CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

I got a lot done last week – never as much as I wanted, but enough that I should be content. Here’s what was achieved (in addition to the partial cover designs below): Progress: July 8-14, 2018 New words produced: 30,131 Outlines and Notes: 539 Words compiled: 0 Works completed: 22 (17 x poems; 2 x flash fiction, Mack ‘n’ Me: The Transporter’s Favour, River’s Edge, Harper & the Unicorn ) Works edited: 0 Covers created: 0 Works formatted: 0 Works published: 0 Works released: 0 Works submitted: 0 Competitions Entered: 0 Bloggery: 2,722 Hours at Desk—July 8-14: 69 hours 48 minutes Hours at Desk—July 1-7: 35 hours 36 minutes June Hours at Desk: 230 hours 5 minutes May Hours at Desk: 302 hours 6 minutes April Hours at Desk: 167 hours 41 minutes March Hours at Desk: 201 hours 43 minutes February Hours at Desk: 183 hours 50 minutes January Hours at Desk: 180 hour...

Last week, I ran across a couple of short-story submission opportunities - and I also had an omnibus to release. The initial time budget was a day for each short story, two days to finalise the release format, and three days to add words to the chapter book that decided to become a novel, and the next novel in the Mack 'n' Me 'n' Odyssey series. Well, that was a bust. The first short story refused to cooperate. Point blank. Nuh uh. No way. No how. I wrestled 3,000 words into it, and then worked out I'd written the beginning wrong. That took three days. During that time, I took a lot of breaks so I could think out what to do next, and I made sure not to waste the time. I updated the titles missing from Kobo, reformatted a couple of Smashwords titles, and got my Pinterest boards up to date. I even went for walks, and did household tasks. And NONE of it worked... until I worked out, and accepted, the story needed a total rewrite. After that, it was two days to co...

Last week, I was still working catch-up. I’m happy to say that part of recovering from being sick is almost over. I finished a novel, published a novel, and did the word count for what should have been another completed chapter book… it’s not going to be a chapter book. It was also a disrupted week, which included Mother’s Day, two outside appointments, and a couple of family and social engagements. Catch-up aside, I need to give myself a little more lead time so I can absorb more things like this, more easily. That should be built in, inside the next two months. These two factors have made me revamp my publishing schedule. There’ll be more news on that, and on how this affects my goals, later on this week. In the meantime, things got done, and this week, I will get more things done. Here is a brief summary of what was accomplished in the week just gone: Progress: May 13-19, 2018 New words produced: 22,226 Outlines and Notes: 2,385 Words compiled: 0 Works...

I started this year with the decision I would make this writing and publishing thing a full-time effort to see what it looked like. I'm still not sure I've got the hang of it, but I'm closer than I was to understanding what I need to do. It's the end of the third quarter, and I'm not making a fortune... more like enough to buy a coffee a week, but early days, right? Here's a very quick look back at what I've published in the last three months: January: February: March:

Progress was slow last week, due to ongoing issues with my back. Desk time was minimal, and I increased my walking to counteract the back issues (as you can see from the PokemonGo reports). I am sitting and writing this in one of my first pain-free moments for over a fortnight, and will have to adjust my writing schedule to incorporate more standing activity, if I want to be able to continue to write for extended periods of time. This week will be a madhouse as I build a little extra into each day’s schedule so that I can begin the slow process of catching up. Also, it’s April – and there are several projects on the go, in addition to the usual half dozen. Progress: March 25-31, 2018 New words produced: 7,615 Outlines and Notes: 2,249 Words compiled: 0 Works completed: 1 ( Dear Tiger: Help Me Find My Sisters ) Works edited: 0 Covers created: 2 ( Dear Tiger: Help Me Find My Sisters , The Dear Tiger Omnibus ) Works published: 0 Works released: 3 ( Memory’s Vam...