Monthly Archives: November 2015

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100 Things I’m Thankful for in 2015

Happy Thanksgiving, True Believers!

As is my annual holiday tradition, here’s my list of what I’m thankful for this year (it’s kinda what the holiday is about, right?). It’s a great exercise not only to keep one humble but also to remind oneself of what he has instead of focusing on what you lack. It’s a great way to keep perspective.

So, without further adieu and in no particular order (except the first few)…

  1. God the Father, for His unfailing love and faithfulness.
  2. Jesus Christ, Whose death and resurrection saved mankind.
  3. The Holy Spirit, Who guides me everyday.
  4. My salvation.
  5. The Bible.
  6. My wonderful family.
  7. That I’m an uncle.
  8. My nephew, Landis.
  9. My amazing friends.
  10. My equally amazing writer friends.
  11. For all the conventions I attended this year.
  12. My car, which I named Silver Sable.
  13. My church.
  14. For volunteering with RemedyLive.
  15. All my gaming consoles and video games.
  16. My book collection.
  17. My movie collection.
  18. My “new” laptop.
  19. My music collection.
  20. My day job.
  21. That I’ve paid down my student loans almost $2,500 since February.
  22. My cosplays.
  23. That I’m a published author.
  24. Hades Publications, which published my first novel and still has me under contract.
  25. CreateSpace, which publishes my self-published books.
  26. That I published two new books this year (Ninjas and Talking Trees & 42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom)
  27. My strong sense of justice.
  28. The house I live in.
  29. My talent for writing.
  30. all for One Productions.
  31. Volunteering for afO (see #25).
  32. My YouTube show, “But I Digress…”.
  33. For being part of the team writing Children of the Wells.
  34. For writing for www.Examiner.com.
  35. For writing for www.GigaGeekMagazine.com.
  36. That I joined Twitter.
  37. That I was able to pitch a book to a publisher on Twitter.
  38. For all the podcasts I’ve been on this year.
  39. That I’m creative.
  40. My intellectual mind.
  41. My poet’s soul.
  42. My warrior’s heart.
  43. That I can read.
  44. My “new” iPhone 5S.
  45. That I’m an American.
  46. That I’m a Hoosier.
  47. Summertime.
  48. October (wonderful month!)
  49. Changing seasons.
  50. Fans For Christ.
  51. Christian Gamers Guild.
  52. GameChurch.
  53. My “famous” T-shirt collection.
  54. My sense of humor.
  55. Puns.
  56. The Constitution, which lists my inalienable rights.
  57. My “superpowers” (rarely get sick, my “BS” sense, look much younger than I am, heal fast from injuries).
  58. My health.
  59. Netflix.
  60. That I got to meet some awesome celebrities this year (Jenna Coleman, Carey Fischer, Sophie Aldrich, Summer Glau, Marina Sirtis, John de Lancie, etc.)
  61. My camera.
  62. My knack for photography.
  63. Pretzels.
  64. Exercising at the gym.
  65. My TARDIS cookie jar.
  66. Freelance Writers Den.
  67. My comic book collection.
  68. Chimp’s Comics.
  69. B.E. Comics.
  70. My board game collection.
  71. My nerdiness.
  72. The police and their service.
  73. The military and their service.
  74. My journal(s).
  75. My website (www.NathanJSMarchand.com).
  76. My fandoms.
  77. Gen-Con.
  78. The family pets (6 cats a dog).
  79. Barnes and Noble.
  80. Spaghetti.
  81. Highland toffee (the family recipe)
  82. www.Amazon.com.
  83. Movie theatres.
  84. My college degree.
  85. Running water.
  86. That I’m tall.
  87. That I still have all my hair.
  88. Football.
  89. That I got to play softball with great co-workers/friends.
  90. (Most of) My coworkers.
  91. The generosity of others.
  92. The TUFW Alumni and Friends Center.
  93. That I attended TUFW.
  94. The YMCA.
  95. For living in the countryside.
  96. Plumbing.
  97. The Internet.
  98. Ballroom/social dancing.
  99. Dance Tonight and its magnificent staff.
  100. And finally…that there’s a new Star Wars film!!! 😀

What are you thankful for this year?

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Setting Boundaries (or, “The Line Must Be Drawn Here!”)

Remember that classic Picard speech from Star Trek: First Contact? Lately, I’ve found myself quoting its most famous line:

Except it’s supposed to be “farther.” That was the actual line and proper usage. (Yes, I’m a grammar Nazi). Silly meme. 😛

Why? Because I’ve realized I need to set boundaries for myself. No, I’m not talking about ways to keep people from touching me or whatnot. This has to do with time management, something I’ve written about here in many past blogs.
The problem I have is I tend to take on as many projects as possible. Some of them, like my YouTube show, are self-imposed. Others I volunteer for impulsively. For example, my editor at GigaGeek Magazine said she got an advance copy for a hardback book collecting reprints of early Superman comics and wanted someone to write a review. I jumped at it despite 1) already trying to make a video with a fellow Giga writer (which still isn’t done); 2) attempting to write at least two reviews a week for Examiner.com (which I’ve been lax on); 3) writing a new novella for Children of the Wells (which I wanted to do as a mini-NaNoWriMo); 4) writing the sequel to Pandora’s Box (which I haven’t touched in months); 5) going to book signings (which I’m thankfully done with for the rest of 2015); 6) working a part-time day job that feels like a full-time job; and 7) trying to spend time with family and friends. Among other things.

Phew!
I think I might be something of a workaholic overachiever—except I’ve let my attention get so divided, I haven’t made much progress on many of my projects. Heck, I haven’t blogged in nearly a month despite the fact that I promised myself I’d post one each Tuesday and/or Thursday each week. I used to be crazy-good (for the most part) at time management back in college. I had set routines and rituals. I knew how long each assignment would take me. But I was just concerned with getting good grades, not making a living. On the other hand, not everything I do to make money I enjoy, so I look for avenues through which to be creative and/or promote myself (hence my YouTube channel).

The worst part of being an independent author is most, if not all, of the promotion I have to do myself. I can’t just sit down and write all day while a marketing department makes me famous. I really, really wish I could most days. Then I could feel like what I do in my free time—i.e. my social life, etc.—didn’t have to compete with everything else I do. At least, that’s what I’d like to think would happen.

Being that I have a very practical/pragmatic father and graduated college shortly before the “Great Recession,” I picked up this habit of taking whatever opportunity I could get and not wasting it. Subsequently, I developed a desire to try new things to get myself out of a subpar situation (again, hence my YouTube channel) because it seemed like traditional methods weren’t working. It’s a weird combination of what seems like diametrically opposed mentalities. (Have I ever mentioned that human beings are weird, and I tend to be weirder than most?) 😛

With 2016 approaching, it’s time to make some changes. I’m not sure what all of those will be, but I do know that it’ll involve saying, “No,” to some things I’ve been saying, “Yes,” to, and vise versa.

More on that as it develops.