C.M. Simpson's Blog, page 119
March 7, 2018
Pre-Release Available—Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab
Dear Tiger, I Like Your Lab
, the fourth story in the Letters Across Space series is now available for pre-order on Smashwords and will soon be available for pre-order from Amazon.
Finally located in the same complex, Tiger and Simone are separated again, as Simone begins to mutate—and it isn’t pretty. Tiger says he’ll talk her through it, but will he be there when she finally emerges? There are some things no friendship can survive. Could the hunter fever be one of them?
Finally located in the same complex, Tiger and Simone are separated again, as Simone begins to mutate—and it isn’t pretty. Tiger says he’ll talk her through it, but will he be there when she finally emerges? There are some things no friendship can survive. Could the hunter fever be one of them?
Pre-Release Special—Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back 99c US on Smashwords
Just to let you know that the third story, Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back , of the Letters Across Space series will be discounted to 99c US, ON SMASHWORDS ONLY, until shortly after it releases, when it will return to the usual price of $2.99 US.
Simone escaping FedExplore was only the first step. Now, Tiger has to do the same. Simone says Odyssey can help, but Tiger is already on the run. Catching up with him and getting him to safety might be harder than it looks. Can he give FedExplore the slip, or will its bounty hunters bag him first? And what about the aliens that killed his parents? Are they really following him? Or is it just coincidence? Once again, a trail of email tells the story as Simone and Tiger try to reach each other against all odds.
New Cover—Dreams of the Serpent
I now have a cover for the first release in April! This is for my science fiction short story, Dreams of the Serpent , which is an alien contact and treaty story.
When the contract’s done, and you’re fleeing for your life, the company’s supposed to be on your side, right? Am I right? So, you tell me what happens when the company understands the contract wrong, and you get stuck somewhere you really don’t wanta be. You tell me how I’m gonna make it back to the stars.
A short science fiction story set in the Odyssey universe.
March 6, 2018
Pre-Release Available—Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back
The third story of the Letters Across Space series is now available for pre-order on Smashwords, and soon from Amazon.
Simone escaping FedExplore was only the first step. Now, Tiger has to do the same. Simone says Odyssey can help, but Tiger is already on the run. Catching up with him and getting him to safety might be harder than it looks. Can he give FedExplore the slip, or will its bounty hunters bag him first? And what about the aliens that killed his parents? Are they really following him? Or is it just coincidence? Once again, a trail of email tells the story as Simone and Tiger try to reach each other against all odds.
Simone escaping FedExplore was only the first step. Now, Tiger has to do the same. Simone says Odyssey can help, but Tiger is already on the run. Catching up with him and getting him to safety might be harder than it looks. Can he give FedExplore the slip, or will its bounty hunters bag him first? And what about the aliens that killed his parents? Are they really following him? Or is it just coincidence? Once again, a trail of email tells the story as Simone and Tiger try to reach each other against all odds.
Ingress Roundup: February 2018
It was a pretty big month for PokemonGo, but I still managed to fit some Ingress in around all the excitement. I reached third and sixth in the local player rankings, so I must have done something right… or everyone else was having an off month. One of the two. (I’m choosing to believe the first… which means I will probably have to do more of that micro-fielding thing in future.)
Anyway, top ten was a milestone, I didn't expect to get anywhere near, so that was cool… and then life got busy, as I got my head around what I needed to do next for this writing thing.
Medal Milestones:
This month, in spite of all the pokemon eggs I hatched, I finally managed to reach my 2,500th ingress kilometre, and received a lovely onyx medal for my trouble. That was cool, too.
Mission Milestones:
I’m still very slowly working my way through the last hundred missions to reach the Spec Ops onyx, but I’ll get there. Time was short in February, so I aimed for completing just one mission series—and barely fitted it in before the end of the month. It was a lovely set of crystal balls, and I spent a nice couple of hours in the centre of Canberra, on one of the last days of summer. Missions completed now number 426.
