CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

An Anthology of Dragons is DEAL OF THE DAY for TODAY ONLY (or for the next 18 hours from this being posted). You can find it HERE: https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/106000/An-Anthology-of-Dragons An Anthology of Dragons is a dragon-themed collection of short stories and poetry. A collection of haiku describes a battle between a dragon and a knight, and a more modern style of poem describes searching for a dragon in the modern world. The four short stories explore dragons as intelligent shapeshifter, companion and beast.

So, last night I was up late, uploading most of the C.M. Simpson Publishing catalogue to DriveThruFiction, and that all started because of the release of a collection of all the short stories and poems I wrote and released in 2012. All up, it took me around 16 hours. Crazy, hey? So, in addition to checking out the publisher page on DriveThruFiction, feel free to head on over to Smashwords and take a look at the new release. It's priced so that you get the four anthologies and extra material for less than if you purchased them separately. This is a collection of all the short stories C.M. Simpson published and wrote in 2012. Many of these pieces can be found in earlier anthologies or on C.M. Simpson’s blog, but some have not previously been published. Genres range from paranormal urban fantasy to dark fantasy to space opera and comedic science fiction and magic realism. With tales ranging from her earliest years of writing to more recent times, this collection showcases one ...

The Duel is the third short story found in An Anthology of Dragons , and is available as a stand-alone title. A young lord is challenged to a duel while drinking at the local tavern. The consequences of losing are as dire as for any other duel. The Duel is available in An Anthology of Dragons , and is also available as a stand-alone title from Smashwords , Kobo , Kindle , iTunes and Nook. First Pages: The Duel Ollie lifted a handful of foaming tankards as the inn door opened. His brown eyes picked out the expensive cut of the newcomer’s clothing as he raised the tankards in brief greeting, then set them on the bar. “Welcome, stranger,” he called, raising his voice above the friendly row that filled his tavern. He caught sight of a gloved hand raised in answering salute as the newcomer made his way to a vacant table along the wall. The tavern was busy tonight; two caravans, a squad of royal scouts and one of the baron’s patrols newly returned from their scouting, a...

Everything has its Price is the second short story to be found in An Anthology of Dragons . It is also available as a stand-alone short story. When a young squire asks for a place at a merchant caravan's encampment, the price is a story. The tale she tells is one of a blin d bard's encounter with a dragon, but the ending is interrupted by the arrival of the knight she serves. Everything has its Price is available from Smashwords , Kobo , Kindle , Nook and the iTunes bookstores. First Page: Everything has its Price “And what would you offer for a place by our fire?” the merchant-guildsman demanded. I let my eyes travel doubtfully over his portly, dust-covered frame and ignored the knight who had ridden up behind me. “A tale,” I replied. The knight snorted and rode past to make his camp not far from that of the caravan. I caught the gleam of interest that sprang into the guildsman’s eye before he could hide it. “A tale,” he repeated eyeing me with the s...

Dragon Coast is the first short story in An Anthology of Dragons . It is also available as a stand-alone short story. Jessica is out of work and in desperate need of a job, so when fashion company, Dragon Coast, start advertising vacancies, she decides to aim high and then work her way down the list. Will she be good enough to snare the top job, or will she have to settle for something further down the ladder? Will she be able to score a job at all?   Dragon Coast can be found in An Anthology of Dragons , or for sale on its own at Smashwords , Kobo , Kindle , iTunes and Nook. Fi rst Pag e: Dragon Coast Critics described ‘Dragon Coast’ as “a vibrant, young company whose flamboyant style in garment design had already won the minds of the rich and famous”. Jessica saw the description and dismissed it with a snort. Dragon Coast had at least won those minds for now, she’d thought. And if it hadn’t won their minds, someone was paying them an awful lot of money...

An Anthology of Dragons has been made available through CreateSpace's regular distribution channels. An Anthology of Battle will be next :-)        Available                                    Available           NOW                                                                     mid-September  

‘The Dragon in my Shadow’ is my latest experiment in writing short fiction. It didn’t turn out quite how I expected it to, but it’s growing on me. Written specifically for this anthology and completed on the 6 th April 2012, it can best be described as contemporary paranormal with an almost literary twist. It starts like this: All my life, I’ve been ordinary. I’ve done all the ‘right’ things, made all the ‘right’ moves and failed spectacularly to actually achieve anything more than mid-line success. All my life. Nothing has worked. can be found in   An Anthology of Dragons has been uploaded to both Smashwords and Kindle, and is awaiting release.

