercy of an elf?

366 Days of Flash Fiction is now up and available for pre-order on Amazon and Smashwords , and via Draft2Digital distribution. At a whopping 143,000 words, I was starting to worry I wouldn’t get this little monster out on time, but it’s there—and the paperback should also be available on release day: December 29th. Inside these covers is a short story for every day of the leap year, some of which tell of the fantastic, others which take us to the stars and a myriad of other worlds, and still others that horrify with creeping tales of the undead. Every story is an exploration of something that might have been and never was, or something that might yet be. Take a break from the world that is, and explore other possibilities.

Another relatively easy one to earn, but it takes time. Main tip? Feed Them All. Well, okay, it's a bit more like this: Only the berries you feed to a pokemon in a gym count. You can only feed berries to pokemon in a gym that belongs to your team. You can feed up to a maximum of 10 berries to each pokemon. You can feed any pokemon that belongs to a team member, as well as your own. You can feed your team's pokemon from home, as long as you have a pokemon in the same gym - as last week's post showed. It's interesting, but really annoying if you accidentally feed a golden razzberry to a pokemon in a gym... just sayin'. Sometimes, not having a berry on hand to help catch a pokemon is also annoying - especially when you've just fed all yours to your team's pokemon - so think about that before you go all out stuffing their faces; the medal is pretty, but catching stuff is cool, too. Also, pokemon are little piggies when it comes to berries. And that...

The new cover has been approved for In Full Flight , the third in the Wings series that I write as Carlie Simonsen. Here it is - as dark as the themes in the story. Jack’s dad has a secret—a sad secret. He has never told Jack how he lost his wings. One day he does, and Jack’s world changes. At the same time, someone from his parents’ past comes into their present, and they must work out how to stop things from the past happening all over again.   In Full Flight is the third book in the Wings chapter book series, set around a family with wings and bird-like feet. This book is darker than the other two, dealing with themes of difference, discrimination at a state level, and finding a place to belong.

Missions in Ingress form an important part of my program to keep fit. I used them as an incentive to get out the door, and to stay out until I've walked the minimum time, or more. Usually, I find myself doing more because I want to complete either a series or a long single mission. Last Sunday, I completed this cute little series, called the GTC Wander. It's the cure series of dancing aliens forming a rainbow-flag pattern in the middle of the screen.  This one took me through the town centre of Gungahlin, which was very educational as I haven't visited for a couple of months, and the building that's been going on up there is phenomenal. The shopping centres have expanded, and a multi-level carpark has gone in, and the various construction works just haven't finished. Time to Complete: The average time for each mission segment is about 15 minutes, although I took between a half and three-quarters of an hour because I like to glyph-hack, capture, fully depl...

As you all know, Hoenn released on the weekend, so there have been new pokemon to catch. Despite getting out and about on the weekend, I've been a bit busy since Monday, so the only pokemon catching that's happened has been while out running errands. Nevertheless, there have been new pokemon to catch. Here's how we're doing so far: On Monday morning I found a shroomish (sitting under a gym beside a local walking track between two ovals),  and in the afternoon, I hatched a wurmple (from a 2k egg as we crossed the oval on the return journey home). Shroomish was really strong with attack as its best quality and the best stats ever seen, while the wurmple able to battle with the best of them, with HP as its best stat, a great attack, and strong stats. Today was quieter, with only an electrike to confront me on the way across the ovals. It was a decent pokemon with strong stats, and defense as its best quality. This brings th...