CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Four weeks ago , I set a couple of goals: write 4k/day, improve my outlining, and catch up with my publishing schedule, or something like that. Results: 4k was successfully written, every day, and all on the one project - M3 is now over half-way complete at 47,215 words. My outlining improved, and I now have a 'fullish' idea of what is going to happen next, as well as a skeletal, dot-point run to the end of the novel. I published my next two releases, both short works and both with enough time to spare to go onto a pre-release schedule with Amazon and Smashwords, and I started the editing process on M2, which is a full 91k novel due out in a fortnight - what can I say? I hurt my back and fell behind. The long-term goal is to take some of that pressure off by working to being pre-released 3 months in advance, but sshhh, that's one of those behind-the-scenes things I work towards, even if it takes a long time to get there. What did I learn? That outlines help - ...

Mack ‘n’ Me: Origins , the first novel in my science-fiction series, Mack ‘n’ Me ‘n’ Odyssey , released today on Smashwords , and will soon be available on Amazon, DriveThruFiction, and via Smashwords and Draft2Digital distribution. I ran away from home to find a better life—not be forced into one. You can call me picky, but a girl likes to be asked if she wants to work for you, not coerced—and Odyssey should know better. Now, I have to find a way to kick free—of Odyssey, and my trainer, Mack—without getting myself killed. Surviving the mission is just the first step. Getting out from under, that’s gonna take some doing.

Dreams of the Serpent , a short science-fiction story about alien contact and negotiation, released today on Smashwords, and will soon be available on Amazon, DriveThruFiction, and via Smashwords and Draft2Digital distribution. When the contract’s done, and you’re fleeing for your life, the company’s supposed to be on your side, right? Am I right? So, you tell me what happens when the company understands the contract wrong, and you get stuck somewhere you really don’t wanta be. You tell me how I’m gonna make it back to the stars. A short science fiction story set in the Odyssey universe.

Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab , the fourth story in the Letters Across Space series, released today on Smashwords , and will soon be available on Amazon, DriveThruFiction, and via Smashwords and Draft2Digital distribution. Finally located in the same complex, Tiger and Simone are separated again, as Simone begins to mutate—and it isn’t pretty. Tiger says he’ll talk her through it, but will he be there when she finally emerges? There are some things no friendship can survive. Could the hunter fever be one of them?

Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back , the third story in the Letters Across Space series, released today on Smashwords , and will soon be available on Amazon, DriveThruFiction, and via Smashwords and Draft2Digital distribution. Simone escaping FedExplore was only the first step. Now, Tiger has to do the same. Simone says Odyssey can help, but Tiger is already on the run. Catching up with him and getting him to safety might be harder than it looks. Can he give FedExplore the slip, or will its bounty hunters bag him first? And what about the aliens that killed his parents? Are they really following him? Or is it just coincidence? Once again, a trail of email tells the story as Simone and Tiger try to reach each other against all odds.

My short story, Memory’s Vampire , released today. Not all vampires feed on blood. The ones we hunt take your memories before they take your life—and now they are hunting back. We’ve been compromised, and I don’t know who to trust. That comes later. Right now, I just want to make it back to my body alive.