C.M. Simpson's Blog, page 167

Poetry Challenge - Introducing the Acrostic Form 4: The Multiple Acrostic Type 1

An acrostic may use more than one letter, syllable or word in each line.
 
WItches celebrate this day, some say,Not those whose souls are pureTErribly often do they forget those who mayReverently worship on this short day of coldSOon to celebrate the season’s passingLosing the cold, rest daysSTIll the spring is comingCErtain warmth and new growth at play.
Why don’t you give it a try? Try writing at least one double acrostic for each day of this week. You can find out more about how to write acrostics from the following sites:http://www.kathimitchell.com/poemtypes.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrostichttp://poetry.about.com/od/poeticforms/g/abecedarian.htmhttp://classiclit.about.com/od/literaryterms/g/aa_abcedarianpo.htmhttp://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/acrostic/http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/acrosticterm.htmhttp://www.edu.pe.ca/stjean/playing%20with%20poetry/Hickey/acrostic.htmhttp://www.poetry4kids.com/blog/lessons/how-to-write-an-acrostic-poem/http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/puzzles/acrostic-puzzles2.htmhttp://classroom.synonym.com/explanation-acrostic-poems-2019.htmlhttp://www.poemofquotes.com/articles/howto-write-an-acrostic-poem.phphttp://kingpoetry.com/murder.htm

Recipe - Sausage Stew and Mashed Potatoes

You will need:

2 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of garlic granules OR 1-2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
6-8 sausages
8-10 mushrooms
1-1 1/2 cups of frozen corn
1-1 1/2 cups of frozen peas
2 tablespoons of cornflour
1 3/4 cups of water
4-5 medium-sized potatoes
sufficient butter and milk for mashing
















How to - Sausage Stew:
1. Cut the sausages into 2-3 cm or 1 inch pieces.



2. Finely slice the mushrooms



3. Melt butter in a pan and add garlic and ground pepper. Allow to simmer for a minute.


4. Add the sausages to pan and cook until brown, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

5. Add the mushrooms to the sausages and cook until they darken, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

6. Mix the cornflour and water, and add the mix to the pan, stirring until it starts to thicken.

7. Add the frozen peas and corn and allow to simmer until the mashed potatoes are ready.

How To - Mashed Potatoes:
1. Dice the potatoes into 1-2 cm OR 1 inch cubes or thereabouts;


2. Boil the potato cubes in water until they are soft - when you can poke them with a fork and there is almost no resistance, they are ready;
3. Drain the water
4. Add butter (approximately 1 tablespoon) and milk (approximately 1/4 cup) to the potatoes and mash them until smooth.

Serving Suggestions:
You can serve the sausage stew and mashed potato side by side



with a side of bread



or have the sausage stew placed on top of the mashed potato and pushed a little in (which is how my little one likes it).

Flash Fiction Challenge - Due July 10, 2015

This piece was written on July 4, 2015 for the Six Random Titles flash fiction challenge on the terribleminds blog. We were given a link that gave the clicker 6 random titles, of which they had to choose one to write a piece of flash fiction under 1,000 words. My titles were: White Ice, The No Snake, School of Voyage, The Petals’ Slaves, The Eye of the Elves, and Eye in the Years. I decided to roll a D6 and rolled a 4—The Petals’ Slavesit was! This piece will also appear as the July 4 entry for Another 365 Days of Flash Fiction.



