C.M. Simpson's Blog, page 125

Looking Back: Progress Overview 2017

Last year was the final year of my Bachelor of Asia Pacific Security Studies. I completed it with a Distinction average, two majors (in Asia-Pacific Security Studies and Middle East and Central Asia) and a minor (Chinese – Mandarin). When I started the year, I had already come to the conclusion that I wouldn’t go on to Honours due to the ANU requirement to sign over my IP for the Honours question (and all derivatives), or seek to do a PhD for the same reason. This was disappointing, but just the way things go. Without giving away my IP for a piece of paper that says I can do the research I know I’m capable of, I am now free to write and publish on the things that interest me, albeit without the approval or endorsement of academic gatekeepers, so I might think about that for further down the publishing track. 
Last year, was also the final year of planned study. Everything I started this degree to do was achieved, bar one thing—I could no longer use what I had learned to have a better understanding of the background against which I worked—mainly because I was no longer employed in that field, and, due the workplace bullying I experienced in that field, I will probably never be able to work in it, again. On the other hand, I am now better equipped to write thrillers, if I so desire, because I have a better understanding of international politics and conflicts, and their drivers. The end of last year saw me begin to move towards writing full-time—although I’m not sure if I can make it work. I have given myself twelve months to do two things: a) see if writing and publishing full-time is something I want to do for the rest of my working life (or if I want to be a hybrid, having a job in a field that interests me, while writing about other things in my spare time); and b) see if I can turn it into a sustainable as a way of making a living for myself.My writing goals for last year were simple: have one release every fortnight for the entire year.I made that goal, and just a little bit more.Here’s what I managed in the year just gone:
2017  Progress
New words produced: 650,716Outlines and Notes: 39,651Works completed: 194 (2 YA novel, 2 YA chapter book, 2 novella, 76 flash fiction, 94 poems, 8 short story)Works edited: 33Covers created: 32Works published: 33 (29 for 2017, and 4 for January 2018)Works submitted: 0 (I think… not including assignments)Bloggery: 102,591 Assessment and Study: 15,585 (that I remembered to record)

Progress Report: Overview December 2017

In December 2017, I started to get my head around this writing-full-time thing—and also learned how to face down that feeling of facing an impossible task, and an impossible work load. I managed to finish writing the books for January, chase up a writer for their release, produce 5 covers, complete the edit, format and upload for the last of December’s releases, and then do the same for January. This is the writer’s equivalent of starting a business, I guess.
Progress for December 2017New words produced: 46,347Outlines and Notes: 6,217Works completed: 3 (1 YA novel, 1 YA chapter book, 1 novella)Works edited: 5 ( The Queen’s Game, A Planet’s Ransom, In Full Flight, Welcome to the Fruit Platter – Ellie, 366 Days of Flash Fiction )Covers created: 5 ( 366 Days of Flash Fiction, The Queen’s Game, A Planet’s Ransom, In Full Flight, Welcome to the Fruit Platter – Ellie)Works published: 5 ( 366 Days of Flash Fiction, The Queen’s Game, A Planet’s Ransom, In Full Flight, Welcome to the Fruit Platter )Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 14,263

Progress Report: December 24-31, 2017

The final week of December also involved very little writing, but a lot of publishing, as I tried to get January’s publishing schedule into line. While I wanted to get the entire schedule done, I didn’t think I’d get past the first fortnight. I was very relieved to get all of January’s releases up and running by New Year’s Eve, even if I hadn’t sorted out what the rest of 2018 would look like. This is what was accomplished in that final week of December 2017.
 
Overall Progress for December 24-31, 2017
New words produced: 5,556Outlines and Notes: 627Works completed: 0Works edited: 4 ( The Queen’s Game, A Planet’s Ransom, In Full Flight, Welcome to the Fruit Platter for Ellie)Covers created: 0Works published: 5 ( 366 Days of Flash Fiction , The Queen’s Game , A Planet’s Ransom , In Full Flight , Welcome to the Fruit Platter for Ellie)Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 302

Just Released: The Queen's Game

2018's first release is now live. The Queen's Game is now available for order from Smashwords, Amazon, and DrivethruFiction, as well as via Smashwords and Draft2Digital distribution. I'm a little excited, and a little bit nervous about this one as it winds up a couple of years' worth of flash fiction story-line, and looks to be starting a new one.


