C.M. Simpson's Blog, page 227

Blogs that made me stop: Week 2 September 2012

Some of you know that I read a lot of blogs; it’s why I’ve decided to go indie rather than follow the traditional route to publishing. Anyway, even though the decision’s been made, I still read the blogs. Sometimes I even stop and read them slowly instead of skipping over them. Here are the entries that have made me stop and take a second look this week:

 Susan Kiernan-Lewis’s blog about writing habits of some famous writers (http://susankiernanlewis.com/2012/09/05/daily-creative-habits-of-the-rich-and-famous/);Susan Kiernan-Lewis’s blog post about how changes she made to one of her books helped it to sell, and the role of social media (http://susankiernanlewis.com/2012/09/05/daily-creative-habits-of-the-rich-and-famous/);The Galaxy Express blog had a steampunk-type adventure romance cover that caught my eye, so I stopped. Here’s the link: http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net/2012/09/exclusive-steampunk-romance-cover.htmlThe Next Web on how to price your services as a freelancer: http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2012/09/08/freelancing-pricing-services/The Other Side of the Story a constructive critique on story openings. I like this as a learning tool. Go to: http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/09/real-life-diagnostics-is-this-opening.htmlThe Other Side of the Story on revision: http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/09/guest-author-alex-hughes-how-to-revise.htmlThe Word, The Word: A writer, a broken coffee cup, grief and grooving on, how could I not be sucked into the story? The coffee cup’s replacement: http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/ongoing-mugging/Tracy Hickman: showing the value of an intriguing opening be it blog, novel or short story: http://www.trhickman.com/2012/08/29/dragoncon-slayers/;Walt Shiel moves parts of his blog: http://waltshiel.com/2012/08/26/making-it-easy-were-moving/;Walt Shiel on Google’s Fair Use policies: http://waltshiel.com/2012/07/30/fair-...Walt Shiel on starting a business: http://waltshiel.com/2012/07/27/what-it-takes-to-start-a-busines/Walt Shiel’s new blog on writing: http://fiverainbows.com/5rainbows/; andWOW – Women on Writing where Karen Cioffi talks about creating an e-book: http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/2012/09/why-you-should-create-ebook-and-6-basic.html.

Progress Report Week 2 September 2012

So, it’s been another really quiet week, but I think I managed to crack the first of the challenges in rewriting DarkFantasyNovel1A.
Current Projects
This week I made the following progress on my current projects:
DarkFantasyNovel1A: + 5,000 words; first four chapters revised;
Publishing Tasks
DarkFantasyNovel2A: commissioned cover artist;RomanceNovel1A: progressed cover art with artist;Updated blog 3 times;Added links to The Simpson Anthologies page. 
New Arrivals Only one new arrival this week:
·         Poem31: Another series of haiku to form a poem, this one about hitmen.

I promised you a spider

So, here it is. First attempt, unedited, in chalk pastel, which I've only used three times in the last 12 months. I obviously need a lot more practice in this media so don't laugh too hard. I have a long way to go :-)

For the real thing, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/Peacockspiderman/videos

Peacock Spiders - Cute

Australia has a lot of spiders that are deadly and might be accused of being ugly. The peacock spider is not one of them. Check out these you-tube clips proving that spiders can dance :-)

Peacock Spider Videos

Apologies for no pictures. It's late. I promise I'll do an artist's impression of one in chalk pastel tomorrow, and maybe provide a sneak peek at an idea the little gromits have spawned.

Progress Report Week 1 September 2012

Current Projects:The following projects were undertaken this week:Chapbook10B: the second chapbook about a boy with wings, revised, +500 words, now complete and ready for black-line artwork and cover;DarkFantasyNovel1: Revised chapters 1-4, added 2,000 words.Publishing Tasks:The following publishing tasks were completed this week: An Anthology of Dragons was formatted and uploaded to CreateSpace;Amazon Author sites in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the U.S. were updated with In a Cyber-World , Two Worlds Collide , and Palmyra Ridge ;Linked-In was updated with details for Two Worlds Collide , Palmyra Ridge and Nettlefold Princess ;GoodReads was updated with details for In a Cyber-World , Two Worlds Collide Palmyra Ridge and Nettlefold Princess ; andShelfari was updated with details for In a Cyber-World , Two Worlds Collide Palmyra Ridge and Nettlefold Princess ; Created an anthology page for my blog; Confirmed cover artist for RomanceNovel1A;Began tentative arrangements for cover art for DarkFantasyNovels1A-Cand DarkFantasyNovel2A; andUpdated blog three times.New Arrivals:I almost finished the week without any, but then I attended the September Canberra Romance Writers’ meeting and we did a writing exercise. These stories were the result:RomanceNovel3A: a romantic suspense that will probably have something to do with planes, archaeology and artefact smuggling;RomanceNovel4A: a romantic suspense that will probably have something to do with hiking, flying and the smuggling of native animals;RomanceNovel5A: a romantic suspense that will probably have a lot to do with a bodyguard, an unscrupulous employer, and puppies.

