A Good Start / Happenings In The Outhouse 28-Aug-2026

A short post today.

I am in the midst of another novel, another work-in-progress, to complete my 2 novels in a quarter challenge.  The first one was Broken Roads and is already for sale wherever you can purchase your favorite ebooks.

I have currently surpassed the 25,000-word mark and going strong.  It is a very good start.

What Have You Stopped Doing? / Happenings In The Outhouse 21-Aug-2026

A number of weeks ago, I stopped doing something.  I stopped doing something that I had been doing for a few years now.  Hours upon hours of time devoted to it.

What is it?

A game.  On my phone.

At first, it didn't take up that much of my time.  A little bit here and a little bit there.  But over time it started to consume more and more time . . . 

I've joked to my kids that I would be uninstalling the game app from my phone.  None thought I was serious.

Until one day . . . I had enough.  It started getting glitchy.  So I thought to myself, "What if I just uninstall this now?  What would I be better off doing anyway?"

The answer to the second question is easy: writing.

I did it.

I stopped doing it.  Stopped playing it.

Now I am spending more time devoted to other endeavors, including writing. 

Another Completed Novel In The Books / Happenings In The Outhouse 14-Aug-2026

A few weeks ago, I completed my latest novel.

Broken Roads - Kindle edition by Peterson, Mark S. R.. Contemporary Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

"When Abby Lee, divorced mother of two, volunteers to organize the church's garage sale, she never expects to meet the man of her dreams.  But when Dean Korbin stumbles to the garage sale by accident, still drunk from last night's ordeal, he isn't looking for any kind of relationship.  But true love has a way of turning things around.

Broken Roads is a meet-cute contemporary romance that will tug at your heartstrings and will have you reaching for the tissues."

Check out my new novel Broken Roads on Amazon or wherever you purchase your favorite ebooks.

Broken Roads - Kindle edition by Peterson, Mark S. R.. Contemporary Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

How Could I Forget? / Happenings In The Outhouse 07-Aug-2026

When you're working on your first story (or first piece of art or whatever you're doing for a hobby or business) it's easy to count the number of items you have created.  But as time goes on, that list begins to grow.

I highly suggest keeping a list of items you have created early on--very early on, in my opinion.  I have been keeping a list of stories I have written since I first started publishing, but truth be told I have written so much before that.

Over the past year I have been trying to be more organized.  I have a board behind me in my office that I have stories tacked onto.  Stories that are out making the rounds (i.e. Writers of the Future) and many that are works-in-progress.

Then, every once and a while or while I am going through folders (either physical or digital) I discover a story I either started or finished.  Or a story idea that was good at the time but did nothing with it.  Is the story still good?  Is it worth writing now?

I have three completed novels that I wrote long before I started publishing, and they are just sitting in the proverbial folder just waiting in the wings.  Two are horror novels and one is a large epic fantasy.  At last count I have well over 100 stories that I have either written/completed or have started to write.

And I am just getting started . . .