Finding Value, Finding Fun / Happenings In The Outhouse 25-Dec-2020

Merry Christmas!

I didn't purposefully intend for this blog post to drop on this blessed day.  Some blogs I plan out a week or more in advance.  Others are more spur of the moment, something that sparked a thought in my mind.  This one was planned.

In fact, I had another one in mind, one that has been generating a bit of news throughout the publishing and financial community, but decided to put that one off for a bit.

If you've been reading this blog for quite some time, you know that once every year or so, I go on what I call a "podcast fast."  This is where I completely distance myself from podcasts--or dramatically cut down on the number of them.  My goal is to be able to listen to all of the episodes that drop in a single week.  But there are only a handful of weeks where I'm able to do this.

Hence, I question on what I find value in.

Finding value is the barometer in which I select not only my podcasts, but even podcast episodes and other content.  Some of a more Christian nature I will listen to the majority of them.  But given how people have become in 2020, especially since late May 2020 and even leading up to the U.S. Election, I have cut out a number of podcasts.  I even tried to listen to a podcast that had a political view much different than mine, just so I could diversify my knowledge.  But when I found their facts as grounded as wet sand, I didn't find any value in it and unsubscribed.

I have two measurements in which I consume content.  Does it have value?  Or is it fun?  Or both?

If it's something I find value in, I will latch onto it.  If there's no value, I question whether or not to consume it.  Chances are, I dismiss it and move on.  There is too much going on for me to waste with mindless drones--can anyone say mainstream media?  Yup.  No value there.

Where you can be found - investing in your career - making it easy to find you / Happenings In The Outhouse 10-Mar-2017

Last week, a guy I work with had just returned from vacation.  He knew I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, and asked me if I knew a certain author.  Apparently, while on vacation, he met the family of this particular author.

The name sounded familiar, but, after a while, names tend to blend.  So I did what anyone nowadays would do: I Googled the author.

I didn't find much.  Oh, sure, this author had a Wordpress website (with wordpress in the web address, which means it's the free version--come on, people, if you're gonna do that, just pay for the darn thing; otherwise, just go with a BlogSpot blog).  The author had a Facebook page, which hadn't been updated since 2013.  This author may or may not have even been on Twitter.

I will call the author a "he" since a saw a picture of him.  He had a smattering of short stories, and even had novels published by Tor--okay, I'm impressed by that bit.

Honestly, though, it still wasn't much.  I was surprised.  He had been publishing for quite a number of years.

Google my name: Mark S. R. Peterson.  Since I have a common enough name, you get other hits too, but for the most part it all leads back to me.

And, again, I suck at marketing.

It doesn't take much to start building an online presence.  A blog post here and there, even publishing here and there, it doesn't take much.  And this particular author had been publishing for years.  Much longer than me.

The point is that if you find someone who wants to know more about you or your books, be mindful of what many people will do nowadays.  Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will your career.  But if you treat your career like an investment, adding to it bit by bit over time, your presence will grow.

Don't Get Sucked Into The Drama / Happenings In The Outhouse 08-July-2016

Facebook does it.

The 24-hour news stations do it.

Hell, any form of social media does it.

What is this, you may ask?

It's drama.

No, I'm not talking about a drama story or the three-act drama play your child may be in.  I'm talking about the day-to-day events that sucks your life down into rabbit holes.  And, of course, it's even more so whenever there is a major crisis or a US Presidential election.  Which, according to Facebook, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, etc. there is a BREAKING NEWS crisis every five seconds.

Drama are the stories that gets people's blood boiling, where they rant and rave on Facebook comments, despite the hypocrisy of their stance on many issues.  No one seems to be completely immune to it.

It doesn't even need to be national news.  It can be within your geographic area (i.e. the so-called controversial new logo for the University of North Dakota) or within your own family and friends.

However, you can control it.  Control how much you take in and how it affects you.

Focus on what you need to do.  For me, it's writing.  I have the fourth novel in the Central Division Series that is nearing the end of the first draft.  As of this writing, I am at 53,000 words and will guess I will be adding another 10,000+ before it ends.  I am focusing on a mid-August release, which means editing and cover art creation.

What projects are you working on?  Or would like to work on?

Stay away from the drama.

And get to work.

The universe needs you.  And the universe will thank you for it.

My interview on Ognian Georgiev's blog

I was recently featured on Ognian Georgiev's blog, interviewing me in regards to my latest novel Killzone: Book 1 of the Shadowkill Trilogy.

The link can be found here: http://ogigeorgiev.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/mark-peterson-a-wide-range-of-study-make-your-stories-more-interesting/

Check it out, and be sure to also check out Ognian's fascinating book The White Prisoner