CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

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 ...

This week’s verse moves from a fantasy poem about trolls and dragons, to a poem about Christmas wishes. It is taken from 365 Days of Poetry , a collection of mixed-genre poetry released in 2014. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Christmas Wishes Christmas is that time of year when many draw their families near, and some with family afar wish them well by sun and star, ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can find the first two poetry collections at the links below - although there are plans to reissue them with more genre-appropriate covers in the future. The third collection will be released later in the year. books2read.com/u/mVLQZb books2read.com/u/bxgyLd

This week’s short story takes us from one woman's search for a war hero on a distant war-torn world to a science fiction tale of love and family against the backdrop of a long-fought war. Welcome to Jalaya .   Separated by duty, and reunited by the same Michael has helped the villagers survive the invasion for ten years. This year, he cannot. Cut off from escape, their only hope of salvation is to return to the village, and pray. Returning to the village means returning to his fiancé, forced by a secret family tradition to remain, when duty called him to leave. But reunions will have to wait. First they have to bring their people home. Jalaya is available as a stand-alone, novella-length short story at the following links: https://www.amazon.com/Jalaya-CM-Simpson-ebook/dp/B0084RX4FO/ . 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?

Troll-Mist Morning is the story of a teen who goes the extra mile so his mum can feel safe. Early morning starts, and standing around in the mist in the middle of winter, however, are one thing; trolls are another. When magic returns to the world and the trolls come, too, how is Daniel going to get his mum to see sense? Troll-Mist Morning is the first book in the series exploring what happens When Worlds Collide . When Daniel’s mum wakes him at five-thirty in the morning, he knows it’s so she can go and take photographs. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times he points out that most photographers take their early morning shots in perfect safety, his mum just can’t feel safe—so Daniel goes with her, even when its early and cold and the mist hasn’t cleared. Especially when the mist hasn’t cleared. Muggers, Daniel can handle, but what on Earth is he going to do about trolls? Troll-Mist Morning is about family, and caring for even the crazy members. It’s about a young per...