Never get involved with the Otherworld Fey. Take my word for it. I saved the Queen of Summer, and was betrothed to a lord of Winter by way of thanks—and then the human underworld got involved. So what do I do, when every choice is bad? What would youchoose: death by troll, or the mercy of an elf?

Progress Report: December 17-23, 2017

Well, if I thought the third week of December was busy, I redefined ‘busy’ for the fourth week. Again, not a lot of writing got done, but that’s the nature of being an independent writer. There’s no one else. Also, the editing and formatting of collections of short stories, flash fiction and poetry will take you three or four times as long as the editing and formatting for a novel.
 
Overall Progress for December 17-23, 2017
New words produced: 532Outlines and Notes: 4,434Works completed: 0Works edited: 1 ( 366 Days of Flash Fiction )Covers created: 0Works published: 0Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 0 

Progress Report: December 10-16, 2017

Things went quiet here towards the end of last year—and that’s because things got a little busier than I expected. Here is a very brief look back at what happened in what I was counting as the third week of December.
 
Overall Progress for December 10-16, 2017
New words produced: 7,748Outlines and Notes: 121Works completed: 1 (1 YA chapter book)Works edited: 0 (began the edit on 366 Days of Flash Fiction )Covers created: 5 ( 366 Days of Flash Fiction , The Queen’s Game , A Planet’s Ransom , In Full Flight , Welcome to the Fruit Platter for Ellie)Works published: 0Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 5,338

Novels Released as C.M. Simpson in 2017

Last year saw me release the first novels of two new series: the Aggie & Tams urban fantasy thriller series, and the Freeman science-fiction and fantasy series. This year, I will try to add to those series, as well as work on the fantasy series started with The Priestess, the Prince, and the Dragon.
August 201711th Ebook cover for Freeman's Choice Print-on-demand cover for Freeman's Choice

       When Lorellan Cartwright finds buying back the woman he loves an impossible task, he promptly steals her away, but escaping from the criminally minded third duke of Aristoc and reaching a place of safety are two very different things. And stealing from the duke embroils Lorellan and Megan in the politics of crime lords, long forgotten races of fantasy, aliens and interstellar law enforcement. Can they escape the tangled webs woven by others and find refuge? Or will they join the ranks of those who tried before and failed?September 201722nd

Ebook cover for Shades of Memory Print-on-demand cover for Shades of Memory
 
















When Aggie Dormain arrives in Canberra to paint some old diggers, she does not expect to meet an out-of-work archaeologist investigating an alien conspiracy, much less to be pulled into an adventure that would give Indiana Jones a run for his money.

Young Adult Novels and Chapter Books Released as Carlie Simonsen in 2017

I didn't release a lot for Carlie last year, but I started a series of science fiction novels for young adults, and added another book to the Wheelchair series. This year, I will be finishing off some of the other series I've started in the chapter books, as well as adding more science fiction titles to this series, and I'm really looking forward to it.
October 201720th 
Ebook cover for Army Boots and Stilettos Print-on-Demand cover for Army Boots and Stilettos




















Cord thought boarding school was a long way from home—until she was chosen for a traineeship with Bluebirds Mining. After that, who knew where home might be? Or how to get back to it? Or even if she could. With her mind playing tricks on her, and her best friend in the same boat, Cord is in it, but deep. Now, all she has to do is find a way out.
November 201719th 
Ebook cover for Wheelchair Mermaid Print-on-demand cover for Wheelchair Mermaid




















All Stacey wants is a morning on the beach—okay, and maybe to surf again. Like that’s ever going to happen, but a morning on the beach, on her own, as close to the waves as she’ll ever get, again, will do. It’s just that when something swims under the jetty, and a speedboat full of dangerous-looking men arrives on the beach shortly after, she has to do something. Right? Wheelchair or not, right? And that’s when life really starts to get interesting…

Wheelchair Mermaid is the fourth book in the Wheelchair Adventures series, which is based around young people getting their wheels underneath them, after they find themselves in wheelchairs.

Short Stories and Poems Released as C.M. Simpson in 2017

2017 was a pretty busy year, as I worked towards scheduling stories twelve months in advance of their release dates. These are the stand-alone titles and collections of short stories and poems I released as C.M. Simpson in 2017.

