CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

This week’s verse moves from  an urban fantasy verse about trolls and fairies to a science fiction poem about rescuing survivors from a crashed starship. It is taken from 366 Days of Poetry , a collection of mixed-genre poetry released in 2016. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------   The Brastineek Survivors Through the skies with engines racing, came the cruiser, cannons blazing, firing even as it died, falling, starlike, through burning skies. Dying like an ember flaring, flaring brighter than the sunset’s glow, falling like a star from Heaven, fighting even as it dies, with only us to see it falling, only us to hear it cry, watching as it passes by. We watched its back trail, barely breathing, hoping none would chase it down, and, in relief, we watched it, breathing as we saw it barely level out. Knowing there would be survivors, hoping we could reach them soon,...

This week’s short story takes us from a science fiction crime-fighting adventure to banshees in space. Welcome to Screams for the Dying . People die, when I scream. They were going to die anyway, and their deaths cannot be averted. It makes me afraid to make friends. It makes me happy to work alone. even when I’m part of a team. We are the elite, bounty hunters and protectors, on permanent assignment. And there are times when I get to save a life, and prevent a death, instead of just announcing tragedy. For the child’s sake, I hope this is one of them. Screams for the Dying is available as a stand-alone short story at the following links: https://www.amazon.com/Screams-Dying-C-M-Simpson-ebook/dp/B009C048XO/ . 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, Simone told Tiger she was going home. This week, Tiger says he's looking forward to seeing her, again, but he's in the middle of a secret move. Chapter 12 Excerpt – Secrets Hi Simone, I am so glad you are coming home. I’ve been wanting to see you for what seems forever. I’m glad you’re coming back. Believe it or not, but I haven’t had any more time to look into the FedExplore records. That’s because there’s another project that’s come up that has even higher priority. I know, right? How can anything be more important than what I was doing? Well, this new project is, and I wish I could tell you about it, but I can’t. As soon as I’m allowed to, I will. Maybe when we meet… I’m sorry, but right now we’re getting to move the lab, and I don’t have a lot of time. We need to have everything ready for the next ship out. I really hope they put you in the same complex as me. It won’t be Moon Base 49, but it should be an orbital. -----------...

This week’s verse moves from a speculative fantasy verse about the coming of trolls and knights to an unsuspecting world, to an urban fantasy verse about someone's first encounter with a fairy and a troll. It is taken from Another 365 Days of Poetry , a collection of mixed-genre poetry released in 2019. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Lesson Learned The fairy shimmered in the pond, as it flew from tree to tree. The fairy shimmered in the pond, but it would not fly to me. I looked up to watch it pass, caught the briefest shine of fairy dust, but when I looked into the pond, it had passed and I could not see. I was sure I’d seen a fairy pass, in the still depths of the pond. In truth it passed me well above, the lily pads and long fern fronds. In truth it passed me well above, but it faded from the eye, so only in the pond’s still depths could I watch the fair...

This week’s short story takes us from the urban fantasy world of pixie dust smugglers and policing t o a science fiction crime-fighting adventure. Welcome to Rogue Retrieval . 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… Rogue Retrieval is available as a stand-alone novella-length short story at the following links: books2read.com/u/3RVnPG . 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 revealed he'd lost contact with Simone, but had found out more about the mutagen she'd been infected with. This week, Simone tells him she's finally allowed to go home, but that she still feels like there's something strange going on... as if Odyssey isn't telling her everything. Chapter 11 Excerpt – Going Home Hey Tiges, Sorry about the silence. I didn’t realise it had been so long. Haskell is teaching me how to control the beast inside my head. He’s Delight’s hunter. He says my beast sounds a bit different to his, but that every hunter has one, and that we each see the beast differently. He even says there have been hunters whose beasts have taken their bodies hunting without their brain’s permission. Sound familiar? Except that my hunter takes my brain along with it, when it gets hold of my body. Not my definition of fun, by the way. Anyway, part of what he’s been teaching me is that hunters can’t just snuggle ...