CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

  As Carlie Simonsen, I originally wrote this piece for the Dark Side Down Under website, six months ago, and we’ve asked her to repeat it here. Carlie writes mostly speculative and paranormal fiction for Younger readers, and very rarely hint at romance. She also writes science fiction ( Dear Tiger , Rocky to the Rescue ), fantasy ( Assassin, Not ), contemporary ‘reality’ with a twist ( Long Hair , Tag Man One , The Dog’s Way ), science-fiction-fantasy blends ( Spit ), and contemporary reality with no twist ( Legacy of Dreams , All Alone ) . So, p eople ask me why I write for a younger audience, and what they need to do in order to write successfully for that age group. Over the years, I’ve come up with the following tips, or rules: The first rule is DON’T WRITE DOWN: No one likes being talked down to, or having it all explained as if they are too stupid to work it out for themselves. Just write the story. Write to entertain. Youngers are *young*; they’re not morons, ...

Spit is the first book in the On Patrol series by Carlie Simonsen. Spit is following a group of Sneakers to see how they are getting into the Border Patrol supply depots, when he is captured—but not by Sneakers. Another group, one that has snake people and lizard centaurs working within its ranks has taken him captive. The question is: Are they friend or foe? Spit has no idea, but when they come across a base under attack from a large group of Sneakers, he has to find out. Spit is the first book in the On Patrol series. Set in the near future, in a world on the edge of war, the series follows Spit and his people in their efforts to protect their homes and loved ones. Spit is currently available on Smashwords , and will soon be available on Amazon Kindle , Create Space, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes . Spit First Chapter : Sneakers Spit watched the Sneakers through the swaying leaves. They all wore black. They all walked without making a sound. He watched as they walk...

E-book cover for Spit Spit is following a group of Sneakers to see how they are getting into the Border Patrol supply depots, when he is captured—but not by Sneakers. Another group, one that has snake people and lizard centaurs working within its ranks has taken him captive. The question is: Are they friend or foe? Spit has no idea, but when they come across a base under attack from a large group of Sneakers, he has to find out. Spit is the first book in the On Patrol series. Set in the near future, in a world on the edge of war, the series follows Spit and his people in their efforts to protect their homes and loved ones. Spit is currently available on Smashwords , Amazon Kindle, Create Space, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes . The cover for the print-on -demand version is slightly different: Print-on Demand Cover for Spit

Not as much completed this week as I would have liked, but understandably so, with sickness and a death in the family. Overview New words produced: 1,868 Old words revised: 5,735 Works completed: 0 Covers created: 1 (2 variations) Works published: 1 (3 release platforms) Tier 3 Tasks ChapBook6A— Spit : edited, formatted, created cover, and uploaded. This project was completed 56 days ahead of schedule Publishing Tasks The following publishing tasks were completed this week: Expanded the distribution on one CreateSpace title; Purchased photography and created the cover for Spit ; Formatted Spit for CreateSpace PoD, Amazon Kindle and Smashwords; Released Spit via the CreateSpace store, Amazon Kindle and Smashwords; Updated Facebook with life event for Spit ; Updated Pinterest with covers for Spit ; Added 4 blog entries to this blog; Added 3 blog entries to the C.M. Simpson Publishing blog; Updated the Carlie Simonsen page on this blog; Updated ...