Results for February Goals:
SUCCESS: Achieve the Black Trekker milestone,FAIL: Achieve the Black Translator milestone,SUCCESS: Complete one more mission mosaic.Goals for March 2018:
Achieve the Platinum Recon milestone,Achieve the Black Translator milestone,Complete one more mission mosaic.
New Cover—Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab
This arrived last week, at the same time as the cover for Book 4. It’s the cover for Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab , the fourth book in the Letters Across Space (aka The Tiger Letters) series, a science fiction adventure told in a series of emails sent between Simone and Tiger.
Finally located in the same complex, Tiger and Simone are separated again, as Simone begins to mutate—and it isn’t pretty. Tiger says he’ll talk her through it, but will he be there when she finally emerges? There are some things no friendship can survive. Could the hunter fever be one of them?
March 5, 2018
PokemonGo Roundup: February 2018
February was a bit of a mixed month for walking. After a week of almost no walking, my back protested, and I decided to set myself some challenges as incentives to get out and about. It kind of worked. I certainly had more reason to get out - even on days I *really* didn't want to.
The writing is becoming more demanding as I work out what I want to do... or is that *I* am becoming more demanding. Either way, the temptation to work at my desk, instead of walk, is high
PokemonGo Happenings in February 2018:
February was a pretty busy month in Pokemongo, with several promotions occurring, although it was frustrating to receive notifications of these later than the event start, so it's important to remember to check out the Niantic PokemonGo blog in order to stay on top of them. Here's a quick run-down:
More pokemon arrived - YES! And Rayquaza quickly followed - and then things got busy, with Valentine's Day, new costumes, the Lunar New Year, more legendaries, and Pokemonday birthday celebrations. All in all, a VERY jam-packed month! See?
New Pokemon Caught in February 2018:
With the arrival of more pokemon, new pokemon were almost guaranteed. I was very pleased to see these:
New Pokemon Evolved in February 2018:
In addition to catching a bunch of new Hoenn pokemon, I was able to evolve a few of them, *and* the typhlosion I was missing from the Johto pokedex, which involved a whole lot of walking.
Pokemon Hatched in February2018:
One of my challenges for February was to hatch a pokemon a day. I missed a day, but I hatched 34 pokemon, by buying the occasional extra incubator with my gym earnings. Of these, only the trapinch, beldum and bagon were brand new to my pokedex. These little ones were as follows:
Results for February Goals:
FAIL—Caught 23 more rattata, BUT did not catch 10 more tiny rattata;SUCCESS—Caught enough aron to evolve lairon into aggron,SUCCESS—Walk quilava far enough to evolve a typhlosion,TECHNICAL FAIL—I hatched an egg every day I walked, and some days I hatched more than one, BUT I hurt my back and did not walk on that day, so did not hatch an egg on that day. Overall, I hatched 34 eggs in February, well over one per day, just not one EVERY day.Goals for March:
Reach Level 34;Walk flaaffy far enough to evolve anampharos;Catch enough fighting-types to reach the gold medal milestone.
The writing is becoming more demanding as I work out what I want to do... or is that *I* am becoming more demanding. Either way, the temptation to work at my desk, instead of walk, is high
PokemonGo Happenings in February 2018:
February was a pretty busy month in Pokemongo, with several promotions occurring, although it was frustrating to receive notifications of these later than the event start, so it's important to remember to check out the Niantic PokemonGo blog in order to stay on top of them. Here's a quick run-down:
More pokemon arrived - YES! And Rayquaza quickly followed - and then things got busy, with Valentine's Day, new costumes, the Lunar New Year, more legendaries, and Pokemonday birthday celebrations. All in all, a VERY jam-packed month! See?
New Pokemon Caught in February 2018:
With the arrival of more pokemon, new pokemon were almost guaranteed. I was very pleased to see these:
New Pokemon Evolved in February 2018:
In addition to catching a bunch of new Hoenn pokemon, I was able to evolve a few of them, *and* the typhlosion I was missing from the Johto pokedex, which involved a whole lot of walking.
