365 Days of Poetry Available in Normal Print

Finally - the format on this little monster is complete. It's also available in large print, but is now available in normal-sized print, too. Both from the CreateSpace store, but soon also from Amazon.

365 Days of Poetry available in Print on Demand

Just a quick note

The large print version of 365 Days of Poetry is now available CreateSpace.

Progress Report: What Our Writers are up to

With the end of the Australian university year, our writers are busy getting back on track. And this is what they’re up to:

Carlie Simonsen:

• is on track to turn in the next chapter book in her Wheelchair series in the next fortnight. Once that draft is in, we’ll get the cover underway.

C.M. Simpson:

• has turned in her next short story, and is about to start the one scheduled after it.
• reports she has selected the images required for the short story cover, and for Ellie Moonwater’s next two releases, and should have those completed and turned in within the next fortnight;
• is currently formatting 365 Days of Flash Fiction for print-on-demand via CreateSpace;
• reports having completed the editing and formatting of Ellie’s next release;
• reports having completed the editing of her next short story.

Eleanor Maine:

• is quietly working on her next Gargoyle novella.

Ellie Moonwater:

• has completed and turned in the rewrite and edits for a novella previously published at another publishing house;
• reports having two other projects near completion.

Madeleine Torr

• is working on the next book in her Pictures of Romance series. We have asked C.M. to rework the covers based on the current concept, to ensure cover continuity without loss of branding.

Half-Price Celebration: 365 Days of Poetry Just Released on Smashwords

Finally! Happy to announce that 365 Days of Poetry has just been released on Smashwords.

TO CELEBRATE

we are discounting it by 50% of its usual cover price until December 15, 2014.

COUPON CODE: SN58W

What's it about?

Well, C.M. had this to say:

Welcome to this gathering of poetry. It comes in a variety of styles and genres, and is arranged in no particular order save that there is one poem for each day. I have played with traditional forms such as the cinquain and englyn, and worked with free-form verse and rhyme. I have written about the world around me, and about worlds that probably don’t exist. I have tried to write poetry from the perspective of someone in the distant future writing about a new world, and I have written poetry with fantasy themes. Welcome to the worlds in my head.

 

Regrets - Release Date for 365 Days of Poetry Delayed

Hi all

Life got a little complicated for our editor and the release date for 365 Days of Poetry, has been delayed by a fortnight. It has been rescheduled for November 15, 2014. We apologise for the delay.

The poems in this collection come in a variety of styles and genres, and arearranged in no particular order. C.M. Simpson says she has played with traditional forms such as the cinquain, and worked with free-form and rhyme. She has written about the world around her, and about worlds that probably don’t exist. She has tried to write poetry from the perspective of someone in the distant future writing about a new world, and she has written poetry with fantasy themes. Come explore the worlds in her head.

Due for release: November 15, 2014.

New Release: 365 Days of Flash Fiction by C.M. Simpson

Science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, speculative fiction and a touch of horror, this collection plays with just about every genre it can lay its hands on. C.M. Simpson explores new worlds, new settings and lets loose some ideas that just needed to be gotten out of her head.

If short stories are your thing, and the shorter the better, then why not try this collection of flash fiction by C.M. Simpson? Released today, U.S. Eastern Standard Time, 365 Days of Flash Fiction has one piece of flash for every day of the next twelve months.

Countdown: 365 Days of Flash Fiction Releases this Week

Science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, speculative fiction and a touch of horror, this collection plays with just about every genre it can lay its hands on. C.M. Simpson explores new worlds, new settings and lets loose some ideas that just needed to be gotten out of her head.

If short stories are your thing—and the shorter the better—you can find tiny tales from a wide variety of genres in 365 Days of Flash Fiction.

Here’s a final taste of the kinds of tales you’ll find:

Troll-Gate Guardian

Written on December 15, 2013, for 365 Days of Flash Fiction, this piece once again explores the Worlds Collide universe, and the trouble with associating with they fey.

“They have a troll.” Llew’ sounded far from pleased.

I marvelled at the lengths the queen’s enemies would go to undermine her authority, but a troll? You would have to be pretty low to do that. Still, they do say that all’s fair in love and war, and the queen had just rejected the hand of a powerful fey lord. An earl or duke or somesuch. He was the fifth in the last month. At this rate, we’d be at war with every petty noble in the fey world. I dreaded to think of what would happen when she got started on the princelings and their fathers.

I drew the bow, eyeballing the troll then adjusting for distance and the light breeze blowing across the culvert. It’s hard to see if the beast is being driven or led, but in the end I don’t care. I’ve fitted the arrow with an explosive head —don’t ask, let’s just say the local constabulary wouldn’t be too happy. The elves have augmented it with magic, so this should be fun.

