June 2, 2025 - Monthly update: There is no monthly update. Have a lot of Things happening over the next couple months, unrelated to writing, that will occupy the majority of my time and energy. Although after that - perhaps in the fall - I should be able to hop back in and make some good progress. I'll still try to get a little bit of work done in the meantime, but it will have to be in between Other Things.
May 1, 2025 - Monthly update time. Did not do some things. Did some brainstorming, and got some things worked out around TUD Publishing, LLC, and all that officialization stuff. Maybe more actual writing later this month.
April 2, 2025 - Monthly update: Did some things. Actually got a bit of writing done, to the tune of around 8000 words. Working on continuing on with one of the novel WIPs I started in 2023 during my Pseudo-NaNoWriMo. Progress!
March 3, 2025 - Monthly update: Not much writing, but some other developments, which are neat. I have incorporated an LLC for the purposes of writing/publishing projects - TUD Publishing, LLC. It exists, but there isn't really anything done with it yet, other than having filed and been approved. There are plans. Now to get actual writing done.
February 2, 2025 - Monthly update at the beginning of the month. Still no writing done, but I did spend the last week or so rereading a bunch of my previous projects, getting in the groove, the zone, the grindset, as the kids would say. Should be able to get some amount of something done before the end of the month. My overall goal is for the year as a whole, though, so there's no specific goal per month, aside from "get stuff done" and "keep up the pace."
January 27, 2025 - Ain't did nothin' last year. No writing, no major creative exercises/projects. What a slouch. Gonna try and get Some Things Done this year, with a distinct and specific goal in mind. I'll at least try to update monthly on here. At least. Here's to 2025, I suppose. Â
January 1, 2024 - Failed to update the website at the end of November, but we ended PseudoNaNoWriMo at 54,462 words - success! And then I wasn't able to do any creative writing things during December because we've been moving, cleaning, and organizing, so that's fun.Â
Anyway, end of year wrap-up: 131,871 words, across three novel projects (all WIP) and ten short stories (one still in progress), plus however much I've done messing around with DnD stuff. 2023 has been the most productive year for writing that I have ever had, by a longshot. It's been very satisfying and fun. That said, I still feel like I fell somewhat short of my creative goals - but not by much! I did well; I could have done better, and I could have done more. I have a lot to continue working on in 2024, and new ideas are always sprouting, so we'll see where the next 52 weeks takes me. I don't think I'm going to be continuing the 52 Weeks of Something concept, but I'll try to keep up with regular(ish) writings and updates. Maybe 2024 will be the year I finally actually self-publish? Not going to push for that, I mainly just want to get some stuff done. I've got a more solid understanding of my writing process and the productivity levels I'm capable of, so I have a more specific defined goal for 2024 than I did for last year. We'll see where we manage to go.
Also, I know this seems obvious, but reading has really legitimately helped me focus more on my own creative thinking and building worlds and even writing style. I found myself writing in a very specific style/voice after swallowing up Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive this past year - and while I wouldn't say I was copying his style, I definitely assimilated aspects of it into my own. I read a lot more in 2023 than I have in years (18 titles read, according to my Kindle app) and I fully intend to keep that momentum going. No specific reading goals for 2024, just going to make sure I keep feeding my brain.
Whether anyone's reading these or not, keeping track of them like this has helped keep me accountable to myself and at least try to stay focused. So thanks for sticking with me, so I can keep sticking with it. Here's to a productive 2023, and an even productiver 2024.
October 29, 2023 - Big ol' gap between updates again. A lot has been occupying my time in the last few months, and unfortunately it's taken me away from most of my writing projects. On the positive side, I finished a new short story tonight, and it's the longest one I've done so far - 15,201 words! While longest doesn't necessarily mean good, I am pretty proud of this one. It's not perfect, but I think I've already said at some point this year that that wasn't the goal. The plan is still to try and do 50k words in November, although I'm not tracking it officially on NaNoWriMo, just doing My Own Thing to track it. If I can successfully do that, and round out the year with a few more short stories, I think I can safely say I'll just barely squeak by at meeting my creative goals for the year, supplementing the prose with the work I've also been doing on the DnD campaign. We're sort of on track. I just need to keep myself focused for another 63 days or so.