The Petals’ Slaves


The flowers of Auril are beautiful, but those sequestered in a jungle-surrounded sinkhole high in the northern ranges were the most beautiful. We worshipped them. I don’t mean in a bow-down-and-sacrifice-your-first-born kinda way. I mean we protected them from depredation, shielded the knowledge of them from the outside world, and let not a whisper of them escape the planet. These flowers were unique amongst all the known worlds.The fruit they bore was spectacular, the largest as tall as a man, hiding a single hard-husked seed, in the sweetest of flesh. Everyone hoped to be amongst those chosen to eat it. Everyone also hoped to remain unchosen, for the eaters did not survive.These large fruit carried the flowers’ children, who emerged from the exposed seed. They always woke hungry, mindless in their voracity, and the fruit’s flesh was narcoleptic. The eaters were eaten alive, only waking when it was too late and they were too weak to struggle. It was a pity they were never too weak to scream.And the flowers used this also, the tremor and pitch of their victims’ screams, triggering the release of pollen in clouds thick enough to coat everything it touched. The whole cycle of the flora’s conception and birth was related to death. And we did not mind.The valley was fertile. The flowers grew other fruits, not containing voracious plant-people, and we had access to one of the greatest and most-ancient botanical libraries in the world. We also couldn’t leave if we wanted to. The flowers grew thickest around the paths leading out of the sinkhole, and nests of giant ants and carnivorous wasps frequented those areas.When we’d first arrived the creatures coming out of the birth seeds had been ants, wasps, a couple of varieties of amphibians and a reptile. Since our coming, humanoid figures also emerged, joining our ranks once their eating was done. We called them gardeners, but they said we were all petals of the same flower, slightly different in hue, but all important. I suspect they’d acquired some of our literature by then. The gardeners soaked up knowledge in the same way their parents soaked up rain. Secretly, I called them ‘Petals’, after their favourite saying—all petals of the same flower, my ass.Once they had absorbed the knowledge of star-spanning civilisations from those they ate, we could not leave. Our communications were down for months after the comms tech had been devoured, and similar advances in defensive blocks occurred every time someone with different knowledge ended up eating the deadly fruits. The gardeners infiltrated every aspect of our lives, running our crèches, operating our technologies, controlling our communications, and keeping track of our accesses. We didn’t suspect anything until it was too late.Me? I just wanted out. I’d been chosen to be an eater, and I was nowhere near ready to die. I’d seen two friends go out and not come back, and I do not want to die.But I will die, with three others whom I’ve never met. I’ve said goodbye to my family, and now I’m in the lab, putting my research in order so my students can carry on where I leave off. I’m not ready to do that, either, but I have to—no matter how this works out. I have to leave the valley. I just have to convince them to let me take in the view from the edge of the mountain… one last time.They’ve put a watch on me. Seems someone found my research into hang-gliders off topic… good thing they didn’t realise those sewing classes I took weren’t because I wanted new sheets. At least, I hope not. No one’s thought to ask where the silk sheet set is. I guess they’re all waiting for me to head out to the fruiting ceremony before going through my stuff. Lucky me.I lean on the lab bench and sigh. It’s only part drama—I do need to get their attention—but it’s also heartfelt regret. I need to stop and take a breath. When the gardener watching me comes in, I’m sitting on the floor, with my back against the cabinet, my head in my hands.“What’s wrong?” she asks. “Surely you do not regret being chosen?”I rub my face, and resist the urge to try and shred her neck stem.“Of course not,” I manage. “To be chosen is an honour. It’s just…”I look up at the ceiling and blink.“It’s just?” she inquires politely.I get to my feet, and wave her concerns away.“It’s nothing,” I say. “Trivial. I should not let it bother me.”She waits, and then takes a step towards me, tentative as she reaches out and puts a hand on my arm. Damn, these creatures have learnt fast.“But it is,” she says. “We would want nothing to make you sad at the fruiting.”As if my death won’t do that. I shake my head, touch her hand briefly, and look toward the door.“I should make sure my quarters are in order,” I say, stepping around her as though that’s the end of the conversation.She almost lets me go, but then tightens her grip. I stop, wait.“Surely, I can help.”“It’s probably not allowed,” I say, and act as though I’ll move away.She does not let me go.“Tell me.” It’s just shy of a command.“I… it’s just I usually watch the sun set over the Lower Plains,” I hesitate seeing her frown, make a conciliatory gesture, “but I’ll understand if it’s not permitted.”I had established the habit almost two years ago, when Tania was taken. The Petal regards me, steadily, and then nods.“Come. I will take you.”I pick up my jacket, put the backpack over my shoulder—it looks just like the one I normally carry, the one without the silk parachute tucked inside My Petal doesn’t even blink.It’s a perfect evening for base-jumping.