Aim, allow for lead, fire.

I’m not the only one who gasps as the rejected suitor rides up alongside the troll. If the wizard riding with us hadn’t been such a quick thinker, we’d have had a real war on our hands, instead of this power skirmish. He thrusts out a hand, screaming a one-word spell, and the arrow shatters without touching the intervening lordling.

It surprises the guy’s horse, who shies away from the sharding missile, snorting and jostling the troll alongside. Course, trolls being the bad-tempered critters they are, this one takes offence and knocks the earl from his saddle. The noble steed bolts, getting clear before the troll can strike out again.

I am swearing a blue streak as I nock another arrow and raise the bow. This time no one ruins the shot by getting in between, and the troll goes down—it also goes up like a roman candle and explodes into several steaming chunks. I see movement in the shadows of the bridge and run forward. No way am I going to lose the ex-suitor to a bunch of small-and-shaggies, when I’ve just saved his ass from one of their larger cousins.

He comes round a little later and rolls unsteadily to his knees before the queen, glaring at me all the while.

“My lady, your wizard saved my life,” he says.

I roll my eyes, but his next words are like a slap to the face.

“I demand vengeance.”

I wait, not sure which way this is going to swing; the fey are so unpredictable. The queen is implacable, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

“You owe me a debt.”

“I owe you my life,” he confirms, and I get the feeling some sort of ritual is being enacted before me.

“I cannot accept your suit.”

“I understand, my lady. Forgive me.”

“It was a mistake,” she continues, referring to the whole arrow-and-troll debacle. I notice she doesn’t point out it was his own damn fault.

“Payment is still due.”

“I agree.”

Uh oh. I wait. The elf noble, whatever, looks up at the queen, and I hold my breath.

“You will wed.”

He recoils. I gasp and take two steps back, bump into her head bodyguard and his 2IC. Their hands coil around my upper arms. I get the feeling they’re laughing like a pair of hyenas at my discomfort. Give the earl this, he doesn’t throw up, explode with rage, or argue. He just turns his head and looks at me. The bow slides from my fingers and I go weak at the knees.

He is beautiful, but he is also very, very angry.

“When?” he says, getting slowly to his feet, his voice cold.

“Twelve months courting,” she replies, with the slightest of smiles—damn her! She’s enjoying this far too much—“and then mid-summer. She is my strongest ally in these lands, the Sunlight-Against-the-Trolls. Midsummer is fitting for such a union.”

Midsummer is their most-celebrated day of the year. His expression changes, and he looks me over once again. Even so, his next words are carefully chosen.

“You honour me,” he says, and cannot keep the sneer from his voice, “but she is human.”

“She is a human who can wield elven magic, and who was the first to see the gates open,” the queen responds. I notice she doesn’t mention I have also wielded an elven blade, and drunk three drops of her blood.

“She is troll plagued.”

“As are all guardians against that particular form of the dark. It could be worse.”

“Not much,” he says, and sighs. “I obey, my lady.”

Then he places his fingers to his lips and whistles for his horse.

“Yeah, and I love you, too,” I mutter, as he mounts and rides away.

My two guardians start to chuckle. Soon they’re laughing too hard to hold me, and I shrug them off. I remember to make the smallest of obeisances to her trouble-making majesty and then stalk, over the iron drawbridge and back into the house.

I can shut the door against the coming dawn and the trolls fading back to their lairs. I can shut the door on the sight of my unwanted allies riding into the mist. But I cannot shut the door on the sound of the horn’s dancing silver notes as they bid me an all too temporary farewell.

365 Days of Flash Fiction is scheduled for release on October 4, 2014.

Pre-Ordering and a PROMOTION: 365 Days of Flash Fiction by C.M. Simpson

Due for release on 4 October 2014, 365 Days of Flash Fiction is now available in e-book for pre-order from Smashwords, and will shortly be available from Amazon.com.

Science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, speculative fiction and a touch of horror, this collection plays with just about every genre C.M. Simpson could lay her hands on. In it, she explores new worlds, new settings and some ideas that just needed to be gotten out of herhead. If short stories are your thing, and the shorter the better, there are a bunch of them to be found in this collection. Go ahead and take a look.

TO CELEBRATE: we are offering this collection at SMASHWORDS at a 50% discount until 11 October 2014.

Just use the following coupon PRIOR to completing checkout:

DG44F

Usually available for US$7.99.

 

Warning: 365 Days of Flash Fiction *does* contain some swearing.

 

365 Days of Flash Fiction is scheduled for release on October 4, 2014.