C.M. Simpson's Blog, page 157

JUST RELEASED: A Legacy of Elves - C.M. Simpson

My post-apocalpytic, dark urban fantasy short story just released. It's available from Smashwords, Kobo, Amazon, Omnilit, and DriveThruFiction in most ebook and PDF formats. It is not yet available in print form, but will appear in future collections.

A Legacy of Elves EBook Cover


The sun was setting and the trolls were out when we discovered the chapel. From the get-go it seemed almost too good to be true, but we needed refuge from the trolls. Between them, the dust smugglers, the pixie and the unicorns, we mighta bitten off more’n we could chew, but if we could survive this little fracas, we just might have found ourselves a home... we really needed a home…
A Legacy of Elves is a short post-apocalyptic story set in a world where civilisation has been all but wiped out by a tsunami of magic, plague and natural disaster. Trolls and other creatures of legend and fairytale roam the land, and human survivors must build a new life, but everything comes at a cost, and some costs are more visible than others.

Progress Report: Week 3, January10-17, 2016

After last week’s change of routine, led to less writing than I’d anticipated, I worked to adjust my routine a little more. I focused on getting 10,000 steps done in the morning, and that worked out all right until the 38 degree celsius day hit. I also found that on days when I took long walks in the morning, I struggled to get into the rest of the day, although this was more due to the heat than the exercise. It’s very hard to write when the temperatures reach 28-38 degrees Celsius (82.4-100.4 degrees Farenheit) or more. (We have no air-conditioning, you see.)
All my walking was done in the very early morning and I made sure I was home by 09:00 at the latest. I did not go walking on the 38 degree day. I am noting an improvement in my health, productivity and alertness, which dropped off after the third consecutive day of not walking, so the walking has to stay.Also, at the beginning of this week, I made the following decisions:
I would finish the chapter books I had started AND try to finish another two, including the one I hadn’t got to starting last week;I would still try to write or complete a short story, but only after I’d made a dent in the chapter books;I would get started on the publishing process for the first book due in March, since that book is going to be another big job, taking up most of a week.I would try to complete another ten poems and ten pieces of flash for the collections coming out later this year;I would read at least one of the books of required pre-reading for university;I would maintain my walking, but would allow a rest day after 2-3 days of longer walks.
And, by the end of this week, I had managed the following:
To walk for 5/7 days of the week with 2 rest days on Wednesday and Thursday due to heat and publishing constraints;Completed Chapbook5C—Rocky Rides the Space Range from Week 2, December 2015 AND completed its cover, pre-edits, base formats and relevant release announcements;Completed Chapbook14J—Legacy of Hearts from Week 1, January 2016 AND completed its cover, pre-edits, base formats and relevant release announcements;Completed ShortStory483—Headlines from the Starman (was The Royal Starman in the Moon ): which reached 3,669 words and is currently under submission;Started Chapbook5D—Rocky Touches Down, including completing the outline and starting the text.
Well, 3/6 and a couple of extra bits, which gives me a better idea of what I’m ableto complete, and next week sees a major shift in focus as I prepare to move from being a full-time writer to being a full-time student who also writes.Next week, I’m going to be aiming at the following:
completing Chapbook5D—Rocky Touches Down and maybe starting another chapbook;completing a short story;completing as much of the pre-order editing, formatting and upload of work ready for publishing;continuing a minimum of an hour’s walk a day with one or two rest days as required
Sounds simple? It probably won’t be, but let’s see how we go.
OverviewNew words produced: 12,181Old words revised: 0Outlines and Notes: 2,146Works completed: 0Works revised: 0Covers created: 2Works published: 1Works submitted: 4Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 2,407University Prep and Assignments: 0
A Note on Challenges: This week I enacted Heinlein’s Rule #2—Finish What You Start, and made completing the two incomplete Holiday Extension books a priority.
Story-A-Week Challenge Update
ShortStory483—Headlines from the Starman (was Royal Starman in the Moon): reached 3,669 words and is now under submission;
Holiday Extension Challenge Update
Chapbook5C—Rocky Rides the Space Range: completed at 13,897 words, and now scheduled for release February 19, 2016;Chapbook14J—Legacy of Hearts: completed at 7,800 words, and now scheduled for release May 20, 2016.  




















Publishing Tasks
Created 5 blog posts for this blog;Created 4 blog post for the C.M. Simpson Publishing blog;Created 2 blog post for the C.M. Simpson Art and Photography blog;
New Arrivals
The following pieces arrived last week and are awaiting completion:
YANovel28 (Dragons of the First Moon):about Elita and Rocky and the dragons of the First Moon.

JUST RELEASED: Rocky and the Great Teddybear Rescue

Today, U.S. A. time, the third book in Carlie Simonsen's Otherworld Adventures series releases:



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.