Progress Report: Week 1, July 2015

And I hope all of you in the United States are enjoying your 4 July celebrations. Down here, in the O.Z. it was business as usual, but we took a little time to think of you—and again, today, as our time-zones create a time lapse. The revision of Artistic Licence saw me not only smash the word goal for June, but complete the word goal for the year. Next year, I will double this and see if an average of 2,000 words a day is feasible. I started the week with the flu, and things got better from there, but not as good as I’d like it to be—nearly, though, very nearly. I now have to slot my language study back in, and also fit in my studies, so the schedule isn’t quite settled, but it’s getting there.
OverviewNew words produced: 11,944Old words revised: 58,438Works completed: 33 (for inclusion in 4 separate collections)Works revised: 0Covers created: 0Works published: 0Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 979Tier 1 (June) TasksCrimeNovel1—Artistic Licence: Revised 58,438 words; added 701 wordsTier 2 (July) TasksCrimeNovel1—Artistic Licence: Reached 59,000 wordsPublishing TasksCreated 7 blog posts for this blog;Created 16 blog posts for the C.M. Simpson Art and Photography blog;EditingOnto Edit 3 of Orb WielderNew Arrivals
The following pieces arrived last week:
Poem542—The Troll Queen: a sonnet about a troll queen;Poem543—Winter Solstice: a multiple acrostic about the shortest day in winter;Poem 544—Double Dragon: a double acrostic about a dragon;Poem545—Starships to the Sky: a multiple acrostic about starships and sacrifice;Poem546—Troll Gate: a poem about a gate between worlds;Poem547—Troll Doom: a poem about the doom of trolls;Poem548—Though Picket Fence Eludes You: a poem about choices in life;Poem 549—I am… what?: a poem about being nothing;Poem550—Do You Know the Troll Wind?: a poem about an ill-portended wind;Poem551—The Dragon Flies: a series of haiku about a dragon flying;Poem552—Maven’s Oldest Lady: a two-verse limerick about a little old lady in Maven;Poem553–Starshine Mine: a poem about mining a star;Poem554—Never in the Car in the Sun Alone: a poem about the dangers of leaving a child in the car;Poem555—Quetzalcoatl Rising: a poem about QuetzalcoatlPoem556—In Search of Beaver Lost: a poem about species and extinction written from the future;Poem557—Prayer of a Roving Warrior’s Wife: a prayer for a warrior’s return;Poem558—Troubled Times: a poem about today’s world;Poem559—Territory Day: a poem about Territory Day and firecrackers;Poem560—Mermaids from the Stars: a poem about man-hunting mermaids from the sun;Poem561—Ode to Brownies: brownie lore encapsulated in verse;Poem562—My Mistress and the Fox: a poem about a lady’s search for a Chinese fox;Poem563—Vengeance on Basilisk Sworn: a double acrostic about the basilisk;Poem564—An Encounter with Big Foot: a limerick about big foot;Poem 565—The Black Dog of Devon: a poem about the black dog;Poem566—A Brush with the Kelpies: an urban fantasy poem about kelpies;Poem567—City Traffic: a cinquain about traffic noise;Poem568—Do You Want to Live Forever?: a poem playing on the marine question: Do you want to live forever?ShortStory457—Splash Woman: a piece of science flash fiction about colonists and disaster;ShortStory458—The Pixie’s Grief: a piece of urban fantasy flash fiction about a grieving pixie, evil fey and vengeance;ShortStory459—Joy Ride in July: a piece of speculative flash fiction about Santa’s sleigh south of the equator;ShortStory460—A Planet’s Ransom: a piece of young adult flash science fiction about kidnap and ransom;ShortStory461—Prison Break: a piece of flash fantasy-science fiction about an escape;ShortStory462—The Petals’ Slaves: a piece of flash science fiction about another escape;YANovel27—A Planet’s Ransom: about some young people and a planet’s ransom.

