CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

I laid the last word down on Country Rush - written as Madeleine Torr. Now, it's off for an edit before being released. What's it about? E-Book cover - Country Rush by Madeleine Torr Country Rush is the first book in the Bookstore Romances series which centers around the characters who work in, or pass through, Highway's Book Emporium, a bookstore in a city very much like Melbourne. When Taylor helps a tall, dark stranger hide from men pursuing him, she embroils herself in the seedier side of city life. With her mother watching over her seriously injured father in hospital, Taylor has dropped out of university to help pay the bills, taking on a second job to do so. The last thing she needs is a rapid exit from the city and a quick trip to the country, but that's exactly what her tall-dark-and-handsome insists on. With a nasty criminal element on their heels, the pair of them take a fast train and a slow bus out of town, before fleeing to a country pr...

Last week, while listening to downloaded lectures, I added more green to my rosebuds, using the techniques described on the 6th. I will be moving all how-to-dos for Gimp over to my art blog, and posting a summary of pics here on the Thursday of each week. This is what I achieved this week: On Monday, March 3, after work: And on Friday, March 7, after work: What can I say? I need more practice, but I will get better... if I can make enough time to practice.

Huntsman spiders are nocturnal... I think I forgot to mention that. Heaven knows where they go during the day, but they certainly come out at night. This one was hunting the insects drawn to the light escaping from our foyer. Of course, I was startled at first., but then I worked up the courage to wind the focus in. The spider was quite relaxed, which is more than I can say for myself. Still, one of the most interesting and beautiful creatures around. Non-venomous, generally non-aggressive, the huntsman has distinctive banding on its legs and is insectivorous. It is quite a common sight around Australian households, and doesn't always stay outside, but it can be caught using a clear plastic container and lid or thick cardboard, provided you don't put your hand on the base of the container when doing so. Its eyesight is very good, and it can jump over a metre. Huntsman spiders will usually try to escape from humans, rather than attack.

I write on the bus during the week; it’s the only time I have. Each working day during the university semester sees me out of the house for 12-13 hours—thank goodness the rest of my family is home, or the dog would think she was abandoned. Either way, I don’t get a lot of time for writing during the week, and then I have homework and assignments on the weekend. I’m balancing things a lot better, now, but it’s still tight. Holidays soon, and then more will be done. Now, tell me why I’m studying again? Overview New words produced: 4,464 Old words revised: 0 Works completed: 0 Works revised: 0 Covers created: 0 Works published: 0 Works submitted: 2 Competitions Entered: 0 Tier 1 Tasks Annual 13: Added 899 words Annual 14: Added 3,565 words Publishing Tasks Created 5 blog posts for this blog New Arrivals The following ideas arrived this week: Poem312—An Alliance to the Stars: a science fiction poem about false love and going home; Poem31...

One of the projects I’m working on involves writing a lot of poetry—actually, several of the projects I’m working on involve writing a lot of poetry—so I thought I’d share some of the things I learnt about poetry along the way. This journey will be a regularly scheduled feature for Mondays. Join me if you dare. When I started, I already wrote poetry—freeform, haiku, whatever rhyming form appealed to me, but nothing truly disciplined outside the haiku. I’d heard of cinquains, but had no idea what they were, so I went looking. Here’s what I found out: A cinquain belongs to a group of poetical forms known as quintains. Quintains are poems that are five lines long, and some alternative types are listed below. This section focuses on cinquains, which tell a small story and are made up of both adjectives and verbs, feelings and a conclusion. Cinquains were created by an American poet called Adelaide Crapsey, who was said to be inspired by the strict rules governing the Japan...