CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

This week’s verse moves from a fantasy poem about loss and revenge to a fantasy poem about a ghostly queen. It is taken from 366 Days of Poetry , a collection of mixed-genre poetry released in 2018. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------   In All Her Finery, the Queen In all her finery, the queen floats above the marbled floor, floats above the blood that stains in a slowly spreading flood. In all her finery, the queen lies in dishevelled disarray, her trust betrayed, violated, murdered on her wedding day. In all her finery, the queen floats above the marbled floor, takes herself through the thrice-barred door, into the hallway to her rooms. In all her finery, the queen lies in dishevelled disarray, her gown and petticoats sliced and torn by the beast that took her husband’s place. In all her finery, the queen floats along deserted hal...

This week’s short story takes us from the science fiction novella of love and duty on a planet at war to the magically real urban fantasy tale of farming, family, inheritance and flying pigs. Welcome to Pigs Might Fly. All her life Lily has prepared herself for taking over the family farm. The property talks to her, the animals and plants thrive under her care, and even the old tractor bends to her will. Her brothers have other careers planned, and help Lily position herself to take over when they are gone, but her father has other ideas. He wants to pass the farm on to one of his sons. He says pigs might fly before a girl would be any good at running a farm. How is Lily going to convince him that farming is the only thing she has ever wanted to do, and that she is the best of his offspring to take over when he is gone? And what do her dreams and hopes have to do with flying pigs? Pigs Might Fly is available as a stand-alone short story at the following links: ...

LAST WEEK, Simone said she had a bad dream about hunting Tiger down. This week, Tiger reveals it was more real than either of them wanted it to be. Chapter 6 Excerpt – Gone Stars above! That really was you? That presence in my head. You scared the sh… daylights out of me. I’ve never been so frightened in my entire life. One minute, I was sleeping, and the next thing my whole body was afraid. I opened my eyes, and there was nothing in my room. And I was terrified. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The complete series is available as short, individual ebooks, and will become available as an omnibus, later this year. In the meantime, you can find them on this blog, until one week after the last chapter in the last book of the series has been posted, at which point this series will be taken down, and a new series serialised on site. books2read.com/u/4Awrze b...

This week’s verse moves from a science fiction piece about how stories can hold the secrets to the future, to a fantasy verse about lost love and revenge. It is taken from 366 Days of Poetry , a collection of mixed-genre poetry released in 2016. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------   My Heart Lies in Pieces My heart lies in pieces, shards and dust on the floor, shattered, not broken, can’t be whole anymore. I will pick up the shards, though my fingers will bleed. The dust blows away, now, and can’t be retrieved. Why are you crying? ’T is not your heart that’s broke, not your heart’s been shattered, not your vengeance bespoke. ’T is not your tears have dried, nor your fingers have bled, not your blade will stain the forest deeps red. Stow all your tears, now. Stow away all your wails. We leave in the hour, while we can follow ...

This week’s short story takes us from the slightly humourous sci-fantasy mix that is the spaceship Mythicus to the not-so-humourous tale of bloodlines and heritage in a science-fiction setting. Welcome to Palmyra Ridge . When the company Chani works for moves to take her people's lands, she must work to save them, but when Security Officer Asleyan steps in, she must work to get him on-side. Can two people from two very different cultures work together to save a nation, while retaining their own sense of self and sanity? Palmyra Ridge is available as a stand-alone short story at the following links: https://www.amazon.com/Palmyra-Ridge-C-M-Simpson-ebook/dp/B00928CGPI/ . 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, Tiger said he would love Simone no matter what. This week, Simone reveals she's had a terrible nightmare in which she and her beast-self enjoyed hunting Tiger down. Chapter 5 Excerpt – What's Wrong With Me? Tiger! I’m so sorry, so very, very sorry. I didn’t mean to invade your mind like that! I didn’t know it was real, until the guys monitoring me zapped me awake—and I do mean zapped. They hit me with a taser from the front door—and then they bolted. That was probably the best thing they could have done, because I don’t think human-me was awake when I got to the door. Just beast-me. And she was really, really mad. I mean, you know I’ve never woken up well, but beast-me makes the old me seem like a waking angel. She really does. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The complete series is available as short, individual ebooks, and will become available as an omnibus, later this yea...