Spiders in my Garden - May 2015

You should always gloves when gardening in Australia - and you should keep a very careful eye out for the slightest flicker of movement. In May, which is the last month of autumn here, I was preparing my garden for winter when I spotted this lovely little lady. See if you can see her in the photos below.



And, yes, she is still somewhere in my garden... I just don't know where.

Flash Fiction Challenge - Due July 3, 2015

The terribleminds Flash Fiction Challenge for June 27, 2015, was to randomly choose a song and use the title as the title for a story. The story didn’t have to be inspired by the song and we had 1,000 words to play with. I googled as suggested and discovered Mega Ran’s song titled Splash Woman, so I started from there. The story was started on June 29, 2015, and completed on July 2, 2015. We had until noon on July 3 to complete it.
Splash Woman
It was a song in 2010, but I don’t know what it was about. Suzie called it chip-hop and referred to it as nerdcore. It had a lot to do with those retro computer games she used to collect. Whatever it was, she seemed to like it, even if the only words she seemed to know were ‘Splash… splash….’.I guess I couldn’t blame her for being seduced by something that suggested water in such abundance it could be splashed about. Where we were, we didn’t have that luxury. Out there, everything got splashed back into the recycling so we could drink it again… and again… and again. Those were the joys of colony transport—and why so many of us tried to sleep through it.Not that anyone is allowed to sleep through all of it. We each had to stand at least one shift on the journey out. Most of us chose to stand it with the rest of our family. The family-memories recordings helped, but they were nothing like the real thing. Those year-long watches were a time of balm and bonding. By the end of them, we were tired of the confines of the ship, of being locked in space with nothing but the stars passing by, but we were always reluctant to get back into our pods.Fortunately, the ship’s AI had protocols for that. In three hundred years of space travel, there had been less than a dozen attempted violations—and those reminded the rest of us why the sleep periods were important. I tucked Suzie into her pod, after downloading her Jarbo collection and giving her my Mikros files. She said it was cheesy, but her eyes told me she was glad to have another piece of me to take into the night. So was I.“Goodnight, Suzie,” I said, and the computer let me sit by her pod until she was under.I watched as it tucked her away, and then climbed into my own pod, not resisting as the sleep rolled over me. When it woke us next, we’d have made landfall, and the construction phase would be done.At least, that was the plan.I woke suddenly, and experienced a surge of panic as I felt the burst of acceleration that told me the pod was being jettisoned, along with all the others and the cargo. The ship was going in, or down, like one of those ocean liners of old, and it was making sure everything was clear of the crash.There’d be no knowing where it would hit, and that meant we’d be without some of the essential infrastructure we’d been counting on for the early day—and that was only if we were landing on the world we’d been sent to. Holy Hell!I fumbled to activate the pod interface, opening the data ports to the ship, requesting location, status and data files. I prayed I wasn’t the only one to do so. There wasn’t enough space in the pod’s data banks to store it. The ship would divide it between us, duplicating as much as it could. I opened a comms link to Suzie.“Splash, splash,” she was singing, the notes soured by an undertone of panic, but she accepted the link.“I love you,” I said.“I love you, too, daddy.”We left the link open, comforted even when the pods rocked and shuddered as we hit atmosphere. And even then we kept falling, falling until the pod’s emergency navigation and drive kicked in. I focussed on getting our location from the data, felt the AI break the connection as the ship began to break apart above us.“Daddy…” Suzie said, and then the line went dead.I called her name, tried to keep my voice reassuring, called it louder when there was no response, screamed it when I saw the comms link had closed. The rest of the ride down made the entire trip out seem short.We came down on the beach. The ship came down on the plateau where we’d been scheduled to land. That was why all comms had been terminated. Fortunately, the pods had not deemed fit to terminate the rest of us—and those little thrusters gave them vertical take-off and landing capacity. When the lid slid back above me, I was met by misting rain and the green-tinged smell of salt.“Suzie?” I called, sitting still just long enough for the dizziness to pass. “Suzie?”I panicked all over again, when there was no response and stood up so fast, that I fell down, out of the pond and onto the sand. I opened my eyes to the scarred and blackened undersides of two pods, and opened my mouth to call out again. I was thinking the worst, imagining lost pods, lost children, never seeing Suzie again, or hearing her sing that ridiculous song, when I registered that I was lying between two rows of neatly landed pods. Closing my mouth, I looked left and right, seeing pod hulls stretching in both directions, just as they had in the ship. I heard voices, other colonists emerging into planet-fresh air, the first rain they’d felt in years. My ears caught the sound of waves, and I thought, Suzie would love this.And speaking of Suzie, where was she? I opened my mouth to call again and finally registered the two bare feet dangling above me. They were swinging back and forth, attached to two legs, the ship-suit rolled up to mid-calf. Drifting down to me in the misting drizzle, I heard her voice and caught the familiar strains of an old Earth song.“Splash. Splash” she sang, as I stood up beside her.“Splash. Splash,” as I wrapped my arm around her waist and she wrapped her arm around my shoulders.“Splash. Splash,” I let my voice join in, remembering, as we both looked out past the orderly rows of pods to the storm swell beyond.“Splash. Splash,” indeed.

