CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

This week’s short story takes us from a s cience fiction tale of a crashed colony and its salvation to an urban fantasy world of pixie-dust and policing . Welcome to Road Trip . When Melange feels the pull of utter dread emanating from a road train parked at a rest stop near her home, she investigates. She had no intention of being trapped in the cab on the driver’s unexpected return, nor of being stuck in the truck when he is murdered during the first delivery. But she can’t stay there. She’s discovered the prisoners that were the source of the dread, and the trolls are coming to take them away. With time running short, she must find a way to avoid capture, and summon help, and that means getting past the troll and humans standing guard. Road Trip is available as a stand-alone short story at the following links: books2read.com/u/31g1Mw . You can also find Kristine Kathryn Rusch's latest free short story over on her blog: kriswrites.com . Why don't you go a...

This week’s short story takes us from another of Mack and Cutter’s science fiction escapade s to a more ghostly fantasy, with a queen facing a tough decision. Welcome to Destiny’s Queen. Life’s not fair, when you have to find a fiancé or risk setting your kingdom up for a fall. It’s not fair, when your dead lover comes to call, assassins in his wake, and your dead maid by his side. And it’s really not fair, when everything happens on the night of your suitors’ ball. It never rains but it pours. I am a queen by blood and right, and not some random happenstance—yet who am I to argue when Destiny comes to call? Destiny’s Queen is available as a stand-alone short story at the following links: books2read.com/u/31xkY6 . 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?

Last week we had a a piece of science fiction set in the oceans of our home world. This week, it’s an urban fantasy look at the war on drugs, and the illicit trade in fantasy creatures from the February 22nd entry in 365 Days of Flash Fiction . ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Pixies Dance the Storm Dance The pixies danced in the stormlight. They danced with steps that shook with anger, making the leaves tremble and curl at their passing. They danced until their passage burnt a circle in the grass, and then they stopped and raised their hands to the sky. The dust runners didn’t stand a chance, but at least the local chieftain thought enough of me to warn the strike force away from the warehouse. We couldn’t stop them, but we could bear witness. What the dust runners had done to the rest of their clan, deserved something of what they wreaked, and the pixies could not let the remnants of those unicorns run through the city u...

This week’s short story takes us from a colonial world where the colonists are coming to grip with the wildlife to a camp set on a planet far, far away. Welcome to Banquet at Magic Mountain. I hate camp. Every year yada yada yada. The only bright point is Luka, the Wild Man of Camp Mellinjo, an orphan and a stray grown up. When he bolts out of camp with the cook on his tail, I take off to see if I can save him, yet again—and that’s when I discover Camp Mellinjo isn’t what it seems, and neither is Luka. But seriously, guys, would my parents really sell me out? Banquet at Magic Mountain is available as a stand-alone short story at the following links: books2read.com/u/mV7Xqr .

This week’s short story takes us from a a post-apocalyptic Earth, where magic has returned and elvesand trolls are real to what a contemporary Earth might look like with that same return of magic. Welcome to A Matter of Justice ; it starts with a plane crash . When the plane carrying P.O.S. Officer Schaeffer goes down, it’s no accident. She and her partner lose the prisoner they’re escorting to trial, and the local elves nearly lose their lives protecting the unicorns and a grove of dryads. With the aircraft and its passengers on the ground, Schaeffer has to secure her prisoner before the woman can create any more mischief—and with dusk closing, the local unicorns seeking vengeance, and the trolls beginning to stir it’s not going to be easy. A Matter of Justice is available as a stand-alone short story at the following links: books2read.com/u/mdKeJR

This week’s short story takes us from a far-flung future of VR battle arenas , to a post-apocalyptic Earth, where magic has returned and elves and trolls are real. Welcome to A Legacy of Elves. We had to find refuge from the trolls before sunset, but a chapel in the woods? With hot, running water? It had to be a trap—even if the pixies and the unicorns didn’t think so. But the pixies needed help, so we stuck around—and now we have to deal with the trolls… A Legacy of Elves was available free for a week, but you can still find it for sale at the following links: https://www.books2read.com/u/brzGZb 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?