NEW COVER: C.M. Simpson: Short Work from 2015 & 2016

The cover for this month's third release is now complete and approved. This volume contains all the short stories and poems published for C.M. Simpson in 2015 and 2016. With stories and poems ranging from fantasy through science fiction with a couple of variations in between, this volume is scheduled for release on August 25th, 2017.

Seventh sons and space colonies, bird flu and poetry from the stars, flying ships, early Australia and fairy, pixies and elves in modern urbania, all can be found in this collection of poems and tales.

NEW RELEASE: C.M. Simpson: Short Work from 2014, Vol. 2: Science Fiction

We've just released the second volume of C.M. Simpson's collection of short works from 2014 on Smashwords, in all formats.

What's it About?

A collection of flash fiction, short stories, poems and essays where science fiction explores future possibilities and tragedies, where hopes and dreams are held and lost, and where cyberware stands alongside shapeshifters and starships. The poems here either explore these futures, or are written as though they were created by someone in those futures. This is the realm of the starborn and starbound, and of futures that might never be.

Where can you find it in Print?
 
At the moment you can find the print-on-demand (PoD) at the CreateSpace store in both mass market and large print versions, but it should also be available on Amazon soon, as well.

Release Schedule - January 2016

The following titles will be released in January 2016:

January 2, 2016

C.M. Simpson: Short Works from 2014, Vol. 1: The Real World, Romance, Horror and Speculation

Last year’s anthology consisted only of the short stories and poems worked on, created re-written or published in 2013. This year’s anthology consists of all the short stories and poems that I created, or discovered in my files and rewrote in 2014, including the pieces from 365 Days of Flash Fiction and 365 Days of Poetry that have already been included in Volumes 1 and 2 of last year’s collections. The tales and poems are taken from completed anthologies, and anthologies to come, from my blog, and from my notebooks. Most are published, either individually or in a collection, but some are scheduled for release at some time in the future. I have also included one short story written under the pen name, Madeleine Torr.

This year’s anthology is three volumes long, and has been roughly divided by the genres of the stories, poems and pieces of flash fiction that each contains. Once again, the pieces are arranged in dative order. This volume is focussed on mostly speculative pieces touched by darkness, with a single piece of romance from my alter-ego.

This is also the last year I will be including unpublished work in the annual collection of short work. The 2017 releases will only have work that was released in the years the collection covers—or work released previously that could not be included in another collection due to contract restrictions.

A Warning: These pieces might not be what you’ve come to expect from reading my longer works, as my short pieces form the playground I use to explore ways of putting words on paper to create different effects, or to investigate new concepts and ideas. These pieces might not share the same tone, register, genre or flavour as some of my other work, but I hope you enjoy them, all the same.

January 16, 2016

Rocky and the Great Teddybear Rescue

Rocky wakes up from stasis, and realises he’s nearly home, but he hasn’t been awake for five minutes when things start to go wrong. His little sister’s teddybear is missing, and it’s not the only thing. A cat has gone missing from the animals’ deck. And then his sister goes missing, too. Can Rocky find her, and maybe Teddy and the cat, before the ship arrives and all three are lost forever?

Rocky and the Great Teddybear Rescue is the third book in the Otherworld Adventures series, which is set on Rocky’s journey to the new world, where his parents will farm alongside the aliens who have asked them to help.

New Release: C.M. Simpson: Short Stories and Poems from 2013, Vol. 2 in Large Print

The Large Print version of Volume 2 of C.M. Simpson: Short Stories and Poems from 2013 is now out in Large Print in the CreateSpace store.

Last year’s anthology consisted only of the short stories and poems published in 2012. This year’s anthology consists of all the short stories and poems that I created, edited or rewrote in 2013, regardless of whether or not they have been released. The tales are taken from completed anthologies, and anthologies yet to come, from my blog, and from my notebooks. Most are published as stand-alone stories, but some are yet to be published.

Also, where last year’s anthology was a single volume, this year’s anthology is two volumes long. I have divided them up chronologically, according to when the stories were first created and completed. This is the second volume, and it covers work completed or released in 2013. It consists of a mix of poetry, flash fiction and short stories.

365 Days of Flash Fiction Now Available in Normal Print

365 Days of Flash Fiction is now available in PRINT in the CreateSpace store.

Science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, speculative fiction and a touch of horror, this collection plays with just about every genre I could lay my hands on. In it, I explore new worlds, new settings and some ideas that just needed to be gotten out of my head. 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.

365 Days of Flash Fiction Now Available in Large Print

365 Days of Flash Fiction is now available in LARGE PRINT in the CreateSpace store.

Science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, speculative fiction and a touch of horror, this collection plays with just about every genre I could lay my hands on. In it, I explore new worlds, new settings and some ideas that just needed to be gotten out of my head. 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.

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.