CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

I have over twenty years of editing—yes, many of those were for pay, and not just recognition—under my belt. I’ve worked mostly in roleplaying, and for small publishing companies, but have also exchanged edits with other writers. I have degrees in literature, writing and editing, and I’ve been an English teacher on top of that. However, I prefer to have someone else look over my work before I go to publish it. This is important, because they will pick up things you miss, point out story inconsistencies, and sometimes suggest a comma, or spot a spelling error. All things you are likely to miss on your final draft. Find a beta reader. Better yet, find two, or, if you can afford one, a professional editor. And listen to them. That was ‘listen’; you should still use your own judgement on accepting their suggestions and corrections, because you are still the one responsibility for the finished condition of your work. There are times, however, when your beta readers aren’t a...

The first cover of the year is one for a short story to be released November 3, 2017. It's a science fiction story set in the universe of Mack and Me, which may or may not yet be connected to the universe of Miss Delight and Odyssey. So, we’ve done this job, and I’m checking our tails are clear, and I find they’re not—and then I find the only way to kick clear is to find the Cloud Door. Only trouble is the Cloud Door’s a legend, and Mack? Well, he’s not too fond of chasing legends. Fortunately, this one’s a no-brainer: we want to live, and that’s got to be enough to make anyone chase a legend, right?

This year, I chose to focus on writing as Carlie Simonsen, and to get my short stories as C.M. Simpson up to speed. As Carlie Simonsen, I released the following titles in 2016: JANUARY 2016 Rocky and the Spacefarers' Christmas EBook Cover Rocky and the Spacefarers' Christmas PoD Cover Rocky is on a starship to another world, and it’s boring. He misses Earth. He misses his farm. He misses his pony. Worst of all, it looks like he’s going to miss Christmas, too. And then he meets Elita, an alien girl missing her own end-of-year celebration—Hajranath. The two of them get to talking, and decide that a party is just what everybody needs, but how are they ever going to convince the grown-ups?   Rocky and the Spacefarers’ Christmas is the second book in the Otherworld Adventures series, which is set on Rocky’s journey to the new world where his parents will farm alongside the aliens. FEBRUARY 2016 Rocky and the Great Teddybear Res...