Progress Report: Week 2, January 3-9, 2016

This week, I changed things up a bit. In the first couple of challenge weeks I confirmed I don’t do so well writing more than 2,000 words on one project at a single sitting, so this week I experimented to see if I could find a working method that works for me and still allows me to achieve the goals I need to achieve. I also knew that at the end of this week the books I needed to pre-read for my university courses would arrive, and that everything would change next week—but in a way that would be more realistic for the university year. I also had to focus more on publishing, as writing the stories is one thing, but getting them out to my readers is completely another. Hate to admit that publishing took up most of my time, this week.

Overview  New words produced: 6,272Old words revised: 0Outlines and Notes: 0Works completed: 5Works revised: 0Covers created: 1Works published: 1Works submitted: 1Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 680University Prep and Assignments: 0
A Note on Challenges: This week I enacted Heinlein’s Rule #2—Finish What You Start, and made completing the two incomplete Holiday Extension books a priority. I also made the preparation for January 2017 and February 2016 releases a second priority. This is how I went.
Story-A-Week Challenge Update
ShortStory508—Lord of the Vortex: reached 4,045 words and is now under submission;
Holiday Extension Challenge Update
Nil – I did not meet this challenge this week. Other priorities took precedence – exercise, family, and the publishing side of things. Next week, I will try to do better.
Publishing Tasks
Created 2 blog posts for this blog;Created 2 blog post for the C.M. Simpson Publishing blog;Created 2 blog post for the C.M. Simpson Art and Photography blog
New Arrivals
The following pieces arrived last week and were completed:
Poem702—Advice for Rabbits: a speculative piece about living life to the full – rabbit or not;Poem703—No Man’s Prey: a fantasy poem about mermaids;ShortStory630—Lakeside Dining: a piece of urban fantasy flash fiction featuring an Australian shape-shifterShortStory631—Troll-Hunting and the Rain: a piece of urban fantasy flash fiction about trolls and the rain.

The following pieces arrived last week and are awaiting completion:
Chapbook5F: Rocky and the Raptors—Rocky has a close encounter with the raptors of Tallona.

COVER REVEAL: Legacy of Hearts - Carlie Simonsen

And here is the new cover for the third chapter book in my Wheelchair Adventures series, which I write under the pen name Carlie Simonsen.

Legacy of Hearts Ebook Cover Legacy of Hearts PoD Cover





















Dumped by her boyfriend, Tomas, because she ended up in a wheelchair, Stella has to rebuild her life. If she hadn’t met Ambrose in hospital, she might never have thought of playing basketball again, but he was just a friend. She never expected to see him when she got out. It comes as a total surprise, when Ambrose meets Stella after her first basketball game in a chair. More surprising is his request to see her again. Can Stella afford to let him keep visiting, or will he end up being just as much of a disaster as Tomas had been?
Legacy of Hearts is the third book in the Wheelchair Adventures series, which is based around young people getting their wheels underneath them, after they find themselves in wheelchairs.

COVER REVEAL: for Rocky Rides the Space Range

The cover for Rocky Rides the Space Range has just been approved:

Rocky Rides the Space Range Ebook Cover Rocky Rides the Space Range PoD Cover





















When Rocky’s ship stops to resupply at Tallona’s First Moon, Rocky and his classmates head down to the surface. Seeing moon dragons, ice beetles, dangerous butterflies and flowers that grow on the moon’s surface seem like a good way to spend a day. Rocky never expects to have to deal with moon raiders as well. When his little sister runs away to protect the dragon eggs, Rocky’s troubles really begin. Can he sneak out of the base, find his sister, and bring her back without the pirates or moon base security ever finding out? All he knows is that he has to try.

Rocky Rides the Space Range is the fourth book in the Otherworld Adventures series, which is set on Rocky’s journey to the world of Tallona, where his parents will farm alongside the aliens who have asked them for help.

NEW COVER: A Legacy of Elves - C.M. Simpson

Just got the new cover for my February release - a dark, post-apocalyptic, urban fantasy short story, A Legacy of Elves , which will soon be available for pre-order.

A Legacy of Elves EBook Cover

The sun was setting and the trolls were out when we discovered the chapel. From the get-go it seemed almost too good to be true, but we needed refuge from the trolls. Between them, the dust smugglers, the pixie and the unicorns, we mighta bitten off more’n we could chew, but if we could survive this little fracas, we just might have found ourselves a home... we really needed a home…
A Legacy of Elves is a short post-apocalyptic story set in a world where civilisation has been all but wiped out by a tsunami of magic, plague and natural disaster. Trolls and other creatures of legend and fairytale roam the land, and human survivors must build a new life, but everything comes at a cost, and some costs are more visible than others.

