C.S. Simpson's Blog, page 2

Good News, Crazy News

Happy Fall, Y'All!

I begin this note with the 'good news'. My western short story "Onward We Must Go" has been digitally published by FrontierTales.com, and is FREE to read online this month! (Go ahead, click on over and come back to finish this blog.) Not sure you want to read something from the American pioneer times? Here's the teaser to help you decide: "After consumption slowly kills their family in Kentucky, John packs up his surviving daughter, Tillie, and heads west for Colorado. Tillie is not happy. John is hiding a terrible secret."

If you choose to read this dual-journal style story, let me know if you liked it or not. And, please be sure to VOTE for your favorite October Frontier Tales submission (using the box in the center of the home page). Each monthly winner will be physically published in the Frontier Tales 2022 Anthology!

Now, on to the more tantalizing 'crazy news' . . .

In case you were unaware, November is known as National Novel Writing Month. An organization called NaNoWriMo (a shortened version of the longer title) encourages ANYONE to sit and write a down-and-dirty 50,000-word rough draft—all within the measly thirty days of November. A WHOLE BOOK! IN ONE MONTH! Crazy, right? I agree.

But, you guessed it—I'm going to attempt this very thing come the 1st of November! Why on earth would I do that to myself? Because, I want to grow. I want to force myself to plan and outline a novel before typing a single word. You see, I'm what's known in the writerly world as a "pantser" (because I typically write 'by the seat of my pants'). A planner and a plotter, I am not. Also, I have a terrible habit of going back to edit my writing as I go along, thus greatly lengthening the time it takes to simply finish the narrative. Therefore, I'm using NaNoWriMo to force myself to muddle on through, to feel the rise and fall of the character and story arcs as they come naturally, in the moment, just as a future reader will.

I'm not going to start from ground zero (I'm not THAT crazy). My plan is to take a short story I wrote last year, and (ironically) blogged about November of last year: The Science of Stars. I want to use its futuristic setting and the characters for this project, because they've stuck with me all year—even while I've been focusing on Fable #3 and the elf novel. However, I still need to build a novel-length tale out of last year's short story, and therein lies the fear. There's A LOT of work to do.

I spent September thinking about the world, the future broken society in which my novel will take place. I made notes about the main characters and what drives them, what scares them, what they hope to accomplish. Now that it's October, I've been focusing more on a chapter-by-chapter outline. Not a detailed map, more like a phrase or three about what could happen within those pages.

And now? Today? I'm panicking.

I've outlined around three-quarters of the book so far, but am now stuck. So I write to you. I distract myself from one writerly thing by doing another. Hopefully, this will reset my brain a bit and allow me to continue to plan. Because—I want to do this crazy thing for myself, yes, but also for you—my readers. I want to grow as a writer and hone this craft of words and emotion and tension-building. I want to move my readers and make them think. I know November will change me as a writer and I can't wait to see how it will do so.

Hopefully, this mad-dash approach to writing a novel will not break me. I ask for your support. Send me good thoughts and pray I don't give up two weeks into the project. I know they say NaNoWriMo drafts will be terrible—but the perfectionist in me is horrified by this notion. I want to write WELL, but I need not concern myself with perfection at this point in the game, and need to be reminded.

If you want to follow my progress next month, I'll be posting on my @AuthorCSSimpson social media accounts frequently with the current word-count, my snack choices, and other random updates. Feel free to send me a note to encourage me or make me laugh.

Also, if you'd like to JOIN me in this creative insanity, it's not too late! Head to na0nowrimo.org, sign up, and add me as a writing buddy (CS_Simpson). I'd LOVE to freak out over plot and words and who-knows-what with you.

Now, I must bid you au revoir. It is time for me to return to my dark mental cave and plan, plan, plan. Then, November 1st, I will endeavor to attempt the beautifully absurd, and write the first novel-length draft of The Science of Stars.

I hope to remerge intact on December 1st and update you on the progress I made in November. Wish me luck!

Update: Summer Blues

Do long, warm, sunny days ever put you into a strange funk, a lazy, easy, breezy kind of mood? Or is that just for people like me who love cold, dark, rainy days to buckle-down and get things done? (No, I'm not a vampire ). Well, now that summer is nearly over, and cooler days are hiding over the next horizon, I feel myself shifting back into the writerly work mode.

The third and final book in The Fable Triad has languished over the past months, as have most of my story projects, except for a few poems. In fact, I abandoned writing for the month of July in lieu of creating homes in The Sims 4 game and playing the cello (of all things).