April 22, 2023 - Aw jeez guys, it's been a while. I finally got a new short story up tonight, but yes, I'm far behind on my initial goal of writing one something a week. That said, March was an extremely busy month for me with other personal things, and on top of that I've started running a homebrew Dungeons and Dragons campaign for a couple friends, meaning that a significant amount of my free time that would have normally been devoted to writing short stories was instead focused on writing scenarios/backstory/exposition/quests for D&D. Since that definitely counts as a creative exercise, I'm not too upset with myself for falling behind on the short stories. Plus, I decided to run the campaign in the same world of Os'Rahn (Userahin, just an alternate timeline), so having other people interacting with that world and working on adventures and characters in that world might help give me some ideas for more short stories to knock out. Overall, whoops, too long without an update, but hey, at least I've still been doing something.
February 21, 2023 - This one is late, definitely. My excuse is that I was splitting my focus last week between this short story and a different creative project, so it's ok, because I wasn't just slacking off. I'm still going to try and make up for this one being late, but I don't feel that bad about it right now. I also added a tag to the front of each short story on the Extra Ideas tab > 52 Weeks of Something drop-down that indicates where it fits with other stuff. All of them this year take place in Userahin, with one exception, and that one is still Forgotten Mythos, so hey, I'm expanding on that multiverse.
February 12, 2023 - Literally half an hour late this week. I've got excuses, but I'll keep them to myself. Maybe use them another time. Anyway, short story six is up.
February 4, 2023 - Fifth story is up. I promise not every short story I write will have a negative/violent/sad ending. Probably.
January 28, 2023 - Still on track. The fourth short story (and third short story taking place in the same world) is up under the Extra Ideas tab. This one ended up being a bit over 16 pages, so longer than the previous entries, but it draws some connections between Userahin (the world I've been building) and the rest of the Forgotten Mythos, as well as providing a little bit of backstory for a character that exists within the Nesyra and Divine War stories (which are still major projects I am pseudo-actively working on).
January 21, 2023 - Caught back up. Third short story posted half an hour before the third week of the year is officially over (in my timezone at least). Posted in the same place as the first two, Extra Ideas tab, under the 52 Weeks of Something drop-down.
January 16, 2023 - Ran a little behind last week because I had some other things going on, but I have the second entry in 52 Weeks of Something linked on the list, and I have a third short story planned that will (hopefully) go up at the end of this week.
January 7, 2023 - First entry in the 52 Weeks of Something has been linked on the relevant list in the Extra Ideas tab. Off to an acceptable start.
December 30, 2022 - Got some neat stuff going on that is potentially going to be helpful in getting my creative juices flowing. In celebration of that, and in an attempt to get myself more into the habit of reliably getting stuff done, I'm setting a (tentative and flexible) goal for 2023 to have something written every week. Short stories, scenes of larger projects, maybe poetry (though that's never been my forte) - just something tangible and creative. Given my past history with sticking with projects and such, I am prepared to give myself an undisclosed (read: undetermined) amount of leeway with this by the end of 2023. Maybe I'll have 52 things, maybe I'll have 45, maybe 30. There is some arbitrary cutoff point below which I will look back at the year and say "I did not meet this goal." I'll figure that out more specifically in about a year's time. Anything that comes from this 52 Weeks of Something will be posted in the Extra Ideas tab.
April 4, 2022 - Been working on various projects some. Not as much as I'd like. May have more detailed news in the near-future. May not. Depends on time and motivation and energy.
August 4, 2021 - I spent a little time moving/sharing/backing up all my various Google Drive files from multiple accounts into the important crparson account. In doing so, I also decided to remove the Fractured Phoenix page for the time being. Old Time Fracture is unavailable. It needs a rewrite anyway. I'll always keep the old version for posterity, but barring a change of heart, the old version will no longer be publicly available.
July 29, 2021 - Randomly knocked out a new AISPO short tonight. It's one I'd started working on some 4 years ago or so, and just got around to finishing tonight. I consider it a first draft, might make some edits to it if I feel like it later on. Go check out Dryads in the US AISPO tab.