Pokemon Hatched in February2018:
One of my challenges for February was to hatch a pokemon a day. I missed a day, but I hatched 34 pokemon, by buying the occasional extra incubator with my gym earnings. Of these, only the trapinch, beldum and bagon were brand new to my pokedex. These little ones were as follows:
Results for February Goals:
FAIL—Caught 23 more rattata, BUT did not catch 10 more tiny rattata;SUCCESS—Caught enough aron to evolve lairon into aggron,SUCCESS—Walk quilava far enough to evolve a typhlosion,TECHNICAL FAIL—I hatched an egg every day I walked, and some days I hatched more than one, BUT I hurt my back and did not walk on that day, so did not hatch an egg on that day. Overall, I hatched 34 eggs in February, well over one per day, just not one EVERY day.Goals for March:
Reach Level 34;Walk flaaffy far enough to evolve anampharos;Catch enough fighting-types to reach the gold medal milestone.
New Cover: Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back
I have a new cover for
Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back
, the third book in the Letters Across Space series, a science fiction adventure told in a series of letters.
Simone escaping FedExplore was only the first step. Now, Tiger has to do the same. Simone says Odyssey can help, but Tiger is already on the run. Catching up with him and getting him to safety might be harder than it looks. Can he give FedExplore the slip, or will its bounty hunters bag him first? And what about the aliens that killed his parents? Are they really following him? Or is it just coincidence? Once again, a trail of email tells the story as Simone and Tiger try to reach each other against all odds.
Simone escaping FedExplore was only the first step. Now, Tiger has to do the same. Simone says Odyssey can help, but Tiger is already on the run. Catching up with him and getting him to safety might be harder than it looks. Can he give FedExplore the slip, or will its bounty hunters bag him first? And what about the aliens that killed his parents? Are they really following him? Or is it just coincidence? Once again, a trail of email tells the story as Simone and Tiger try to reach each other against all odds.
March 4, 2018
Progress Report: February 25-28 to March 3, 2018
Last week, I decided to change my routine so that the last week of every month is devoted to publishing the works that are ready to begin the publishing process. I also reassessed my publishing goals, and changed a few other things, including putting in an application for a full-time job in a field I was interested in. I’m still not sure how that’s going to pan out, but
Progress: February 25-28 to March 3, 2018
New words produced: 6,873Outlines and Notes: 241Words compiled: 18,178Works completed: 1 (1 chapter book)Works edited: 3 ( Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back, Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab, Dreams of the Serpent )Covers created: 4 ( Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back, Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab, Dreams of the Serpent, Mack ‘n’ Me: Origins )Works published: 3 ( Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back, Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab, Dreams of the Serpent )Works released: 1 ( Memory’s Vampire )Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 6,583Hours at Desk—February 25-March 3: 53h42mFebruary Hours at Desk: 183 hours 50 minutesJanuary Hours at Desk: 180 hours 3 minutes
Goal Progress
Publish Fortnightly: This goal is to release a minimum of one title per fortnight. This goal is on track to the beginning of April 2018, with releases a minimum of 1 week apart within each month.
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
Short Story/Month Goal: This goal is to release one short story per month. This goal is on track through to April 2018.
Chapter Book/Month Goal: This goal is to release a minimum of one chapter book per month. This goal is on track through to the end of this month. These are the chapter books released since January (2/month)
Novel/Quarter Goal: This goal is to release a minimum of one novel per quarter. This goal is on track for the second quarter, with April's release only requiring editing, formatting and publishing.
Publishing 3-Months Ahead Goal: This goal is to have pre-releases available three months ahead of the release date. This goal is not yet on track. Finishing-Series-I-Have-Started Goal: This goal remains, with a deadline of December 2020. It includes the chapter book series in the challenge, and the known titles planned for the following novel series: Mack ‘n’ Me ‘n’ Odyssey (4 titles); Tales of the Five Kingdoms (5 titles); Aggie & Tams (4 titles); The Seasons Quartet (4 titles), and Freeman(6 titles). This goal is on track, with the first chapter book series to be completed by the end of April 2018, and the first Mack ‘n’ Me ‘n’ Odyssey novel completed.
