CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

This week’s short story takes us from a light urban fantasy where dragons can be found around us to a fantasy setting where dragons and duels are mixed. Welcome to The Duel . In a world where dragons walk and legends stalk, it’s best to mind your manners and choose your drinking partners with care, even if you are in line to rule your father’s lands. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Duel is available as a stand-alone short story at the following links: https://www.amazon.com/Duel-C-M-Simpson-ebook/dp/B0082SMFZU/ . 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?

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...

‘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.

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

An Anthology of Dragons has now been uploaded to Amazon Kindle and is awaiting release.