CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

As the schedules slowly sort themselves, and I finish recording another seven chapters of Dark God's Rise, I note that today's YouTube offerings are as follows: On the readings side, we have a contemplative piece about being able to live away from war zones:  And on the gaming side: Blaze checks out some of the tourist attractions nearing completion (in Coral Island): Mirriam Treespire brings down the 'mountain,' and completes the final marauder job quest (in Final Fantasy XIV online): Alta challenges the Frostfall golem...and hopes not to did...again (in Swords n' Magic and Stuff): And Tamrain, our crafter, continues to aid and assist the Queen and her Eyes in Auridon (in Elder Scrolls Online):

Yet another busy week, but more achieved than last week. I’ve been stretching the old writing muscles this week, and learning how to regulate my time a bit better. Looking forward to next week. Overview New words produced: 15,383 Old words revised: 2,613 Works completed: 5 (2 for blog, 3 for a larger project) Works revised: 1 Covers created: 1 (1-3 variations) Works published: 1 (6 release platforms) Works submitted: 1 Competitions Entered: 0 Tier 2 Tasks RomanceNovel14A— Country Rush : Added 8,500 words, Tier 3 Tasks   Chapbook11A— Yard Boss : Added 800 words, revised and edited, formatted and added cover. Extra Tasks ShortStory45— The Reptile’s Blade : Added 3,000 words; ShortStory69— A Dragon in the Last Day’s Light , a piece of flash fiction for a larger project; ShortStory73— The Sun and the Stars , a piece of flash fiction for a larger project; ShortStory74— A Choice of Colour , completed in response to Chuck Wendig’s ter...

A couple of days ago, I mentioned a romance novel. This one is written under Writing Head 1’s pen name. She writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense. I was originally going to write for the Harlequin Mills and Boon market, but then I discovered independent publishing. That coupled with a few blogs about contracts, e-book royalties and paper royalties, and I decided that independent publishing might be the way to go. So, I pulled this novel out, dusted it off and spent a month going over a chapter a day to revise, edit and bring the story back into my consciousness. I’m up to chapter 12, and the story is rocking along just fine. This is my first contemporary romance, and since I’m launching a pen name with it, I’m aiming for it to be the first of many. I’ve been told it’s hard enough to break one author name out, let along more than one, but I’ve also been told it’s authorial suicide to write too many very different genres under one pen name. Seeing as I just can’t NOT ...

Or “Wouldn’t it be faster if you just focussed on a single story?” Frankly, no. No, it wouldn’t, and the quality of my work would suffer. Firstly, these stories don’t come easily and I need to take the time to get them just right. Secondly, because these stories aren’t easy to write, I sometimes just need to step away from them and give myself space. CrimeNovel1 is a prime example. It’s graphic. It speaks of violence that’s happened, might be happening, and could happen again. It deals in subject matter that I find hard to face. Because I hadn’t worked on it for a long time, I’m going over it chapter by chapter so I can reacquire the story in order to finish it without missing anything important. I’m doing this one chapter a night. When I started on it a couple of weeks ago, each chapter was difficult to read, and I was glad I don’t have to go over another in a night. Don’t get me wrong, the story is there; it’s just very hard to write without flinching, and I need to take time to...

I know it’s hard for people to develop a connection to a work titled as generically as CrimeNovel1, but bear with me, it’ll get better. CrimeNovel1 is an old project; I shudder to think of how many years ago I started it. To say this was a new genre for me and that I struggled with it is an understatement, but I think I’ve got my head around it, or my version of it, at least. I’m going to go over each chapter again, proofing and editing. At this time, it is currently 48,889 words long. I probably won’t start adding words to it until I’ve finished doing the chapter-by-chapter revision, and *then* we’ll be cooking with gas. A taster? Here’s the first paragraph. Feel free to let me know if you’d read on. The girl’s mouth was open, screaming. Her lips were stretched around the gag blocking her cries. Mascara tears formed thick rivulets that disappeared into the band of cloth pulled tight across her face. She seemed to be leaning forward, straining against something as thoug...

Baby steps. Everyone keeps reminding me it’s baby steps. So far I am progressing slowly as I work to change my living habits. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. So, this week, I achieved the following: Writing Me: 1.       Adventure1: added 1,200 words to Scene 2; 2.       YA Novel1: Outline needs more work, but is slowly coming together. I am working characters with outline as they seem to be informing each other. Today I realised that this is my second YA novel idea that has no supernatural or paranormal elements. When it’s done, I’ll start on the older idea. 3.       Short Story1: reading over setting commenced. 4.       Three blog entries this week. 5.       Week 1 Self-Publishing Options workshop complete 6.       Reading continued. Real-World Me 1.       Have spent more time with...

Those of you who know me, know that I am a great fan of Dick Francis . Those of you who don’t know me will probably be wondering why, since his work is neither science fiction nor fantasy, being set firmly in the real world. It’s not romance, and it contains no supernatural or paranormal elements at all. The answer is because Dick Francis is a master storyteller, and one of the few storytellers who was a master of both the short story and novel forms. His work is something I know I’ll have a great time reading, and it contains some of the best lessons a writer can learn: It shows without telling.   Characters are described with brevity and accuracy, and in such a way that they are easily visualised. Character personalities are painted with clarity, and an economy of words that almost always puts me in awe. Sense of place is evoked… dare I say it… with no word wastage or long, dragging paragraphs.   Pacing. While Dick Francis’s work is full of action, ...