"The cello?" you may ask.

Why, yes, indeed! A VERY generous neighbor has allowed me to borrow their beautiful instrument this summer, and now—I'm hooked! I used YouTube to learn the cello basics for the first two months, but recently learned that a DIFFERENT neighbor is actually a cello teacher! I never knew this neighborhood had so much cello-power. I had my first official lesson with her last week, will have my second lesson tomorrow, and can't wait for FedEx to deliver my own cello in a couple of days. Wish me luck!

Now, back to writing . . .

Thankfully, in early August, my dad sent me his first pen and ink sketches for The Mermaid and the River Otter. They are amazing, and gave me a renewed desire to sit down and complete the project. As of today, the first draft of the story is nearly done, and I'm eager to go back to the beginning and polish it up for you!

ALSO - I'd like your help. I'd LOVE your opinions regarding two very different choices:

What new lessons/morals do you feel I should include in the latest fable? The major themes are set, however, I may need to sprinkle in a couple more. Would you like to see YouTube videos from me? I'm considering two different playlists: reading my published stories and poetry out loud playing the cello (newbie squeaks and all)

I'm looking forward to your feedback! As always, I appreciate your interest and your support of my random creative works.

New Year, New Release!

Happy Belated 2022, Everyone!

I know, I know, it's already Mid-May, but somehow this blog post ended up in my "drafts" folder, and I didn't notice until recently (oops!).

I have a bit of belated news for you, in case you don't follow my social media posts. As you may know, my first self-published book, The Elephant and the Dragon, was released in the fall of 2018. Early last year, I got the notion to expand this fable and create a longer tale, but decided on adding two separate fables instead, with plans to eventually create a Fable Triad.

I asked my amazing critique group to look over the first fable, then the second, and their input was invaluable—as usual. Then I talked with my father, and he was happy to sketch the images for this one too (yay!). I know authors—just like parents—should not have favorites, but I think I like this story a little better than the first one (shhh, don't tell The Elephant and the Dragon).

And so, after a year of writing and revisions . . . The Dolphin and the Octopus is now available for you to enjoy as both an ebook and a paperback! It is meant to encompass the same pre-historical timeframe of the first tale, yet takes place above and around an immense oceanic reef. The creatures of the warm equatorial waters are tested when they come face-to-face with a fearsome cold water sea serpent.

Click HERE to go to The Dolphin and the Octopus's dedicated webpage, where you can read the full description, preview the fable, and find easy access to ebook links. Click HERE to go straight to the paperback's page on Amazon.

As always, I appreciate your interest in my work! If you've had the opportunity to read any of my published stories, please take the time to drop by Amazon, Goodreads, or any other book-friendly online store and write an honest review. Thanks!

Dream

I wanted to let you know about a BRAND NEW anthology that includes another of my short stories!

The Pikes Peak Writers (aka PPW) is a writer's group I'm a member of, along with hundreds of other semi-local authors. I was fortunate to have my short story, "Memories," included in their first anthology, Fresh Starts. When they sent out the call for new story submissions under the theme Dream, I started writing. I wrote and submitted three new short stories to the PPW editors, and was once again fortunate enough to have a story chosen for publication!

"Other Lives" is the speculative tale of a busy CPA, who takes a break from his tax-time duties to sail alone and clear his mind. While at the helm, he falls asleep, and what happens next goes beyond his understanding. Does he experience a simple series of dreams, or does he actually jump through realities? The answer is up to you.

Click here to learn more and shop!

If you're curious about the other two stories that didn't make the cut, then please keep reading.

"The Science of Stars" was the title of a previous blog, so if it sounds familiar, this is why. There was so much I was trying to express in this sci-fi story, and only had a finite number of allowed words for the contest. I'm not sure I gave enough descriptive detail of the setting and the culture, and that may be why it was passed over. I loved this short story so much, and when it was rejected for the anthology, I began to think of it as a larger concept, perhaps a book-length concept. This story is still in the building stages, but I haven't given up on it yet, because I like the characters and the under-Mars setting.

"Onward We Must Go" was my third contest submission, and was yet another genre of storytelling. This one was historical fiction, and written as two separate—yet concurrent— journal entries during a long father-daughter trip along the Santa Fe Trail in 1892. This one was a lot of fun to write, as the father and the daughter each had different writing "voices," which needed to be kept separate. I am currently looking for other places to submit this one.