Anthology Challenge
The Anthology Challenge is now to release twelve 80,000-word anthologies by the end of 2019. Covers will be created for collections over the next few weeks, and releases will begin within the next couple of months... and some may change:
Chapter-Book-Collection Challenge
The Chapter-Book-Collection Challenge is to complete and release twelve collections by the end of 2020, by first releasing six individual titles, and then one collection of those titles. Covers for series in progress are as follows (and many will be updated later on):
Progress: February 25-28 to March 3, 2018
New words produced: 6,873Outlines and Notes: 241Words compiled: 18,178Works completed: 1 (1 chapter book)Works edited: 3 ( Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back, Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab, Dreams of the Serpent )Covers created: 4 ( Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back, Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab, Dreams of the Serpent, Mack ‘n’ Me: Origins )Works published: 3 ( Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back, Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab, Dreams of the Serpent )Works released: 1 ( Memory’s Vampire )Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 6,583Hours at Desk—February 25-March 3: 53h42mFebruary Hours at Desk: 183 hours 50 minutesJanuary Hours at Desk: 180 hours 3 minutes
Goal Progress
Publish Fortnightly: This goal is to release a minimum of one title per fortnight. This goal is on track to the beginning of April 2018, with releases a minimum of 1 week apart within each month.
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
Short Story/Month Goal: This goal is to release one short story per month. This goal is on track through to April 2018.
Chapter Book/Month Goal: This goal is to release a minimum of one chapter book per month. This goal is on track through to the end of this month. These are the chapter books released since January (2/month)
Novel/Quarter Goal: This goal is to release a minimum of one novel per quarter. This goal is on track for the second quarter, with April's release only requiring editing, formatting and publishing.
Publishing 3-Months Ahead Goal: This goal is to have pre-releases available three months ahead of the release date. This goal is not yet on track. Finishing-Series-I-Have-Started Goal: This goal remains, with a deadline of December 2020. It includes the chapter book series in the challenge, and the known titles planned for the following novel series: Mack ‘n’ Me ‘n’ Odyssey (4 titles); Tales of the Five Kingdoms (5 titles); Aggie & Tams (4 titles); The Seasons Quartet (4 titles), and Freeman(6 titles). This goal is on track, with the first chapter book series to be completed by the end of April 2018, and the first Mack ‘n’ Me ‘n’ Odyssey novel completed.
Anthology Challenge
The Anthology Challenge is now to release twelve 80,000-word anthologies by the end of 2019. Covers will be created for collections over the next few weeks, and releases will begin within the next couple of months... and some may change:
Chapter-Book-Collection Challenge
The Chapter-Book-Collection Challenge is to complete and release twelve collections by the end of 2020, by first releasing six individual titles, and then one collection of those titles. Covers for series in progress are as follows (and many will be updated later on):
March 3, 2018
Publishing Overview: February 2018
February saw things get a touch busy, as I worked out this full-time writer thing. March will be busier. Here is what was achieved in February:
Progress: February 2018
New words produced: 78,406Outlines and Notes: 12,749Words compiled: 32,372Works completed: 20 (1 novel, 1 short story, 2 chapter books, 8 poems, 8 flash fiction)Works edited: 5 ( Memory’s Vampire, Dreams of the Serpent, Dear Tiger: I’m Not Human Anymore, Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back, Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab )Covers created: 6 ( Memory’s Vampire, Dreams of the Serpent, Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back, Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab, Mack ‘n’ Me: Origins, C.M. Simpson: Short Works from 2017, Vol.1 )Works published: 2 ( Dear Tiger: I Don’t Think I’m Human Anymore, Memory’s Vampire Works released: 3 ( Reluctant Liaison, Granny Finds a Gas Mask, Dear Tiger: I Don’t Think I’m Human Anymore )Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 11,035Hours at Desk—February 2018: 183 hours 50 minutesHours at Desk—January 2018: 180 hours 3 minutes
