C.M. Simpson's Blog, page 175

Books Read in December 2014

I only got a little reading done in December, but my thanks to Wilbur Smith and Alan Dean Foster for providing some of my most favourite tales.

Blogs Read in December 2014

So, I did get a little blog reading done in December. Most of it was read on New Year's Eve as a break to writing in the New Year. These are the ones I read to the very end. Enjoy.

Writing and Publishinghttp://kriswrites.com/2014/12/30/business-musings-things-i-learned-or-relearned-in-2014/#sthash.xP3yEpvN.dpbshttp://kriswrites.com/2014/12/23/business-musings-things-indie-writers-learned-in-2014/#sthash.FopvjJpq.dpbshttp://kriswrites.com/2014/12/17/business-musings-what-traditional-publishing-learned-in-2014/#sthash.lZdg3MPU.dpbshttp://www.deanwesleysmith.com/new-world-of-publishing-control/http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/new-world-of-publishing-failure-must-be-an-option/http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2014/12/28/16-thoughts-for-authorspublishing-for-2015-aka-winners-dont-quit/ http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/more-writers-than-ever-are-earning-a-living-but-10-ways-to-keep-doing-it/http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2014/11/28/nanowrimo-remember-writers-coffee-is-for-closers/http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/12/30/my-2015-writing-and-publishing-wishlist/ http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/12/29/2015-resolution-for-writers-be-big-and-then-be-small/http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/12/28/2014-on-the-cookfire-while-2015-paces-in-its-cage/http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/what-are-the-real-odds-of-being-a-successful-author/http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/caveat-venditor-five-mistakes-killing-self-published-authors/
Industry Argy Bargy
On MacMillan's Letter to Authors: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/translating-john-sargent.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/28/technology/amazon-offers-all-you-can-eat-books-authors-turn-up-noses.html?hpw&rref=business&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0 http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/12/28/subscription-model-squabbles/http://michaelrunderwood.com/2014/12/29/the-content-wars-come-to-publishing-ku-and-subscriptions/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/28/twist-in-tale-of-the-books-industry-expansion-ebookshttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/12/17/what-the-hells-happening-with-kindle-unlimited/
Author Petshttp://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/its-a-dog-day-with-cool-gus-remembering-rex/
Writer Newshttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/106188.htmlhttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/105695.htmlhttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/105695.html

Recipe: Garlic Steak and Mushroom Stew

For those who are interested. I try to cook from fresh whenever possible. It's cheaper, and the food tastes better.

Recipe:
In a pan, place two tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of ground black pepper, and a teaspoon or two of garlic granules, or two cloves of finely chopped fresh garlic. Heat on medium until oil is hot.Take your steak and cut it into small pieces; alternatively, take a cup of steak pieces. Add to oil and  allow to brown. Add 4-6 thinly sliced mushrooms. Stir them through the steak. Add a small zucchini quartered and sliced. Stir through the steak and mushrooms. Add thinly sliced broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and stir through after adding each one. Add 1 1/2  cups of water. Cover pot, turn heat to halfway between low and medium. Allow to simmer for half an hour to an hour. Serve with bread.

Australian Insects: White Moth at Dusk

I still have to get the knack of taking photographs in low light. This s the only semi-decent shot of a little white moth I saw at dusk one evening in late November.

Gardening: Fitting in the Fitness

The gardening continues, but I was forced to take a slower pace. It seems that even limiting the amount I did was not enough to avoid back strain.
Day 7:I weeded


and pruned and the muscles gave notice they were too sore to continue.



Fortunately, nothing tore. I lost the rest of the day to lying flat on my back and sleeping. Not what I had planned. It was a loss of valuable writing time as I couldn't sit at the desk

Day 8:
Enforced day of rest. No gardening.

Poetry Challenge—Introducing the Acrostic Form 3: The Calendar Acrostic

Sometimes writers used the months of the year to give them inspiration for verse. These calendar acrostics can use either an abbreviation of the month, or the full name:
 
JANuary makes all things newFEBruary is when the work ensuresMARch is full of working cheer but byAPRil the loading seems quite drearMAY brings cooler weather as autumn diesJUNe heralds winter and the cold winds flyJULy is a time for holidays, a mid-year break, examsAUGust is the coldest part of every yearSEPtember sees schools resume and spring appearOCTober and the time wears thin beforeNOVember and university, senior school endsDECember is upon us fast, Celebration as the year breathes its last.
Why don’t you give it a try? Try writing at least one calendar 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/

Books Read in November 2014

As things started to ease up in November, I found some time to read. The first book was for research, and it proved an interesting way of looking at how mythical creatures might have their roots in historical life, and what sorts of fears they might have tapped in the creation and continuation. The second book is by one of my favourite authors, Alan Dean Foster.

Blogs Read in October and November 2014

As far as I can recall, I had no time in October for blog reading, but that doesn't mean I didn't read some anyway. Most of the blogs listed below, however, were read in November. I have tried to divide them up into categories for ease of browsing:
The Art of Writing:http://gretavanderrol.net/2014/11/21/on-the-art-of-writing-what-you-know/http://sfrcontests.blogspot.com.au/20... Books:http://gretavanderrol.net/2014/11/12/... http://gretavanderrol.net/2014/10/07/... http://gretavanderrol.net/2014/11/17/..., which led to: http://sfrcontests.blogspot.com.au/20... Things that caught my eye (and one that made me cry):http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/... Photography:http://gretavanderrol.net/2014/10/31/... Independent Publishing: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2014... http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/... Argy Bargy: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2014...

Work Published in November 2014

In November, I published the following collection of science fiction, fantasy and speculative genre poetry as an e-book on Smashwords and Amazon:
You can buy it from Smashwords for a 50% discount until December 15, 2014 using the following coupon code:
SN58W






Welcome to this gathering of poetry. It comes in a variety of styles and genres, and is arranged in no particular order save that there is one poem for each day. I have played with traditional forms such as the cinquain and englyn, and worked with free-form verse and rhyme. I have written about the world around me, and about worlds that probably don’t exist. I have tried to write poetry from the perspective of someone in the distant future writing about a new world, and I have written poetry with fantasy themes. Welcome to the worlds in my head.


The cover photograph was provided by photographer and science-fiction romance writer Greta Van Der Rol, whose work can be found at: Dreamstime, CanStockPhoto, and Redbubble.

Australian Birds: Cattle Egret (Ardea ibis)

This white egret was biding his time by the edge of a small local lake,

when a white-faced heron flew past.

 Once it had gone, the egret continued to contemplate the water, in peace.

 To find out more about the Australian cattle egret, you can visit the following sites:

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Ardea-ibis;http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1000;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_egret;http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=19294;http://australianmuseum.net.au/Cattle-Egret;http://www.graemechapman.com.au/library/viewphotos.php?c=128.