I'm curious which one of the three interested you most! Please let me know in the comments if you have an opinion.

As for my current projects, I am still working on what I'm unceremoniously calling the "Elf Story" which began as a short story submission for PPW's first anthology. It used to be titled "The Sanctuary," but I am kicking around a few other title ideas that may fit the tale better.

I am also actively working on the third and final story in The Fable Triad! My hope is that it will be completed, polished, and ready for publication at the end of this calendar year. I promise to keep you updated!

And, lastly, I am anxiously awaiting the theme of Pikes Peak Writers' NEXT anthology, so I can get writing on something new! There's nothing like a fresh creative spark to give me some energy. I hope to have a poem or story chosen by them for a third time, because—as you know—the best things seem to come in threes.

Do You Love The Smell Of Books?

- Bibliosmia (n) - The smell and aroma of a good book -

If you're like me, the slightly sweet scent of paper, glue, and ink, combined with the magic of a good story, is an unbeatable combination. I love to savor the anticipation of what the next turn of the page will reveal about a character or the plot. There's just nothing like it!

I apologize if you've been anxiously waiting to hear from me the past couple of months. No, I haven't fallen in a well, or gotten Covid, or the flu (thank goodness). Unfortunately, one of my biggest fans (a highly supportive friend), passed away from a mysterious illness, just a week before her birthday last month. I had no idea the loss of her support would effect me so strongly. While I haven't written anything new until recently, I have been busy the past few working behind the scenes to provide my fellow bibliophiles with a version of my first fable they can hold in their hands.

Introducing: The Elephant and the Dragon: A Fable - the paperback version!

Available exclusively on Amazon (for now), I hope you'll at least click over to see it in all it's listed glory. It will be listed at $7.99, but will be offered at a special introductory price - this weekend only. ,CLICK HERE to see the listing! Please "Follow" ,CS Simpson's Amazon page too, to help showcase my work.

If you choose to purchase the paperback, don't forget to give it a huff. Please take the time to leave an HONEST review once you've read the story. I can't wait to see what all the new readers think.

As always, thank you for your support. Happy reading!

My Latest Projects

Hello again, my faithful followers! I may not have been blogging lately, but there's certainly been plenty of creating going on. As well as the two new fables you've recently heard about, I've restructured the beginning of the original fable so that it flows in a more linear fashion. I've learned so much about the art of storytelling since self-publishing The Elephant and the Dragon, and because I can easily update the ebook, I shall! The new update should go live by Christmas of this year, and I hope to be able to release the next fable shortly thereafter.

In case you're wondering, I'm still working on the elven low fantasy novel, The Sanctuary. I first shared a little about this in the July 2021 blog, "Latest Writerly Exploits" (click here to read it). The Sanctuary follows Erin, a young woman who accidentally learns of her secret elf heritage from a stranger, and her subsequent turbulent journey to help reunite the planet's two sentient species.

BUT—the one that's been keeping my mind occupied this past week is a sci-fi story, tentatively titled: The Science of Stars.

It began as a short story written for a the Pikes Peak Writers' second anthology (releasing 2022). When the tale was not chosen for publication in the anthology, I decided to edit it further for submission elsewhere. In re-reading the story with a fresh eye, I found there were several places that required better clarification and more detail. As I reworded these passages, several ideas for story expansion began to bloom in my mind.

So my latest project is building on The Science of Stars short story, testing out the possibility of a novel length project. I'm creating deeper characters and a long backstory, as well as worldbuilding for a far-in-the-future setting: Mars. But, not Mars in its early settlement period, as so many Martian stories have already been written. No—it's set on Mars after its successful terraforming and the subsequent failure due to several catastrophic failures. It's a story of a Mars where humans live trapped underground, waiting for the day they can move back up to the surface. The Science of Stars will follow Tatiana, a young woman who longs for the day when she can look outside and see the night sky for the first time. ⭐

I don't have a complete picture for you yet, but that's how I write. I love to let the narrative carry me along as it goes, surprising me as much as my future readers. And (as you may know by now), I create pictures to encourage myself while writing! So, today's blog images are a teaser of a possible book cover and what the underground Martian colony's various department badges may look like.

What do you think? Would you be interesting in reading a story like this?

Gettin' My Art On!

Hello, again, my peeps!

I have spent the last few weeks going over my completed, as yet unpublished novel, The Flower Maiden once again. I also put on my big girl undies and gave the all-important query letter for my book baby a big makeover before sending it out to several literary agents.