Blogs Read: June 2015

A little time was found to read bloggery in June, so I only got through the top few in my 'interesting blogs' list - and not all of them, at that. As follows:

Writing Tipshttp://kriswrites.com/2015/06/17/business-musings-gaming-the-system/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch on gaming the system and the craft of writing; http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/03/your-most-frequently-asked-writing-questions-answered/: Chuck Wendig gives some writing tips http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/05/26/how-mad-max-fury-road-turns-your-writing-advice-into-roadkill/: in which Chuck Wendig uses Mad Max to illustrate some story-telling pointshttp://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/the-path-to-success.html: Joe Konrath on how to be a successful writer
Independent Publishing:http://kriswrites.com/2015/06/24/business-musings-why-i-love-taylor-swift/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch on the business of writing and standing up for yourself on contracts http://kriswrites.com/2015/06/03/business-musings-whining/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch on new projects and what to do when feeling overwhelmed by non-writing parts of the writing businesshttp://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/on-book-designing.html: Joe Konrath on book design and book designing
The Publishing Worldhttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/23/heres-how-amazon-could-fix-kindle-unlimited/: Chuck Wendig comments on Kindle Unlimited changes  http://kriswrites.com/2015/06/10/business-musings-hidden-treasures/: and some of the changes it has undergone as observed by Kristine Kathryn Ruschhttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/09/i-stand-by-irene-gallo/: Chuck Wendig supports Irene Gallo of Tor Books regarding recent politics
Writer Admin Tipshttp://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/back-ups-and-ownership.html: a couple of notes on back-ups by Joe. Konrath.
Writer Etiquette http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/10/i-am-not-your-doorway/: Chuck Wendig about networking and a couple of don'ts
Writer News http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/21/hamslice-and-the-gang-my-sons-first-book/: Chuck Wendig's little one writes his first book; http://kriswrites.com/2015/06/20/first-book-in-a-new-series-now-available-for-preorder/: Latest young adult urban fantasy series from Kristine Kathryn Rusch writing as Kristine Graysonhttp://kriswrites.com/2015/06/10/more-award-news/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch short story is awarded AnLab Aware for Best Short Story; http://kriswrites.com/2015/06/09/the-end-of-the-saga/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch complete the Anniversary Day Saga;http://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/guest-post-by-bernard-schaffer.html: Bernard Schaffer on writing in Joe Konrath's Kindle Worlds.http://kriswrites.com/2015/06/05/nelscott-nominated/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch, writing as Kris Nelscott, nominated for a Shamus award http://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/grandma-part-2.html: Joe and Talon Konrath on writing Grandma?
Fiction and Game Writing:http://kriswrites.com/2015/06/15/free-fiction-monday-songbirds/: A short fantasy tale by Kristine Kathryn Ruschhttp://myth-o-logic.org/2015/06/28/mysteries-of-the-pacific/: a Call of Cthulu Mythos-based adventure background
Flash Fiction Challenges:http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/26/flash-fiction-challenge-the-random-song-title-jamboree/: Chuck Wendig offers another idea-sparking challenge based on song titles;http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/19/a-flash-fiction-challenge-to-create-a-flash-fiction-challenge/: in which Chuck Wendig turns the tables on those seeking inspiration and challenges them to write a challenge;http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/12/flash-fiction-challenge-the-dead-body/: Chuck Wendig's flash fiction challenge starting with a dead body;http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/05/flash-fiction-challenge-the-random-title-jamboree/: Chuck Wendig's title challenge

