CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

This week’s short story takes us from a science fiction tale of a ship's crash and its survivors to an urban fantasy exploration where vampires aren't what we expect. Welcome to Nurse . The night shift is full of darkness, and vampires come in many forms. Why not this one? Nurse is available as a stand-alone short story at the following links: https://www.amazon.com/Nurse-C-M-Simpson-ebook/dp/B008EESH2W/ . 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?

Just a quick note to say that the science fiction short story The Starman's Arrival is now released in ebook form. It will come out, mid- to late- next year, in paperback, as part of the collected short works anthology for this year. In the meantime, it can be found at Smashwords , Amazon, DriveThruFiction, and via Draft2Digital distribution. Knocking over those crates of beer was a death sentence. I did it on purpose, in front of everyone, and then I did the only thing I could—I ran. I think I saved the starman. Now, the only way I’ll know, is if the supply ship comes in time to drive the raiders away—and I get back out of Blacklegs’ Forest alive. Wish me luck, okay? I’m gonna need it.

Over on the art blog, I talk about how I used GIMP to turn a perfectly normal orb weaver photograph into the spider you see on Melerom Leads the Dance . From this photograph: to the little guy you see in the top left corner: Check it out, if you're interested in how this stuff works.

With the demise of Google Reader, these are a lot fewer and further between. I don't have a lot of net-cruising time so I rely on my Facebook feed, some of the Yahoo groups I subscribe to, and chance. This month, these are the blog posts that made me stop and read all the way to the bottom: http://stornart.com/2013/09/action/ : Artwork and talk from fantasy artist Storn Cook. http://kriswrites.com/2013/09/11/the-business-rusch-story-demands/ : Kristine Kathryn Rusch on publishing constraints and freedoms in storytelling http://kriswrites.com/2013/09/04/the-business-rusch-we-dont-know-what-we-dont-know/ : more on publishing by Kristine Kathryn Rusch http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/09/10/25-steps-to-edit-the-unmerciful-suck-out-of-your-story/ : an irreverent, but very useful look at editing by Chuck Wendig over at terribleminds http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/09/09/why-i-like-the-term-author-publisher/ : on terminology http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/09/06/got-...

When an Arach raiding party attacks a wagon train and moves on to take on the next town, Dannon is part of the out-riders who must clean up in their wake. The dead girl on the wagon is just one of many reasons he doesn’t like spiders, or the elves that ride them. The Soul in the Sword is a short tale of fantasy battle, which will be incorporated into An Anthology of Blades . It is available as a stand-alone story from Smashwords , and will soon be available from Kobo, Kindle, iTunes, and Nook. First Page: The Soul in the Sword The spider reared, raking down with its forelegs. Allun threw himself sideways, dodging the blade-like spines of one leg and blocking the other leg’s cutting edge with his sword. The spider lunged after him, wicked fangs flashing, their points gleaming dully in the dawn-light. Allun rolled from beneath them, turning to face the beast and its rider again. The spider’s rider raised his lance and sliced at the man below him. Allun tried to...

The second of this week's new releases is another short story to do with magic swords, although this blade is a little different from the last. When an Arach raiding party attacks a wagon train and moves on to take on the next town, Dannon is part of the out-riders who must clean up in their wake. The dead girl on the wagon is just one of many reasons he doesn’t like spiders, or the elves that ride them. The Soul in the Sword is a short tale of fantasy battle, which will be incorporated into An Anthology of Blades . It is available as a stand-alone story from Smashwords , and will soon be available from Kobo, Kindle, iTunes, and Nook.

Here is the cover for my latest short story. This one's a dark fantasy that will one day grow into a novel. When an Arach raiding party attacks a wagon train and moves on to take on the next town, Dannon is part of the out-riders who must clean up in their wake. The dead girl on the wagon is just one of many reasons he doesn’t like spiders, or the elves that ride them. The Soul in the Sword is a short tale of fantasy battle, which will be incorporated into An Anthology of Blades . It will soon be available as a stand-alone story from Smashwords, Kobo, Kindle, DriveThruFiction, iTunes, and Nook.

Nurse has been released on Amazon and Smashwords. This short story is the fourth story in An Anthology of Those Who Walk Among Us . It is a horror story in a contemporary urban setting, and features a secretive species of vampire and its newest recruit. Nurse is approximately 2,540 words in length.   can be found in An Anthology of Those Who Walk Among Us will be released in late July 2012.