CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Last one for the day! Santa's workshop is a mess. It started out a mess, but it is less of a mess than before.

Tamrain continues her adventures in the Alakh'ir.  

Clear's adventures continue. Will she level in time to take part in the Starlight Celebration?

It's summer. It's hot. And it's time for a trip to the deep mines for some resources. Well, it's one way to get out of the sun.

Some days our plans just go a little bit sideways - even at Santa's workshop...even if you're an elf.

Every year, I've wanted to showcase the seasonal celebrations different games put on...and every year, I've been too busy. This year, although I am running late, I am making a little time to share them. I hope you enjoy.

The first words for today are taken from the current work in progress: A Planet's Debt , the fourth book in the Ransomeer's series. Here you go: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I let my gaze wander around the cave, taking in the myriad formations, both crystalline and not, and noting the vines straggling down from a hole in the ceiling. The sight made me shiver, and I wondered how large the hole was, because the drop was something I wouldn’t want to take. And I’d taken my share. God only knew how I hadn’t broken an ankle. “Penny for them?” Mitch asked, and I blinked. “You know,” I told him, “The usual.” He gave a soft snort. “So, basically, you want to make it to the coast, check for signs of the missing colonists, pop another drone so we can monitor it while we’re chasing rogue ships, and thoroughly irritate our handlers about as much as usual.” I grinned at him. “Yup.”...

We make a much-delayed return to Solace, where Ariel Blue builds the beginnings of an airport.

  Today, you'll find my books in 2 sales. The IASFA Space Opera Free & 99c sale ( https://iasfa.org/dec23/ ) is where you can find The Unwilling and download it in return for signing up to their newsletter - along with a myriad of other space odysseys and adventures.   And, if you like what you see there, you can find the rest of that series (and all my other books) discounted by 75% at the Smashwords End of Year Sale, where they are most easily found on my author page ( https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/C.M.Simpson ) - although you should check out the other books on their sale page , too; you never know what you'll find.

As you may already know, I'm a member of the International Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors (IASFA), which supports SFF authors, regardless of where in their career, they're at. And as you also might already know, the IASFA runs a promotion of free or 99c books every month, where they ask for a reader's first name and email address so they can add that reader to their newsletter mailing list. As an additional bonus for signing up to the IASFA newsletter as part of this month's promotion, you’ll get five free books in a variety of SFF genres. You can check it out at https://iasfa.org/free-books This month, we have a tonne of science-fiction titles either discounted to 99c or for Free - and you can check out their authors and see if your next favorite is among them. You can find the promotion her e: https://iasfa.org/dec23 . One of those titles is The Unwilling the first book in my Strays of Lunar One series, but there are more promotions ...

...the good news is that I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. The year has been a bit turbulent, with a lot of Life events, leading, as they do, to Life changes. I have written more work-for-hire than I planned, in order to cover an unexpected employment shift, and my parents have both been very sick in the last few months, although one is now recovering as well as can be expected, and the other is doing okay despite being in palliative care. These events and the time taken to look for a more regular day job, have impacted my own writing, which slowed to a complete stop, even though I've completed four joint projects and am working on a fifth. As well as that, I'm also sure those of you who've been following my YouTube channels have seen the effects of these changes, there, as well. Don't worry; we're working to change that, and you'll see some of those changes this month, one of which will involve this blog, which has been long neglected and will ...