Poetry Challenge—Introducing the Englyn: Form 12—the Robertson Davies Variant

An englyn is a form of Welsh or Cornish verse, with a reputation of being hard to master. It has several different variants, all of which are governed by strict rules. This week, we’ll look at a variant insisted on by novelist Robertson Davies.
Davies insisted that the englyn must have four lines. The first line should have 10 syllables, the second should have 6, and the last two lines should have 7 syllables each. His form also states that there must be a break after the seventh, eighth OR ninth syllable, and that this is where the rhyme is introduced. The second line rhymes with the break, and the last syllable of the first line must be linked by either rhyme or assonance with the 3rd or 4th syllable of the second line. The third and fourth lines must rhyme on a weak syllable and must rhyme with the rhyme in the first line—very similar to the first form of englyn.
The Troll Queen
She stands beneath the ancient-most bridgeswhere there lingers bones lostShe defies all Heaven’s hostsFinds the wand’rers, steals their souls
This ancient beast of darkness rules by fearShe quickly steers distressand death beneath the bridge, lesthunters come at our behest
Should you see her, you should your soul bewareFor only there in bowlsof stone, all filled with sorrowgore and bone, Hell’s tomorrow
The troll queen’s fee for her long, long lifestricken with spite, all wrongmade right amidst summer’s songwhich weakens those once thought strong
The female troll, no beauty queen, deceivesGi’en by Hell’s thieves in dreamsan allure for mortal menthat the good by Hell are gained
Why don’t you give it a try? Try writing at least one of these tricky Robertson Davies’ englyns for each day of the week. You can find out more about how to write englyns from the following sites:http://www.volecentral.co.uk/vf/englyn.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englynhttp://www.poetrysoup.com/poems/englynhttp://www.poetrysoup.com/dictionary/englynhttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/188329/englynhttp://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/zoebrigley/entry/the_measures_of_1/http://dversepoets.com/2012/10/11/formforall-englyn/http://www.oocities.org/sca_bard/childrensenglynmilwr.htmlhttp://www.oocities.org/sca_bard/chil...

Progress Report: Week 4, June 2015

Some more readjustments to the schedule and a more satisfactory result, especially as my back went, and then I caught the flu. Editing, formatting and publishing will be added in soon, although I have started on that, as well.
 
Overview
New words produced: 7,578Old words revised: 0Works completed: 28 (for inclusion in 2 larger works)Works revised: 0Covers created: 0Works published: 0Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 0
Overrun Task
This short story decided to be longer than the allotted space, so it will appear as an overrun task until it is complete.