January 20176th Ebook cover for Road Trip.  When Melange feels the pull of utter dread emanating from a road train parked at a rest stop near her home, she investigates. She had no intention of being trapped in the cab on the driver’s unexpected return, nor of being stuck in the truck when he is murdered during the first delivery. But she can’t stay there. She’s discovered the prisoners that were the source of the dread, and the trolls are coming to take them away. With time running short, she must find a way to avoid capture, and summon help, and that means getting past the troll and humans standing guard.
20th

Ebook cover for Men of Sand and Light It was meant to be a surprise for Allan’s farewell, but the only person who got surprised was me. And the only farewell I was lookin’ at was my own, which just shows it’s never a good idea to look too closely at your heroes—even when you’re asked to, because now I’m gonna need a little help. and I don’t know if it’ll come in time.  
February3rd Ebook cover for White Pinnacle
I grew up with the White Pinnacle always on my horizon. It was the first thing I saw in the morning and the last thing I saw at night. Was it connected to me not being allowed to go to sea like the rest of my siblings, and why my father refused to tell me why? The night my sister’s ship capsized, was a night of revelations, but the price… my sister… Was it something I was strong enough to bear?
 17th
Ebook cover for Banquet at Magic Mountain
I hate camp. Every year yada yada yada. The only bright point is Luka, the Wild Man of Camp Mellinjo, an orphan and a stray grown up. When he bolts out of camp with the ook on his tail, I take off to see if I can save him, yet again—and that’s when I discover Camp Mellinjo isn’t what it seems, and neither is Luka. But seriously, guys, would my parents really sell me out?

March3rd Ebook cover for The Medusa's Starman.
When the battlespike Oliver is flying is hit as he seeks shelter in the warp, life as he knows it ends. On the other side of the warp waits a new world, a new life, and whole new set of dangers, and Oliver is going to have to pick things up fast, if he is to survive. Will the lady from the caves be his salvation, or will she finish what the crash began?
17th




Ebook cover for Memory's Return

I don’t remember how I got in the alley, at least, not when I first wake up—and I don’t remember the names of these friendly faces making sure I’m okay, but it’s coming back. I just wish it would come back faster, because one of these faces is all kinds of wrong underneath the friendly veneer, with an agenda all their own, and they don’t mind putting my team in danger. If I don’t remember the whos and whats and whys real soon, one, or all, of us is going to end up dead, and who’s going to save the pixies then?  
31st
Ebook cover for The Magicians and the Silk Road Hani is surprised when his wife joins him on the journey to barter for spider silk, moreso when she brings their children. Nothing, however, prepares him for what the children do when they meet the spider queen.  
April7th

Ebook cover for Bid the Moon Goodbye.
When Jervis’s son has a melt-down at school, and takes on partial wolf form, it’s just a normal family crisis, but when the nurse warns that anti-Lupine activists have the family’s name on a hit-list, Jervis needs to get them off the moon—and fast. The only question is how—and the only way to find an answer is to find a helpful spacer in the best pizza bar on Lunar One… and then hope there’s a ship with room for three.
21st

Ebook cover for The Seeker from Hivrala

Sandfire is a dragon, a guardian of the mountains, and a servant of the Gatekeepers. It is her duty to collect those the Gatekeepers designate seekers and bring them to her masters. The only problem is that the latest seeker doesn’t want to go. Vestera doesn’t care what the dragon wants; as far as she’s concerned she’s not about to become a dragon’s pet—but now she has to choose: go with the dragon, or face the royal guard. If only she knew which was worse...May   5th
Ebook cover for A Matter of Justice
When the plane carrying P.O.S. Officer Schaeffer goes down, it’s no accident. She and her partner lose the prisoner they’re escorting to trial, and the local elves nearly lose their lives protecting the unicorns and a grove of dryads. With the aircraft and its passengers on the ground, Schaeffer has to secure her prisoner before the woman can create any more mischief—and with dusk closing, the local unicorns seeking vengeance, and the trolls beginning to stir it’s not going to be easy.
A Matter of Justice is set in a world where magic has returned, pixie dust is the new drug of choice, and humans live side by side with creatures of legend. With new crimes forming around new resources and new markets, the Paranormal Operations Squad, walks the edge of two worlds, trying to bring justice to both.

