CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

So many collections! This one is my second mixed-genre poetry collection, with work ranging from science fiction to fantasy to horror to social comment to pure speculation...and this is the cover Jake from J Caleb Design created for it. You can find more of Jake's work at J Caleb Design .  And you link to where 366 Days of Poetry is sold at Books2Read .

 Some of you might be familiar with my short work - and some of you may not, but I've been gathering my short stories, poems and flash into themed collections, and slowly getting them ready for release. The first of these will be A Collection of Dragons , which will be released later in the year. It's complete and is queued for a final edit and formatting. In the meantime, its cover has arrived, this one designed by Jake at JCaleb Design.  

 Other events that slipped past me in the last week include the arrival of the new cover for 365 Days of Poetry , from Jake at J Caleb Design . This edition is scheduled for release toward the middle of next year. Here's the cover in the meantime:  

Hey all, I've been a bit (like close to twelve months) slack on writerly updates. I'll try to get back to doing those by mid- to late-November. I've got a bit on until then. So, NEWS: 1. I completed, Trading into Daylight , the sixth book in The Magic Below Paris series, and turned it in to the editor late yesterday afternoon, or early yesterday evening. The last ten thousand words are always the hardest. 2. I started the seventh book in The Magic Below Paris series, later yesterday evening and laid down the first thousand words. 3. THE COVER FOR TRADING INTO DAYLIGHT ARRIVED TODAY!!!! It's another cover by Mihaela Voicu Digital Art and I LOVE it! Here it is: One of their own has been taken. Two have gone ahead in pursuit. Can Marsh and Roeglin catch them before they are lost as well? A team member taken. Two stubborn children in hot pursuit. And promises to keep. Finally released from their obligations to the Grotto, Marsh and Roegl...

I'll be releasing this shortly... as in 'hopefully today', but, since I have other news coming down the pipe, I figured I'd give you a quick at the cover I created this morning. This is my new cover, for my about-to-be-released science-fiction novella Rogue Retrieval , the latest release in the Mack 'n' Me 'n' Odyssey series . I was doing okay, right up until Mack arrived, with Delight and Pritchard in tow. Retrieved for a rescue mission, I was in more trouble than I knew, and, as if that wasn’t enough, Mack had an agenda of his own. Well, of course, he did…

Today, I finished a new short story for the Lunar Wolves and Odyssey universe. I started it in November, but only completed it, today, so I decided the cover should be created, too. It’ll go up for release in the next couple of days. The excellent artwork is from PhilCold at Dreamstime . I only had to add the words and choose how much to show.   Captured by the space wolves and held aboard their battle cruiser, Miguel doesn’t think things could get worse—and then he discovers he’s sharing his cell with the two psychopaths he’s been trying to avoid. Dragged into their next deadly scheme, he faces two choices—do what they want and live as their captive, or save Earth and die horribly as a result. Either way, he loses. Just how much he loses is up to him.

This is the second of the two new covers I designed last week—and forgot to talk about. It’s for Mack ‘n’ Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9 , the fifth book in the Mack ‘n’ Me series. It looks like I’ll be completing that on time, which is before the end of the month, which means it will have a November release. Book 4, Mack ‘n’ Me: The Transporter’s Favour will be out in October—and I am hoping to release a three-book compilation of the first three novels later this month. In the meantime, here is the cover for Mack ‘n’ Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9.

I've completely forgotten to celebrate two of the new covers I designed last week. This one was for the fantasy novel I resumed work on, The Dockmaster . At first, it was going to be a stand-alone, and then, as I got back into it, I realised it was meant to be a series— The Dockmasters of Kerevesh . It’s back on the shelf, momentarily, while I clear the decks a bit more so I can do a proper outline for it.  

The first cover for the month, completed yesterday, is for this month’s release, The Songster & the Pirates . You would not believe just how hard it is to find winged women not looking like they’re designed for an erotica cover! Artists – wish list: winged women turned so they can be positioned looking out at something in the background, and looking tough and determined, not like sex kittens. I can’t be the only author or cover designer looking for that kind of thing. I purchase mainly from Dreamstime, too, for the curious. The pieces that went into this cover were purchased from Dreamstime and consist of: planets and asteroids art by Sdecoret , spaceship art by Junichi Shimazaki , and an angel photographed by IrinaKharchenko . Once a space merc, now a singer, Taran keeps her identity as a siren secret. When spacewolves join the audience at her current gig, she knows what they’re looking for. The only question is can she slip away, before the wolves and her past can...

I have—finally!—completed the new cover for Shadow’s Rise . The black knight art by Dusan Kostic and the black face photography by Raisa Kanareva , and whirlwind photography by Mikeexpert , are all purchased from Dreamstime, and were manipulated and compiled in GIMP , and I think this cover speaks to the story a lot better than the last one, and maybe even manages to convey the genre better. We’ll see. When the gods discover an ancient power has suborned a king, and now menaces their domains, they must find agents to act on their behalf. Will a goddess’s temper over losing a favorite to the cause stand in their way? Or the capture of one of their chosen mean the attempt is doomed to fail before it has begun? The current, unmodified version of this book, Shadow’s Rise , and the other two titles in the Shadow trilogy : Shadow Trap and Shadow’s Fall , are currently available for individual purchase, but will all be undergoing the update process over the next couple o...

When I started this gig, I didn’t have a budget. Things are a little better, now, but still not up to the point where I can hire a cover artist for four covers a month. I’m getting there, but it isn’t, now. However, I have improved my skills in creating my own covers, and some of my earlier stories deserve better. You’ll see more cover upgrades as the year progresses, and I expand out to other sales platforms, but this is the first—for a story that won my heart a second time: Jalaya. Jalaya will be re-released this week, and I’ll announce it here. In the meantime, I hope you like the new cover as much as I do. 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 Michael and th...

I'm a little snowed under, right now, but I thought I'd drop in and show you the new cover I designed for August's short story release. I haven't had any time for new words in the last couple of days as I've been deep in the editing and formatting weeds, preparing Mack 'n' Me: The Transporter's Favour and River's Edge for release. Mack 'n' Me: The Transporter's Favour is now edited and formatted, but will go through an additional beta reading step before being released, so it will be a little delayed, but is coming soon, and River's Edge is edited and formatted, and also waiting beta reading, but looks good for its scheduled release date in early August. The rest of the week will be focused on preparing all bar the last short story for the year, and starting the fourth book in the Mack 'n' Me 'n' Odyssey series. And here's the cover, featuring artwork and photographs sourced from the Dreamstime artists:...