Query Letter, you may ask? What on Earth is THAT?

That's a fine question, my dears. The simple answer is this: a query letter is kind of like sending out a cold-call resume for your novel, and asking strangers to love the story you've written. Sound impossible? Now you get the feeling!

It's uber-stressful because the query letter is an important first-step to traditional publication. All your hopes and dreams are sent out into the digital matrix, in hopes that an agent will connect with your novel based on two not-so-simple paragraphs of introduction (Lots of saltines and ginger ale go into this process, BTW.)

So, to release the stress, I require a different creative outlet! I create inspirational book covers for all my projects, and I love the one The Flower Maiden currently has, so I decided to use my fancy computer to draw a digital abstract expression of the overall mood of the book. Since The Maiden's story is all about processing emotional trauma, I was inspired by a GIF of all things, and this is the final result:

How do YOU put your stress-vibes to bed??

Comments and suggetsions are always welcome!

New Fable Teasers!

Hello, my friends. Can you believe it's already the end of summer and the kids are headed back to school soon? I hope you've been enjoying time out in the warm sun, and a few lazy days with family or friends. I am a shade-sitter, myself, while my dog like to bake in the sun. As I shared in my last blog, I've enjoyed writing and hanging out with my dog outside a lot these past few months. What I failed to share, is another project I've been working on!

The Elephant and the Dragon is my first published story and I still LOVE it, even though it's only available in ebook format (currently). I revisited this little fable recently and recalled that I left a teaser for subsequent fables in the first chapter! Remember this?

So—you guessed it—I've been story building for TWO fable sequels, and I'd like to give my insiders a sneak peek! The working title for the marine fable is: The Dolphin and the Octopus, whereas the coastline fable is: The Mermaid and the Sea Lion. Both will follow the same structured format as the first, but have their own unique settings, governor personalities, and lessons. The images below are my first fun ideas for book covers, to help inspire me. I enjoy doing this for every long project I work on. They each sport a different oil painting filter.

What do you think? Feel free to share your fable ideas with me. Maybe they'll make it somewhere into the final edits!

Latest Writerly Exploits

Now that we're halfway through the year, have you been wondering what I've been up to so far? I know you'll be shocked to hear that I've been writing.

Early this year, I was fortunate to find two new beta readers for The Flower Maiden, the literary novel I started in 2018. I've made a few story edits based on their excellent suggestions, and plan on sending the manuscript out to literary agents next month!

My second novel project (double entendre, people) is a low fantasy—with elves! ‍♂️‍♀️ I'm about a third of the way through the first draft, and the current title is The Sanctuary. My plan is to make it an eco-fantasy, meaning the story addresses humanity's abuse of the planet—but—I am a "pantser", so the story will go where the story goes! I think that's what I love about writing the most—the fact that I can be surprised by a story's twists and turns during the process of writing it, as much as I hope the reader will be.

I'm continuing to submit previously written short stories and poems, and writing a few new ones as well. I wrote three very different tales to submit to the Pikes Peak Writers' second anthology (available next year), and hope to hear back from the editors about possible book-inclusion this fall. By the way, the anthology is accepting submissions through the end of July, so if you have stories, poems, or a memoir that fits the book's theme, click ,here to submit too!

Now, I know I already have a book going, but I like one of my newest short stories enough that I'm considering turning it into a book as well! It's a sci-fi story, so I'm having fun planning the setting and backstory when I'm not working on my other projects.

The summer is a wonderful time to sit in the shade and write, edit, or read. Have you stretched your creative muscles lately? Drop me a comment and let me know what you've been creating.

Advice for Writer Newbies

First off, I acknowledge I haven't been at this writerly thing for very long, but I want to share six things I wish I had known earlier for those just starting out (and those who are thinking of starting out). So, without further ado . . .

1. WRITE YOUR WAY

I'm sure you've already read a few articles and blogs suggesting you take a story idea and outline it before you even start writting down your story. They say, "Follow the Save the Cat book and fill out a beat sheet" or "Write the logline and synopsis first." Please don't misunderstand me, this is good advice, but it may not be the best advice for YOU. ✍️

I tried doing things this way and ended up beating my head against the keyboard—repeatedly. I can't think and plan ahead like that. I need to be IN the story, letting it flow, listening to the characters and the moments on the page. Do I go back later and change things so they're more cohesive? Heck, yeah. My first drafts are messy too. But I learned very early on how I write, and it is most definitely NOT with an outline.