‘Where be Dragon?’ is one of my first attempts at writing ‘non-rhyming’ poetry with a contemporary paranormal bent. It was written in 2008 as an experiment, and starts like this: Where be dragon? In this world of strait reality scaled, two-wing-ed reptiloid, regal, eyes agleam and scathing, breath a fire-rimmed hurricane, teeth, untouchable as stars. can be found in An Anthology of Dragons has been uploaded to both Smashwords and Kindle, and is awaiting release.

‘Duelling with the Dragon’ is an experiment into writing a fantasy ‘poem’ made up of haiku. It was written in 2004 as part of a poetry workshop. It starts like this: Dragon scales, its falling armour raining leaves .   can be found in   An Anthology of Dragons has been uploaded to both Smashwords and Kindle, and is awaiting release.

‘The Duel’ is my second foray into high fantasy. It was written in 1999 as an act of rebellion against claims you shouldn’t start fantasy stories in an inn. It starts like this: Ollie lifted a handful of foaming tankards as the inn door opened. His brown eyes picked out the expensive cut of the newcomer’s clothing as he raised the tankards in brief greeting, then set them on the bar .   can be found in An Anthology of Dragons has been uploaded to both Smashwords and Kindle, and is awaiting release.

‘Everything has its Price’ is a short piece of high fantasy. It was written way back in 1996 as my first foray into writing short fantasy fiction. It starts like this: “And what would you offer for a place by our fire?” the merchant-guildsman demanded. I let my eyes travel doubtfully over his portly, dust-covered frame and ignored the knight who had ridden up behind me.   can be  found in An Anthology of Dragons has been uploaded to both Smashwords and Kindle, and is awaiting release.

Current Projects RomanceNovel1: Added 2,000 wds. Publishing: An Anthology of Dragons is now available on Smashwords and Amazon. I have also made the individual stories and poems in the anthology available, for those who don’t want to buy all of them in the cheaper anthology. Individually published stories and poems from An Anthology of Dragons are: ·          The Duel, ·          Everything has its Price, ·          Duelling with the Dragon, ·          Dragon Coast, ·          The Dragon in my Shadow, and ·          Where be Dragon? I am currently working on the cover design for Anthology2: An Anthology of Battle , but have completed the cover design, of the individual short stories and poems and the formatting and upload...

‘Dragon Coast’ is a short piece of speculative, near-future paranormal fiction. It was written way back in 1994 for a local library competition. It starts like this: Critics described ‘Dragon Coast’ as “a vibrant, young company whose flamboyant style in garment design had already won the minds of the rich and famous”. Jessica saw the description and dismissed it with a snort.     can be found in    An Anthology of Dragons has been uploaded to both Smashwords and Kindle, and is awaiting release.

Okay, I was going to spam you with a release post for each book, but I decided not to. So... An Anthology of Dragons has been released on both Kindle and in all formats on Smashwords. In addition to the anthology, I have released each individual story and poem so that readers who are only interested in one piece do not need to buy the whole anthology. However, if you're interested in all the pieces, then it is much cheaper to buy them in the anthology than separately. The covers of stories included in an anthology take one picture from the anthology cover to indicate the link, and clearly state that the story or poem has been included in an anthology. Happy reading everyone :-)

After much debate, I have decided to individually release all the work included in An Anthology of Dragons . This will increase my visibility at various sale points, as well as give my readers a choice of buying the anthology at $2.99 or each individual piece at $0.99-$1.49, depending on length. The blurb and the cover of each individual piece will clearly state that it can be found in An Anthology of Dragons , and the blurb will let readers know that it is cheaper to purchase the collected pieces as an anthology than to purchase each story or poem individually. I decided not to do a great variety of covers here, but to use one simple cover-type to tie each piece to the Anthology so that readers can see which stories and poems have been grouped together and where. This is what the individual stories look like when grouped together: And this is what the anthology looks like on its own: I will keep you updated as each individual story is released.

The Dragon in my Shadow has now been uploaded to Amazon Kindle and is awaiting release.

Everything has its Price has now been uploaded to Amazon Kindle and is awaiting release.

The Duel has now been uploaded to Amazon Kindle and is awaiting release.

Dragon Coast has now been uploaded to Amazon Kindle and is awaiting release.

Where be Dragon? has now been uploaded to Amazon Kindle and is awaiting release.