Nettlefold Princess released on Kindle and Smashwords

Nettlefold Princess is now available on both Kindle and Smashwords. Of all the things you can do before breakfast, I hadn't thought of uploading a book until today. Enjoy!

All is not well in Nettlefold Hollow. Amity claims she see things in the shadows and refuses to go out at night. Her classmates laugh at her until she goes missing on the way home from school. When her best friend, Samantha, looks in Amity's locker and finds her diary, she learns that Amity was being haunted by a fairy prince. Who can she rely on to help her with a problem like that?

             found in


















Nettlefold Princess is just under 3,000 words long, and is the fourth story in the fourth Simpson Anthology, An Anthology of Worlds , which will be released in about a fortnight.

An Anthology of Dragons released on CreateSpace

An Anthology of Dragons has been made available through CreateSpace's regular distribution channels. An Anthology of Battle will be next :-)

       Available                                    Available 

         NOW                                                                    mid-September
 

Palmyra Ridge released on Kindle and Smashwords

Palmyra Ridge has been released on Amazon and Smashwords. Palmyra Ridge is a short science fiction story exploring issues of belonging, bloodlines and heritage in a changing world. Just under 7,000 words in length, it is the third short story in the fourth Simpson Anthology - An Anthology of Worlds. An Anthology of Worlds.Chani dreams of the ritual of Severance, which allows her to leave her people's homeland, but when the company she works for moves to take her people's lands, she is exactly where she needs to be. All she has to do is convince Security Officer Asleyan that her visits to Palmyra Ridge are essential, and maybe gain his assistance in defending those she holds most dear. But the security officer has a heritage and fears of his own. Can two people from two very different cultures work together to save nation, while retaining their own sense of self and sanity?  found in 







  An Anthology of Worlds will be released in mid-September 2012.

Progress Report Week 4 August 2012

I had the flu this week, and a good deal of last week, too, and I’m still not feeling too crash hot. In spite of it, the following progress was made.Current ProjectsI made progress on the following current projects, this week:Annual1: +1,000 words;DarkFantasy2A: + 1,300 words. Completed length 95,300. Awaiting cover art and final edit prior to release.Revised Chapbook2: a contemporary drama;Revised Chapbook3A: the first in a fantasy series;Revised Chapbook4: a contemporary drama;Revised Chapbook5A: the first in a series of science fiction adventure;Revised Chapbook6: a science fiction war-action-adventure story;Revised Chapbook7: a contemporary drama with a small science fiction element; Revised Chapbook8: a paranormal urban adventure;Revised Chapbook9A: the first in a post-apocalyptic science fiction series; andRevised Chapbook10A: the first in a paranormal urban fantasy adventure.Publishing TasksThe following publishing tasks were completed: Formatted and uploaded Poem8 – Two Worlds Collide, to Smashwords;Formatted and uploaded Poem8 – Two Worlds Collide, to Kindle; andUpdated blog three times.New ArrivalsThe following ideas arrived this week, and are probably a sign I shouldn’t draw in staff meetings…: PictureBook10A: to do with a cat, probably a series;PictureBook10B: to do with a cat, definitely a series; Chapbook1A: to do with a cat, first in a series to be written in Australian and American English and accompanied by Teacher’s Notes. Line-drawing illustrated. Years 3-4, but adaptable to slightly higher and lower grades. English focus, but activities for outcomes in some other subject areas.TeachersNotes1A: to accompany Chapbook1A, first in a series of Teacher’s Notes to accompany Chapbook series.

In a Cyber World and Two Worlds Collide Released on Kindle and Smashwords

The poems, In a Cyber World and Two Worlds Collide , have been released on Amazon and Smashwords. They are two pieces of speculative poetry written in two different styles. In a Cyber World is a more cynical comment on the social habits found in participants in on-line interactions. It rhymes. Two Worlds Collide is a non-rhyming poem that speculates about alternate worlds and realities touching. They are the only two poems included in the fourth Simpson Anthology—An Anthology of Worlds.

 and 
















can be found in

An Anthology of Worlds is scheduled for release in mid-September 2012.