Give yourself time to learn YOUR way of writing, and your own speed of writing. Setting word count goals is good, but if they stress you out and make you hate writing (like me), don't set word count goals. Listen to yourself.

Please, read the books and the blogs, watch those videos, glean as much as you can from those who've gone before you—but don't get bogged down in the minutiae. There's no formula for art.

2. FIND COMMUNITY

Writing can be lonely, but it doesn't need to be. Places like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook Groups, and Meetup are good places to find both digital and local communities. I highly recommend finding a critique group—or two—as soon as possible. Even if you don't yet have something you're willing to let others read, meeting with other writers will help you feel grounded. They'll share bits of information which may help you understand future parts of your journey, excite, and even inspire you to try new styles of writing.

Critique Partners (CPs) can be amazing! I need my CPs and reader-friends to help me find flaws in my story clarity, world building, or plot (I know what I mean, why doesn't my reader?). Writing is about clarity. There are MANY words and phrases which can be interpreted in multiple ways, even given the proper context. CPs help to point them out so you can reword them. There are many simple typos skipped by spell check because they are still spelled correctly, but are the wrong word (aka: homophones). CPs can help find them for you. The result is a more polished draft, saving you time and sanity in the long run.

Critique Partners can also be frustrating! They will suggest word changes, deletions, and rewrites that may upset you. They'll point out your plot holes, tense shifts, and more, which may create anxiety. You may want to tell them to go to hell—but, please don't. If they're commenting like they are, they're paying attention! Remind yourself that your CPs are a snapshot of any potential future readers. If half of them don't understand, then half of potential readers and agents will likely also not understand. If you find yourself published without first gaining a thick skin from your caring CPs, you may read some negative reviews and choose to never write again (which would be sad).

Remember—stories are art. Your subject matter or prose may not agree with everyone, and this is okay. It may agree with more readers than you hoped, you just need to keep trying to find them. Getting into a writers community will help.

3. SELF-EDITING

Critique Partners lead directly into self-editing. Once you've got a finished draft you're happy with, get ready to try one more thing to get an even more polished piece. Search your document for those "too-used" words you'll find listed on other sites (in detail). Some call them "weasel words" and some call them "useless words." They're words like: that, so, really, very, just, actually, etc. Keep in mind, I like to leave all these within dialogue for a more natural flow, and some stories may benefit from using these words to set a character's inner thoughts apart from others. The point is to know the rules so you know when to break them,

️ How do you search a document or even webpage when researching?

PC users: "ctrl + f"

Mac users: "command + f"

This function brings up a little search window for you to type in, then it counts and highlights the instances of whatever you enter, including punctuation.

Another facet of self-editing is knowing when to take a break. If you're forcing things, it will come across in your writing. If you've worked on a project so long that you've begun to resent or even hate it—stop. Move on. Find another story to catch your imagination. Once you feel refreshed, and want to take another stab at "the hated one"—go for it!

4. BUILD A WRITER'S RESUME

You may choose to only be known as a novelist or a biographer, but don't overlook those shorter projects as a way to be seen by those in the industry. Short stories, memoirs, and even poetry can help build your craft. You can use websites like Submittable.com to find journals, magazines, and publishers looking for shorter pieces, even photography. Once you have a story published somewhere, you can create a better author's bio for your query letters and proposals.

You may ask, "Is this really necessary?" The truth is, I don't know. ‍♀️ At the very least, having a couple of published stories out there may boost your confidence in your own work.

5. READ—A LOT

You may feel reading will take away precious time from your own writing, but don't skip this one. Why? Reading is a good way to subconsciously absorb the art of "how-to-story." It will increase your vocabulary, better your punctuation, help your syntax, and plant seeds for your own story ideas.

Read in the genre you like to write in, read in genres you've never tried, and read, read, read. In short, read ANYTHING that interests you. Just read.

6. DON'T GIVE UP

If you enjoy telling stories, keep writing. Let it flow and ignore all of the above if it stresses you out to the point of giving up.

Don't focus on any negative criticism, but DO keep it in mind. You might find they had a point a week later (or not). The idea is, opinions ARE out there, and they WILL find your work sooner or later, and that's just fine. The opinions of others don't have to bother you. Please don't let them discourage you from doing something you enjoy.

Well, there's my two cents! Please let me know if this has helped you continue on with your craft, and feel free to add writerly advice for newbies I missed in here!

Happy writing!