April 27, 2021 - After midnight, so it gets its own post. I've migrated the site to the new GoogleSites format (annoying, but I'll get used to it) and purchased a proper domain - wheeeeeee. Instead of the sites.google.blahblahblah, we now just have crparson.com. Also, I've switched from "Phlaeming Phoenix" to just using my actual name for the site. Whatevs. And I took all the .pdfs away. No .pdfs for you. If anyone has a desire for the .pdf version of anything on the site, just hit me up. Oh, speaking of, new email address: crparson@crparson.com. So fancy.
April 26, 2021 - Man the time sure does fly, particularly during a pandemic, I guess. GoogleSites is making me update to the "New and Improved" Sites, so we'll see if all the formatting breaks horrifically.
Update: It definitely broke some stuff. Trying to see if I can recover/fix it.
Update to the Update: I figured it out. Huzzah. Also, semi-related, I've removed the Suggested Reading tab. I'm bad at making myself read things, so it feels a little pointless at present.
April 6, 2019 - Bad news: I've taken Nesyra off the website. Good news: I took it down because I'm wanting to move toward properly publishing it. For right now, I'm looking at doing the self-publishing thing through Amazon/Kindle/Whatever Their Service Is Called. If anyone has any recommendations for other services, let me know, but I will forewarn that I am cheap and want a straight-forward process where I have most or all control. More updates to come, eventually.
March 8, 2019 - I now accept donations through Paypal. I've stuck a little button at the bottom of the home page in case you're interested in donating. Any donations will go toward a separate account that I keep specifically for any project costs - publishing costs, purchasing materials, commissioning artwork, etc. I don't expect much in the way of donations, but I also don't have a lot of costs to keep up with in my current project status, so no biggie. Just wanted to get that option up and running since I was thinking about it. Oh, this separate account for project costs will also include TUD projects, so the money won't just be going to me exclusively. My TUD buds will also have access to it, if any of them have a need for it. So by donating to me, you're really donating to the TUD project as a whole.
January 13, 2019 - Upon much deliberation (read: a whim) the Forgotten Mythos is being incorporated as the official mythology backing a collaborative writing project between myself and several friends. The larger project we're currently referring to as "TUD" - TransUniversal Dynamics. Having a collaborative project ideally will keep me (and my partners) more motivated to continue writing and get some stuff done. Plus, it's a guaranteed team of proofreaders/editors for feedback on projects, and it's neat to have a giant universe we're all contributing to. So that's cool. Tangentially related: I started online classes this month, so I won't be able to focus much on personal projects while I'm doing that. But hey, I'm bettering myself, right?
December 30, 2018 - I've decided to keep myself more accountable on my reading while also sharing nifty books and things that people might be interesting in. To this end, I've added the Reading List column at the right, documenting things that I'm currently reading or have recently read. I added a separate tab in the top bar for this instead of doing dual-columns. Better organized this way. I'll also try and do some brief review/teaser/synopsis without giving away spoilers when possible. Feel free to check out my recommendations. Several of them will be lesser-known stories by lesser-known authors as I have taken to browsing the Kindle Store and snatching up random books when I can.
November 21, 2018 - Nesyra pdf is up. Uh. That is all.
November 20, 2018 - It's finally here. Nesyra's first (very) rough draft is available in the Forgotten Mythos tab. Fair warning, it is significantly longer than Giessam. Final word count for Giessam was 12,398 (according to GoogleDrive). Final word count for the first draft of Nesyra is sitting at 61,453. In fact, upon checking, Time Fracture was previously my longest work and it sits at 37,912 words in its current form. Another warning, it's not divided into chapters. Originally, I wasn't planning on it being as long as it turned out, so I didn't think I needed to bother with chapters. It's in for some heavy proofreading/editing in the near future. Figuring out where to split the chapters will come during that step. For the meantime, enjoy the core story. I'll periodically update with the new versions as I have them. Oh, and no pdf yet. I'll get to that soon as well. More news to potentially come within the week.
September 2, 2018 - Giessam's back up. Version 1.1 in both GoogleDoc and pdf format. Shouldn't need any further adjusting...but I said that two years ago too. Still making progress on Nesyra. Once I have a complete version, even though it will just be a draft, I'll upload it.
August 29, 2018 - Still alive. Have not been good about writing for the most part over the last...year and a half. Re-editing Giessam, mainly just grammar/arrangement/etc. Have also made some good progress recently on Nesyra. Which now that I think about it, I don't think I've announced yet. So: Next in the Forgotten Mythos, uh, mythos, is Nesyra. It's not complete, not by a long-shot, but I'm actively working on it and will upload when I feel comfortable with how it sits.
