CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

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.

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.

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.

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 new FEBruary is when the work ensures MARch is full of working cheer but by APRil the loading seems quite drear MAY brings cooler weather as autumn dies JUNe heralds winter and the cold winds fly JULy is a time for holidays, a mid-year break, exams AUGust is the coldest part of every year SEPtember sees schools resume and spring appear OCTober and the time wears thin before NOVember and university, senior school ends DECember 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.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrostic http://poetry

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.

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/2014/11/descripturbation-how-to-and-how-not-to.html http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-4-day-16/ http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-4-day-15/ http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-4-day-14/ http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/11/18/we-can-do-this-the-easy-way-or-the-hard-way/ http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/11/17/how-to-motivate-yourself-as-a-writer/ http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/11/10/on-the-detestation-of-your-manuscript-an-expedition-into-the-dark-tumultuous-heart-of-authorial-self-hatred/ http://terrib

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

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 .

From a reader's perspective: How many writers do we know of who have died of heart attacks, suffer the problems associated with being overweight, or have diabetes? It's a bit of a worry, isn't it? I mean, if our favourite writers don't look after themselves, then they might not be able to write, or finish, their next book. And that would make a lot of us really sad. And not just because of the loss of a book, but because of the loss of another bright point in our lives. From a writer's perspective: How many writing days have you lost to a headache, or to just feeling blah, or because your blood pressure was playing up, or because, for some reason, your vision was a bit blurry and you just couldn't see the words? How many times do you look in the mirror and wonder where all the love handles came from... and when they arrived? How much do you wonder if you'll ever be able to get down to a healthy weight and if you should even bother? And how many times have

Sometimes acrostic poems form a name. Here is a simple one based around a Greek myth: More than anything you loved Its surface brightly gleaming Dinars, bullion, jewellery, bars of gold As though they could all beauty hold So your price of learning is oft told Why don’t you give it a try? Try writing at least one acrostic, using a name for inspiration, every day this week. You can find out more about how to write acrostics from the following sites: http://www.kathimitchell.com/poemtypes.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrostic http://poetry.about.com/od/poeticforms/g/abecedarian.htm http://classiclit.about.com/od/literaryterms/g/aa_abcedarianpo.htm http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/acrostic/ http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/acrosticterm.htm http://www.edu.pe.ca/stjean/playing%20with%20poetry/Hickey/acrostic.htm http://www.poetry4kids.com/blog/lessons/how-to-write-an-acrostic-poem/

Stuff got done, this week – YAY. And this in spite of a strained back and light dose of flu, so I count the completions an achievement. Let’s see if I can do even better next week. Overview New words produced: 5,956 Old words revised: 13,604 Works completed: 0 Works revised: 0 Covers created: 0 Works published: 1 (1 release platforms) Works submitted: 0 Competitions Entered: 0 Bloggery: 2,151 Tier 1 Tasks Chapbook14B: added 1,700 words (as Carlie Simonsen) AcademicEssay3: edited Tier 4 Tasks TweenNovel1A: added 3,000 words Publishing Tasks Created 10 blog posts for this blog; Formatted and Uploaded 365 Days of Poetry to Amazon as an e-book for Kindle. New Arrivals No new arrivals this week; I am working on completing current pieces. I have a lot to catch up on.