ShortStory61-Seppelitus: Added 2,768 wds
Formatting
YoungAdultNovel1A—Orb Wielder: large print print-on-demand formatting commenced on CreateSpace
Publishing Tasks
Commenced formatting of works in queue 
New Arrivals
The following pieces arrived last week:
Poem527—Who Knows How Far Our Troubles Fly: a villanelle about life’s troubles;Poem528—Shouting at the Stars: a villanelle about shouting at the stars;Poem529—Zombies in the Real World: a contemporary speculative poem about current events;Poem530—Sunset’s Promise: a contemporary poem about the weather;Poem531—Why the Bells Toll: a crown cinquain about the reasons bells toll;Poem532—Bell Tales: another poem about tolling bells;Poem533—Footsteps in the Darkness: a dark fantasy poem about being stalked in the dark;Poem534—The Marriage Bed and Partnership: a villanellesque poem about the changing understanding of the marriage ‘contract’.Poem535—The Storm-Tossed Sea: a fantasy acrostic poem about sea journeys;Poem536—Mermaids of the Deep: a fantasy name acrostic about mermaids;Poem537—Story Paths: a poem about stories;Poem538—The Trees and I: a contemporary poem about looking to the sky;Poem539—Magic and Power: a series of cinquains about power and magic and the difference;Poem540—Starships and Colonists: a science fiction poem about colonising the stars;Poem541—Stargazer’s Dream: another science fiction poem about colonisation;ShortStory444—Inquest into the Death of a Sorceress: a piece of flash fantasy fiction based on a piece of fantasy art showing a scantily clad sorceress and two dragons;ShortStory445—The Urban Guardian: a piece of flash fiction about an urban guardian;ShortStory446—The Rescue: a piece of flash fiction about a rescue;ShortStory447—A Day in the Star Marines: a piece of flash science fiction about star marines doing their thing;ShortStory448—Father’s Day Nightmare: a piece of flash science fiction about the sacrifice of soldier fathers;ShortStory449—Pretty is as Pretty Does: a piece of flash fiction about qualities other than beauty;ShortStory450—The Starships of Avanil: a piece of flash science fiction about a rescue;ShortStory451—Of Giants and Trolls: a piece of flash fantasy fiction about giants and trolls;ShortStory452—The Vampire Blight: a piece of horror flash about vampires;ShortStory453—Creation of the Cascades: a piece of flash science fiction about the creation of a successful orbital civilisation;ShortStory454—Protocols of Success: a piece of flash fiction about succeeding;ShortStory455—The Psy Knows Best: a piece of flash science fiction about trusting your psy;ShortStory456—The World Turns: a piece of flash fiction about change;

Progress Report: Week 3, June 2015

More attempts at balancing study and writing commitments. I’m closer to where I need to be, but not quite there, yet. I think, very soon, I’m going to have to choose a primary path.
 
Overview
New words produced: 5,051Old words revised: 5,271Works completed: 9 (for inclusion in three larger works)Works revised: 0Covers created: 0Works published: 0Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 716
Tier 1 (June) Tasks
Novella24A: Revised 5,271 words
Tiers 2-6 (July-September) Tasks
ShortStory61-Seppelitus: Added 4,415 words
Publishing Tasks
Added 1 entry to this blog
New Arrivals
The following pieces arrived last week:

Poem 520—The Snowbird of Medilo: a science fiction poem about a bird on another world;Poem521—The Selfish and the Stars: a science fiction poem about star travel;Poem522 —Birds in Winter: a poem based on the birds I see in winter;Poem523—The Unseelie Slumber: a fantasy poem based on an escape from the unseelie fey;Poem524—The Rescuer’s Words: a poem based on an escape;Poem525—The Dragon Lilies’ Danc): another science fiction poem based on Medilo;Poem526—Hiveminded Alliance: a science fiction poem based on alien alliances;ShortStory442—Street Dark Treachery: a piece of urban fantasy flash fiction about betrayal;ShortStory443—Dragon-Lily Swarm: a piece of flash science fiction set on the world of Medilo;