March 20, 2018 - It's, uh, it's been a while guys. This update is mostly a minor update. I've removed all the .mobi files (that file format is weird anyway) and replaced them with .pdf files instead. I've also removed the Zoe tab, as that particular project is on indefinite hold until I can figure out some motivation to work on it again. Working on some other things, but no super important updates to share yet.
October 13, 2016 - THIS ISN'T EVEN GIESSAM'S FINAL FORM! Just kidding. Hopefully. Giessam is in a state that I believe to be complete now. Googlydoc and .pdf have both been updated to the current version.
October 7, 2016 - Edited Giessam some more. Reuploaded the modified Googley Doc link and .pdf. Still bad at maintaining regular updates
May 2, 2016 - It's been a long time, but school and work kept me too busy to keep up with writing. Here's an update though! Under Extra Ideas you can find a new short story, Giessam. Be advised, this one is 20ish pages as opposed to my usual 5 or 6 page short stories. Also, no .mobi for Giessam yet. I'll work on that at some point. Another note, I submitted Goodbye to Into the Void Magazine for potential publication. Their website says they'll try get back to submitters within 2 weeks or so after the submission deadline, which is June 25. It'll be nice to get some of my work out to someone who could potentially do something with it, whether they decide to publish it or not.
June 10, 2016 - Giessam has been edited and put back up on the site, under the tab "The Forgotten Mythos." I've also added a downloadable .pdf of it. I'm still not sure if it's really finished yet, but I feel good about it right now. Hopefully I've have some work done on Nesyra's story soon, and on The Forgotten Mythos.
June 8, 2016 - I've been rereading and editing Giessam some lately. Mostly rewording awkward sentences, changing a few details, etc, but I do intend to add a couple more sections to it before too long, going more into detail about his magical abilities and his relationship with the gods. Since I'm currently actively editing it, I'm going to take it down temporarily. Once I'm satisfied with how it reads, I'll put it back up and try to get either a .mobi or a .pdf up for it. Most likely a .pdf.
I am also working on Nesyra's story, though for the moment it's all in my head. From what I've brainstormed so far, it will end up longer than Giessam by quite a bit. I'm also occasionally working on hammering out The Forgotten Mythos (frequently mentioned in Giessam). The more I thought about Giessam and his people and the gods and goddesses of his time, the more interested I was in where I could take it, so I decided that would be a fun project.
10/25/14 - Just in time for Thanksgiving, another US AISPO story, Artiste appears! I think that means I've put up three new short stories by Thanksgiving! Huzzah!
10/4/14 - .mobi files up for everything except the Zoe chapters. Don't want to do those yet because heavy editing is still intended. Go to the .mobi Help page to get some help with .mobis, if you think you need it!
10/3/14 - New US AISPO short story, One-Way. Another crazy dream I had that I decided to write about. HEY LOOK I DID GET TWO SHORT STORIES DONE BY THE END OF THE YEAR WOOHOO.
9/21/14 - New short story up. Very short story. Not my best, not my favorite, but it's something. Inspired by a potentially faulty memory of the time I tried to read War and Peace in fifth grade. Also inspired by me telling that memory to a friend, and being encouraged to write the scene myself, whether it existed or not. It's Russian Roulette. Enjoy.
9/12/14 - Maybe not. School and work are sucking all my time away now. I'll try and get something up by the end of the year. Hopefully more than one something. /shrug
8/25/14 - I still suck at properly updating. And finishing projects. Still working on more short stories for the time being, with a few side projects related to gaming and whatnot. I promise I'll have at least two more short stories up by Thanksgiving, and hopefully another one by Christmas.
Too bad no one actually reads these right now. But some day. Some day.
12/22/13 - I've decided to try to commit myself to finishing my projects. For real though. If anyone is an avid checker-upper, and notices a lack of updates on the site for longer than a week at a time, shoot me an email or a Facebook message and pester me about getting something done. I want to write, and I enjoy writing, I just sometimes don't do it when or how I should. I will still be in school and working, so some delay is to be expected. Even so, pester away if you think I need it!
Also, I've added this "News" section here! And a tab up top for all the news posts! Update!