CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

This year, in spite of knowing I had exams in the first part of November, I entered NaNoWriMo. Now, usually, I bomb out and don’t complete my 50,000 words, and this year, I wanted to get started on a 90,000-word novel, but I was busy with study and kids and housework, so, when November 1 came around, I had nothing in my head… and I started writing anyway—and I’m very glad I did. For a year now, I’ve been toying with the idea of going full-time with my writing, and I had no idea of what that might entail, or how I might go about it, or even if I could. I knew it was something I wanted, but I’d planned it for my retirement. With events last year culminating in my then supervisor forcing me to choose between completing the degree I had work permission to start, or working while being denied the working conditions I was entitled to, and which would enable me to complete my degree. I’m still doing my degree, and that’s been hard, and I’ve been lucky to have my family’s support, fo

Also known as the red-browed firetail, these little guys were incredibly hard to photograph. In the end, I had to be satisfied with pictures that also had sparrows. We've put wild bird mix in the feeder, which they all seem to enjoy. These shots were taken in early November 2015. Just so you know, this is NOT a red-browed finch - although there is one in the background; the bird in front is a young female sparrow. The two of them seem to share quite well, and you can just see the red-brows for which the finch is named. He looks even better, on his own. And doesn't seem to mind the camera at all. The sparrow returns, but the finch is not intimidated. You can see the red markings on his rump that give him the name 'red-browed firetail'. The two dine quite companionably, and the finch turns a little more so we can get a better look at the tail markings. Here's another angle showing his face mask and beak. And then he turns

An interesting week, starting with a doctor’s appointment and ending with a mild dose of sunburn, but a feeling of wellness I haven’t had in a while. Exercise, folks, is more than worth the time you spend on it. Of course, this disrupted all routines and I didn’t manage to maintain my writing, but I’ll do better this week. I’ve flunked NaNo again this year, I think, but I learned a lot (see the post coming on Tuesday), and it was time well spent. My life is changing, but it’s not without its challenges.   Overview New words produced: 3,297 Old words revised: 0 Outlines and Notes: 1,314 Works completed: 0 Works revised: 0 Covers created: 0 Works published: 0 Works submitted: 5 Competitions Entered: 0 Bloggery: 4,492 University Prep and Assignments: 0 Back-on-Track Challenge: Design covers for, edit, format, and upload the following: Nil Finish Nil New Writing Nil Publishing Tasks Created 5 blog posts for this blog;