CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Had a very slow start to the day – a late night led to a sleep in, and I was slightly down. No idea why. Either way, a little bit of time spent clearing email, and chatting with friends on Facebook, and I was okay to write. Here are today’s first words, in which Cutter looks to start a fight—because, when doesn’t she: ----------------------------------------------------------------   That was all it took to bring down the wall in front of me, and I didn’t wait for the guards to cross. As far as I was concerned, there was only one person who needed to die today, and he was on the balcony above our heads. Which would do him little good if I could clear enough space for a run-up. Now, all I had to do was activate the nans to release the stim into my system—and the best way I knew how to do that was to start a fight. I looked at the soldiers, still lined up where the wall used to be. Nice of them to volunteer. ----------------------------------------------------------------

Work on Mack ‘n’ Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9 , the fifth book in the Mack ‘n’ Me ‘n’ Odyssey series, continues. I laid down another 3,000 words today, and left Cutter and Mack in the usual depth of trouble. Here are the first of those 3,000 words. Apparently, Cutter’s table manners leave a bit to be desired:     ----------------------------------------------------------------   Watching What You Eat   Surely your Delight told you about long-range psi? I wanted to answer that, but I couldn’t remember if she had, or not. Not that it mattered. Long range psi, huh? How long a range? Some of us can speak between starships. I wondered how much distance was between the starships, and if that needed special focus, but the spiders weren’t forthcoming. Before I could chase that down via their implants, a trolley bearing a large soup tureen was pushed through the kitchen doors, and wheeled over to stop beside Barangail. I watched as they served his lordship first, and then watc

The Shadow Trap edit continues, but here is the second passage to have caught my eye. ----------------------------------------------------------------   A Goddess Prepares to Defend or Die “I must go, brother,” Sariel said, as Criella’s shriek reached her ears. “You cannot,” Larias replied, knowing what she’d heard. “The Old One lies in wait for you. He will not let you take her unscathed.” “You do not understand, Larias,” the goddess replied. “It is not I who is important. It is the Old One’s defeat that is important. Even my death cannot change that.” “But dead you cannot aid us any further,” Larias protested. “We need you alive, helping us defend this world and all that rely on it for life. What importance could a mere girl have in comparison to that?” Sariel took his face in her hands and laid her forehead against his own. “Dear Larias,” she said, “don’t you understand? If the Old One takes that mere girl’s life, he is only one, at the most two, steps away f

The Shadow Trap edit continues, but here is the first passage to have caught my eye. ---------------------------------------------------------------- At the Swap-Meet of the Gods Gilzereet raised his head, tears gleaming in his eyes. Aravare’s presence filled the empty space Berveragna had left. Power and comfort flowed through him, soothing the hurt of Berveragna’s rejection, but leaving sadness at their separation. For that, Gilzereet was grateful; there were some things even the gods had no right to touch, some feelings better left for mortals to deal with in their own time and way. “Thank you, my lord,” he said, his voice husky with emotion. He turned to Berveragna. “My Lady,” he acknowledged, searching for the words to express what he felt. As he opened his mouth to speak those words, a shadow fell over the hall. Evil and dark as it was, Tara saw even the gods of wickedness look for its source, disquiet in their eyes. Aravare groaned, his presence flickering in