CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

There are 20 short stories in the latest volume of Craig Martelle’s The Expanding Universe anthologies. Today, with Craig's permission, we are taking a sneak peek at the start of Jonathan P. Brazee’s story, ‘Checkmate’. Here’s how it begins: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Winning is everything, especially in war. “Come on, Lettie,” Jorge muttered as he popped up out of the fighting hole and snapped off a burst at the advancing Valks. He ducked back as return fire showered dirt and debris over the three in the hole. “What the hell is taking her?   The damned Valks are closing in!” “Lettie’s on top of it,” Military Tech 2 Isaac Stein said, gripping his Compton-3 to his chest.   He raised his rifle over the edge of their fighting hole and blindly emptied his mag, exposing only his hands for a few seconds.   He knew he hadn’t hit anyone firing like that, but hopefully it would give the advancing Valks pause. “Wha...

There are 20 short stories in the latest volume of Craig Martelle’s The Expanding Universe anthologies. Today, with permission, we are taking a sneak peek at the start of Craig Martelle’s story, ‘Information War’ . Here’s how it begins: ---------------------------------------------------------------- The first casualty, when war comes, is the truth. - Hiram Warren Johnson “Did you see that? They killed every man, woman, and child! They have to die!” With each word, foam flew from the old man’s mouth toward the video screen mounted over the bar. He was furious. His face twitched from his rage. He perched above his barstool. “Where did that happen?” the young man wondered aloud. “Did anyone actually see the dead?” “Does it matter?” The old man turned on him, waving a skeletal fist in his face. “I think so, but what do I know,” the young man replied, recoiling from the old man’s anger, his press pass concealed in his pocket. Kenny Freeman considered himself a re...

This is the second of the two new covers I designed last week—and forgot to talk about. It’s for Mack ‘n’ Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9 , the fifth book in the Mack ‘n’ Me series. It looks like I’ll be completing that on time, which is before the end of the month, which means it will have a November release. Book 4, Mack ‘n’ Me: The Transporter’s Favour will be out in October—and I am hoping to release a three-book compilation of the first three novels later this month. In the meantime, here is the cover for Mack ‘n’ Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9.

I've completely forgotten to celebrate two of the new covers I designed last week. This one was for the fantasy novel I resumed work on, The Dockmaster . At first, it was going to be a stand-alone, and then, as I got back into it, I realised it was meant to be a series— The Dockmasters of Kerevesh . It’s back on the shelf, momentarily, while I clear the decks a bit more so I can do a proper outline for it.  

Also, good news! Today sees the release of my latest short story, The Songster & the Pirates. You can find it at: Amazon , Kobo , Smashwords , DriveThruFiction, and via links on Books2Read , as well as Smashwords , Kobo and Draft2Digital distribution. If you like to mix your mythological creatures with your space opera, then you might like this story, too. Once a space merc, now a singer, Taran keeps her identity as a siren secret. When spacewolves join the audience at her current gig, she knows what they’re looking for. The only question is can she slip away, before the wolves and her past can catch up with her? And can she kick herself free, if they do?