CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Today, I managed to settle down and write a response to the latest flash fiction challenge on Chuck Wendig's Terribleminds blog - The Dead Body . There were only two rules: the word limit was 1,000, and the story had to open with a dead body. This is what came out: Forest Connections The body swayed in the trees rocked by storm winds and illuminated by lightning. It was naked, except for the green, leather gloves it wore on both hands—the hands from which it was suspended from the tree. It might have been an attractive body, if there hadn’t been a gaping wound where its stomach should be. Perhaps… but Garamond wasn’t looking at the body, didn’t notice the slender hips or sculpted chest, the beauty of fine-chiselled cheek bones or luxurious fall of hair. Garamond fought his breakfast back into place, swallowed bile, forced his focus to the other trees in the grove, the ground onto which he’d nearly stepped. If it hadn’t been for the crow flying out of the chest cavity

It's amazing how much reading you can get done when you're sick. Elizabeth Moon is one of my favourite authors and her Vatta's War and Serrano Legacy series are particularly good - and I've read them many times, as you can probably tell from the battered covers.

The week just gone was a week where I studied for, and sat, three exams, but I also wrote more in the last two days than I have in some time. Next year’s release schedule is starting to look okay, but I’ll only be sure when the books are done and waiting for the final edit and format. It means working on multiple projects in multiple genres and it’s different to anything I’ve tried before, so I don’t know if it will work. It also means a change in work habits, which is always a challenge to effect. Still, I’m seeing a change, and I have the break to get the changes in place. Wish me luck. Overview New words produced: 5,954 Old words revised: 0 Works completed: 0 Works revised: 0 Covers created: 0 Works published: 0 Works submitted: 0 Competitions Entered: 0 Bloggery: 237 Tier 1 (June) Tasks ShortStory61- Seppelitus : Added 3,000 wds Chapbook14I- Legacy of Hope : Added 2,000 wds ShortStory424- Volevin and the Assassin : Added 1,000 wds Chap

This one’s only a week late. Not a lot happened due as exam preparation took priority. Overview New words produced: 1,543 Old words revised: 1,870 Works completed: 0 Works revised: 0 Covers created: 0 Works published: 0 Works submitted: 0 Competitions Entered: 0 Bloggery: 0 Publishing Tasks Updated royalty records. Began revamping release schedule, starting from January 2016 New Arrivals Nil