CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

This is the third… fourth?... thing I want to do with this blog. I know I’ve done this before, but, this year, I want to have a piece up every Friday. This year, these pieces will be taken from one of my two published flash fiction collections— 365 Days of Flash Fiction , 366 Days of Flash Fiction —and from the upcoming collection, Another 365 Days of Flash Fiction . All these collections are of genre-based pieces of fiction, ranging between 100 and 1,000 words. Today’s piece is the January 25th entry in 365 Days of Flash Fiction . It was inspired by one of Chuck Wendig’s Terribleminds Flash Fiction Challenge s, way back in 2014. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Man from the Juniper Tree Cassidy stared at the gleeful smile on the Burman’s face, tried to lift a hand and break the connection between his head and the mainframe. Failed. He looked to Marlena for help, but the girl stood silent, tears streaming down her face. Her ...

This week’s verse shifts away from the undead to another staple of urban fantasy—the fey. It is taken from Another 365 Days of Poetry , a collection of mixed-genre poetry to be released later in the year, once both collection and cover are complete. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nemesis Fey It lives upon the summer high. It survives the winter low. It comes pouncing out in darkest night. It wakes to hunt as darkness grows. Its wings, they glimmer silver, its body gossamer grey. Its eyes, they glow like mirrors, our nemesis, the fey. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can find the first two poetry collections at the links below - although there are plans to reissue them with more genre-appropriate covers in the future. The third collection will be released later in the year. books2read.com/u/mVLQZb books2read.com/u/bxgyLd

This week’s short story takes us from a far-flung future of VR battle arenas , to a post-apocalyptic Earth, where magic has returned and elves and trolls are real. Welcome to A Legacy of Elves. We had to find refuge from the trolls before sunset, but a chapel in the woods? With hot, running water? It had to be a trap—even if the pixies and the unicorns didn’t think so. But the pixies needed help, so we stuck around—and now we have to deal with the trolls… A Legacy of Elves was available free for a week, but you can still find it for sale at the following links: https://www.books2read.com/u/brzGZb You can also find Kristine Kathryn Rusch's latest free short story over on her blog: kriswrites.com . Why don't you go and check it out?