 19th
Ebook cover for Luck Among Servants.
I’d always considered myself one of the lucky ones, lucky that the slavers had taken me and left my family, lucky to have found a master as kind as the one I had, just… lucky, so, when my master asked me to ride one of the many-legged spurline on an early morning errand, I considered myself lucky to have the honour. I never thought what it might be like when my luck ran out, and my master wasn’t around to intervene… June 2nd
Ebook cover for The Stars to Guide

When the stars told me my father would not return, my life changed—and my mother was not amused.
16th
Ebook cover for This Year's Star Fish.
Every year the fish come down from the stars, and every year Faulknor hopes they come for him. Well, this year he’s tired of waiting; this year it’s his turn to do the seeking. This year, he’s going to catch himself the fish of his dreams. This year, he’s coming for them… just as soon as he’s finished with the assassin, and the elf with its human and orc sidekicks. Yeah, after that he’s going to find himself a fish. 30th 
Ebook cover for Just a Dinosaur
 
July 14th
Ebook cover for The Years of Voyage

Someone had to go to the old ship—not because the colony was sick, but because the colony was dying, and the reason why was locked inside the transport’s hulk. Someone had to go out to where the ship had crashed, out into the dark, and past the plaguers. I just wished that someone didn’t have to be me. August 18th
Ebook cover for Short Work from 2014-Fantasy Print on demand cover for Short Work 2014-Fantasy
















   A collection of flash fiction, short stories, poems and essays where the genres of fantasy and urban fantasy explore depression, fear, facing the unexpected, and working through difficult situations. It is of adapting to a changing world, to dealing with fear, and about exploring a world where trolls, pixies, unicorns and fairies might be real. This collection is about the myths of the world, the fairytale world, the never was, and might have been.   25th 

Ebook cover for Short Work 2015-2016 Print cover for Short Work 2015-2016



















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. September 8th
Ebook cover for The Starman's Arrival
Knocking over those crates of beer was a death sentence. I did it on purpose, in front of everyone, and then I did the only thing I could—I ran. I think I saved the starman. Now, the only way I’ll know, is if the supply ship comes in time to drive the raiders away—and I get back out of Blacklegs’ Forest alive. Wish me luck, okay? I’m gonna need it. October 6th

Ebook cover for Fate in the Sun

On Canon V, the colonists live underground—those that can, anyway. Those that are born unable, I help guide to the surface, and then I try to warn them of the creatures that come from beyond the rifts. Some listen. Most run away screaming. With the creatures coming more often, now, the last thing any of us expected was for corporate intervention. Now, we just have to work out if they’re offering a deal worth taking, or if we’d be better off in the caves. November 3rd

Ebook cover for Cloud Door

So, we’ve done this job, and I’m checking our tails are clear, and I find they’re not—and then I find the only way to kick clear is to find the Cloud Door. Only trouble is the Cloud Door’s a legend, and Mack? Well, he’s not too fond of chasing legends. Fortunately, this one’s a no-brainer: we want to live, and that’s got to be enough to make anyone chase a legend, right? December 1st

Ebook cover for Serpents' Souls & Dragons' Hearts
Mankind has legends of intelligent serpents, dragons and vampires in almost every culture, and now mankind is out amongst the stars. When an emergent psi of lizardine-human descent dreams of a many-legged threat and serpents walking the skies, mankind might just have a chance to discover those legends made real.
29th

Print-on-demand cover for 366 Days of Flash Fiction Ebook cover for 366 Days of Flash Fiction
Inside these covers is a short story for every day of the leap year, some of which tell of the fantastic, others which take us to the stars and a myriad of other world, and still others that horrify with creeping tales of the undead. Every story is an exploration of something that might have been and never was, or something that might yet be. Take a break from the world that is, and explore other possibilities.

Available for Pre-Order: In Full Flight

The third book in my Wings series, In Full Flight , is now available for pre-order from Smashwords, and should soon make an appearance on Amazon in Kindle format. It will also be coming out in print (via CreateSpace distribution) and PDF (via DriveThruFiction) and will be available via Smashwords and Draft2Digital distribution.


Jack’s dad has a secret—a sad secret. He has never told Jack how he lost his wings. One day he does, and Jack’s world changes. At the same time, someone from his parents’ past comes into their present, and they must work out how to stop things from the past happening all over again.
In Full Flight is the third book in the Wings chapter book series, set around a family with wings and bird-like feet. This book is darker than the other two, dealing with themes of difference, discrimination at a state level, and finding a place to belong.