CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Last week was busy as I tried to get myself back on track and incorporate the catch-up with getting the writing back on track. It started out rough, and didn’t really pull together, until I decided to submit some work elsewhere. It’s interesting to find that adding people to the mix adds to the ability to get things done, because you just don’t want to let anyone down. I may need to have a talk with myself about that. I also did a tonne of learning about newsletters and marketing and will be putting some of what I learned into practice over the coming week. The first title to have its back matter updated, a quick re-edit and re-format, and a new cover was Shadow’s Rise . Progress: August 19-25, 2018 New words produced: 12,451 Outlines and Notes: 3,860 Words compiled: 0 Works completed: 1 Works edited: 1 ( Shadow’s Rise) Covers created: 1 ( Shadow’s Rise) Works formatted: 1 ( Shadow’s Rise) Works published: 1 ( S...

Today went well, even with an unexpected change of schedule created by the changeover from CreateSpace to KDP. My son and grandson came to visit, and a very pleasant afternoon and evening were spent catching up with them, but words were written, too, and the very first of them are copied, below. In this excerpt, Cutter discovers some of the undisclosed complications she might have to contend with on her mission: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Everyone slowed to a stop, and the captain made his way back through his men to replace the one beside me. “We’ll escort you to the cavern entrance,” he said, as a low hum filled the air. I whipped back around to face the door, along with the rest of the squad, but the doors were closed, and the hum came from outside. From the look on the captain’s face, the humming wasn’t good news. He spoke into the mike on his collar. “Tell the kitchen we’ll be doing our own meals until I give the all-clear—and ...

Yesterday, I made sure I got my words down first. There weren’t many of them, but this is a new routine and I’m getting there—also, I got started on fining down the submission to a point where I could start writing it, so I added more words, just not on Mack ‘n’ Me. Cutter’s arrival at the mines was not without its dramas: ---------------------------------------------------------------- “We need to move,” he said. “Stay with me.” As though his words were a more direct command for action, his men formed up around us, and he led off at a brisk walk. I wasn’t linked into their comms, but I saw when one of his men pointed at the wall opposite, and Easrick snapped his head to look. I followed his gaze. “Keep moving,” was soft, but audible, and the walk became a jog. I wondered if they could shoot on the run—and also how twelve men were going to take out the twenty or so monstrous shadows darkening the cliff. It was hard to run and keep an eye on the shadows, and I’m not su...

I had a busy week, this week. An opportunity occurred that I thought long and hard about throwing my hat in the ring, for, and then I revamped the schedule to take into account the various illnesses and occurrences that have occurred over the last few months. Once the new schedule looked somewhere close to workable, I got right down to work. Here are the words from the 27th, where Cutter agrees to work for Barangail, when she’d rather be shooting him: ---------------------------------------------------------------- I was waiting when Barangail turned back to me. It was obvious he was about to give me another spiel. I just wished he’d get it over and done with. “I could really do with a set of combat fatigues,” I said, when he just stood and stared at me. He raised an eyebrow, and then made a point of looking me up and down like I was a prospective concubine he was considering taking on. I lowered my chin, and stared right back, raising an eyebrow to mirror him. I also f...

Had a very slow start to the day – a late night led to a sleep in, and I was slightly down. No idea why. Either way, a little bit of time spent clearing email, and chatting with friends on Facebook, and I was okay to write. Here are today’s first words, in which Cutter looks to start a fight—because, when doesn’t she: ----------------------------------------------------------------   That was all it took to bring down the wall in front of me, and I didn’t wait for the guards to cross. As far as I was concerned, there was only one person who needed to die today, and he was on the balcony above our heads. Which would do him little good if I could clear enough space for a run-up. Now, all I had to do was activate the nans to release the stim into my system—and the best way I knew how to do that was to start a fight. I looked at the soldiers, still lined up where the wall used to be. Nice of them to volunteer. ------------------------------------------------------------...