CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

With the rewrite for Dark God's Rise completed - just yesterday, I started on the third book for this trilogy, Dark God's Demise . Words for the day: 8,027. Last words for the day, below. Dark God's Demise (words ending Day 1): The intruder slipped a second blade from somewhere in the suit she wore. She threw it, putting the barbarian off his stroke, as he stepped sideways to avoid its flight, and followed her advantage with a lunge that left her exposed to Grunwol’s off-hand blade. He struck, trying to make it count. His opponent’s build was slight. One truly good hit would put her out of the fight. He heard his blade crunch against bone as the woman gasped. Her eyes flashed wide for a moment, then they narrowed. She barely flinched as he pulled the blade free, and then she laughed, watching as the Northman stepped back, raising his sword for a second strike. Her voice rang high and free, bouncing off the portico’s walls, and giving Grunwol reason to pause. Withi...

The stand-alone edition of the novelette, Jalaya , released on January 7, 2024, and is now available for purchase. It can be found individually at any of the platforms on this Books2Read link , and it can be found as one of the stories in: A Collection of Battle and its Aftermath. For those of you wondering what it's all about. Well... The Short Version: It's about family, duty, love and war, and the perils of past secrets. The Longer Version: It's about: A yearly tradition. A dance not forgotten. A planet torn by a long-running war. Hunted by an implacable foe, and driven into the ruins of a town he once called home, Mark Leader, Michael, must try to save his people against savage odds. And try, too, to save the woman he loves. Will the secrets of their past save or doom their future? How It Begins: Michael looked down at the town in the sand. Red, flat roofs of clay interspersed by the elegant, wooden gables of buildings from northern climes, still stood in ...