December 2015 Challenge Report

In December 2015, I started on two challenges: The Story-A-Week Challengeand the Holiday Extension Challenge. I didn’t start until the second week of December which means I needed to complete three short stories, and three chapter books in order to meet the challenge.

I started the challenge late in the second week, and still completed the short story challenge, but I didn’t manage to complete the chapter book. That took me until the last week in December. So, the titles of what was completed for the challenges are as follows:
The Story-A-Week ChallengeWeek 2: Seppelitus : added around 4,000 words for a total of 13,500 words – and now scheduled for release in December 2016;Week 3: The Severine Sidestep : added around 2,500 words for a total of 5,300 words – now under submission;Week 4: Rendezvous at Raptor’s Rest: added around 9,672 words for a total of 11,239 words – and now scheduled for release in January 2017.
The Holiday Extension ChallengeWeek 2: Rocky Rides the Space Range (Otherworld Adventures #4): not yet complete;Week 3: Legacy of Hope (Wheelchair Adventures #2): now scheduled for release on April 15, 2016Week 4: Legacy of Hearts (Wheelchair Adventures #3): not yet complete.
All in all, not a bad way to get into the writing habit, and start ensuring Carlie had some regular releases for next year. The aim is for her to have one chapter book a month released by the end of 2017. And that’s the point of the Holiday Extension challenge. Ditto for me. I’d like to have a short story a month coming out. In 2016, I’m aiming at one every two months, but I’m hoping to have that up to one a month in 2017. These challenges are a step towards achieving that.

When his flying ship, the Red Horizon, was shot down, Tescher told no-one he had a woman on board. Three years later, he returns to the ship wreck and finds Marianna not only survived the crash, but left him a message. She found what she was looking for aboard his ship, and she’ll wait for him at the Raptor’s Rest, but once a year—tonight. Tight flying will get him there in time, but it will take more for him to navigate clear of the underworld predators circling the criminal shores on which Marianna has landed.

Rendezvous at Raptor’s Rest is set in the steampunk world of 1840’s Australia, complete with flying ships, landed gentry, velociraptors and those who take their tinkering with the ether just a little too far.  

Progress Report: Week 1, December 27-January 2, 2015

The main lessons I learned last week were that new habits are hard to establish, and that I have a long way to go to being physically fit. I also learned that persistence pays off, so I’m sticking with that one. I also achieved my official goal of 2,000 words/day, and got closer to writing a consistent 4,000 publishable words/day. Baby steps… baby steps…
Overview 
New words produced: 18,153Old words revised: 0Outlines and Notes: 1,046Works completed: 1Works revised: 0Covers created: 1Works published: 1Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 195University Prep and Assignments: 0
Story-A-Week Challenge Update
Completed: ShortStory630—Rendezvous at Raptor’s Rest: now scheduled for release January 13, 2017.
Holiday Extension Challenge Update
Started: Chapbook14J—Legacy of Hearts(Wheelchair Adventures #3): reached 7,252 words out of a projected 6,000 words, but not yet complete.
Publishing Tasks
Created 2 blog posts for this blog;Created 1 blog post for the C.M. Simpson Publishing blog;Created 1 blog post for the C.M. Simpson Art and Photography blog;
New ArrivalsNil

When his flying ship, the Red Horizon, was shot down, Tescher told no-one he had a woman on board. Three years later, he returns to the ship wreck and finds Marianna not only survived the crash, but left him a message. She found what she was looking for aboard his ship, and she’ll wait for him at the Raptor’s Rest, but once a year—tonight. Tight flying will get him there in time, but it will take more for him to navigate clear of the underworld predators circling the criminal shores on which Marianna has landed.
Rendezvous at Raptor’s Rest is set in the steampunk world of 1840’s Australia, complete with flying ships, landed gentry, velociraptors and those who take their tinkering with the ether just a little too far.

NEW COVER for Rendezvous at Raptor's Rest

Here is the cover for my Australian steampunk horror novella:

Rendezvous at Raptor's Rest Ebook cover Raptor's Rest Large Print PoD Cover Raptor's Rest Mass Market PoD Cover




















When his flying ship, the Red Horizon, was shot down, Tescher told no-one he had a woman on board. Three years later, he returns to the ship wreck and finds Marianna not only survived the crash, but left him a message. She found what she was looking for aboard his ship, and she’ll wait for him at the Raptor’s Rest, but once a year—tonight. Tight flying will get him there in time, but it will take more for him to navigate clear of the underworld predators circling the criminal shores on which Marianna has landed.
Rendezvous at Raptor’s Rest is set in the steampunk world of 1840’s Australia, complete with flying ships, landed gentry, velociraptors and those who take their tinkering with the ether just a little too far.