CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

So, this week's challenge didn't go well. Excuses? 1. I got sick; 2. I got distracted by my current work-in-progress, DarkFantasyNovel1A; 3. I got sick... What did I get done? Well, since you insist... here's what an unfinished flash fiction story looks like: Unfinished Result: The man was hanging on the window outside her office. There was no ledge or sill, just a two millimetre strip of rubber, holding in the glass. The window itself was six floors up. Rachel had watched him scale the building, a feat he had achieved by bouncing between her office block and the one opposite, light as a feather, but too solid to be shifted by the breeze. When he’d seen her sitting at her desk, he’d come to a complete stop and his face had lit with beatific smile. He started to speak, realized she couldn’t hear him through the glass, and vanished upwards, like a human spider clothed in a loose-fitting tunic and baggy cotton pants. Rachel didn’t expect to seesomething lik

This week’s flash fiction challenge consisted of writing a story of 1,000 words or less that combined the theme ‘Love demands Sacrifice’ with two sub-genres randomly chosen from the list provided. Initial Thoughts: Out came the d10. First roll was a ‘9’, second roll a ‘4’. ‘9’ – Wuxia … What the…? I had never heard of wuxia. So, on top of a tight writing schedule, I now had to do some research, which will slow everything down. On the upside, I’m going to learn about a new genre, and that was always fun! ‘4’ – Urban Fantasy . Hah! I know what that one is… at least, I think I know what that one is. Maybe I should do a little bit of research on it as well, just to make sure. I mean, I used to think I knew what ‘sword-and-sorcery’ was, and when I checked that, I discovered I was only ‘almost’ right. I’d rather not be ‘almost right’. Theme – ‘Love demands sacrifice’. Well, this could turn out to be very depressing. I don’t like depressing; there’s so much that’s depressing i

I’ve gotten behind in my reading again, folks, so there were almost 2,000 entries backed up, and 50-100 coming in every day. These are the ones that made me top: Industry David Gaughran and guest author on the publishing industry view of indie books: http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/self-publishers-arent-killing-the-industry-theyre-saving-it/ Kristin Kathryn Rusch on the return of rights: http://kriswrites.com/2012/10/24/the-business-rusch-rights-reversion/ Kristin Kathryn Rusch on the necessity of writers to have a will so their heirs can benefit from their copyright: http://kriswrites.com/2012/11/08/the-business-rusch-want-to-be-read-100-years-from-now-heres-how/ Kristin Kathryn Rusch on reaching every reader possible and why it’s important: http://kriswrites.com/2012/10/31/the-business-rusch-no-reader-left-behind/ Publishing Perspectives on an interview with Maurice Sendak before he died: http://publishingperspectives.com/2012/11/maurice-sendak-publishin

Today is Remembrance Day. It is the day on which World War I officially ended, and has become a day in which Commonwealth countries remember members of their armed forces who died while serving on the battlefront. While it serves as the inspiration for this piece of flash fiction, today should also be a day when we remember all who have given their lives to serve their countries. Sacrifice comes in many forms, and death is only one of them. Lest We Forget Blue eyes, remarkably clear, observe us, gauging our reactions as the old man tells us about the wars in which he has fought, of friends who have fallen and comrades left behind long ago. The crags and wrinkles lining his skin come from age, exposure, happiness and grief. His hands tremble as he pours us tea and absent-mindedly adds milk and sugar, forgetting we preferred none. He is not of this time, and no longer of this world, but he tells us where his citizenship lies and makes us swear to keep his secret a little l

I’ve been quite slack and distracted this week; time I dug up some of that discipline I thought I had… or reminded myself of why I want to get done what I want to get done in the time-frame I have set. No time for carrots; time for whip and spur. Carrots can come when all is achieved. Current Projects The following work was completed on my curr ent projects this week : Revised first 15 chapters of DarkFantasy1A and added 3,000 words. Publishing Tasks The following publishing tasks were completed this week :   Created Cover for Novella6A ; Released Novella6A to Smashwords and Kindle; Released Novella6A to CreateSpace and Amazon print; Released Novella7A to CreateSpace and Amazon print; and Updated blog once. New Arrivals The following ideas arrived this week: Novella6B : for PenName3.