Sputnik's Blog: The Swashbuckler Speaks

Missing in Action

One of the weird things about 'trying to make it' is feeling like a bit of a tool blogging as if you're chatting with millions of people, when you know damn well the reality is you're talking to an empty room. It's actually pretty embarrassing. But if you wait til you've got a big audience thinking you'll start then, you may never ever start - or find that audience.

Having said that, looking back at my GoodReads blogging record, i see i've mostly been missing in action since february! February?!?!? Holy hell! How on earth did that happen!?!?! Ten months gone in the blink of an eye.

In terms of writing, i have to confess, i haven't yet started my next book. Or even decided what it will be just yet. I've actually drafted a short eBook on social media, but i don't see that as being a genuine book - whatever the hell that means. So i'm hoping to finish that off early in 2015 and it may even be just a sneaky little giveaway. It comes off the back of some training i developed for athletes looking for sponsorship after being asked to do some work with The Sponsorship Consultants. I quite enjoyed it and realized i could potentially help a few people out with some insights i'd learned a long the way, so drafted that, but then never quite got around to finishing it off... a familiar tale for many writers i'm sure!

So yeah, even though it's probably not the project i'm most passionate about right now, it seems a shame to just let it sit there doing nothing.

What most people wouldn't know, is the original book idea i had for the whole Swashbucklers Guide thing, before the two i actually wrote, was to actually do a book about Cambodia where i lived for a while. And having been back there a few times this year and launched a new tour over there, that's very much back on my mind. I just have to decide whether or not i can create a really cool book and i'm not quite sure i can yet. So i'm thinking i'll start mapping it out and then get a feel for it.

As far as reading goes, i set what i hoped was an achievable goal this year, aiming to read 6 books. It may not sound like many books, but i'm pretty sure i only read 2 or 3 in 2013, so this was ambitious enough for me. As it happens, i think i knocked over about 8 books in the end, so i'm happy enough with that.

One of my basic strategies for reading more, was simply to play less stupid games on my iPad. That became my go to time killing strategy when i had a few minutes spare, and swapping games for books was a surprisingly effective strategy which i'm really pleased about.

I definitely need to do more of that in 2015. Not sure i'll get to read many more books than i did this year - 10 would be a nice round number - but we'll see. I just need to stay focused on feeding my mind with wonderful books instead of numbing my brain with dumb, time wasting games with no nutritional values. Such an obvious and simple way to make your life better.

Anyone who knows me even a little, knows full well i'm not really a Christmassy person. But then, i think of Christmas as being a lot like gravity - it doesn't really matter whether or not you believe in them, you can't help but feel their effects. So for me, while i don't celebrate Christmas in any way, shape or form, there's no question it represents the end of the year, and a time to reflect on what's been, and perhaps more importantly, what comes next.

If i think back to this time last year, i'd just launched 'Dinosaurs' and i had grand plans to promote the hell out of that. But very quickly got side tracked working with some corporate clients and the book's been sitting there unloved and neglected which is a shame.

Now, it's time to think about what happens in 2015. Still plenty of corporarte work, i'm sure, and a fair whack of travel planned as well with two races currently booked in for overseas (not sure i'll make the one in Europe, but the one in the USA is looking good still i hope), and potentially two of the Adventure Tours i host back in Bali and Cambodia.

I have no idea what 2015 holds, and i strongly doubt my plans will necessarily be a much of a reflection of what ends up happening, but we shall see.

I'll be doing my best to blog more often, both on here and on my soon to be launched new website. So until next time, thanks for reading and stay away from ordinary.

The next book..?

Well, on one front i'm happy to say my goal of reading more this year is going really well. I've finished off a couple of books that have been sitting there half-read for most of last year, and read a few extra books as well.

In fact, i've definitely rediscovered my love of reading. It never really occurred to me that reading was a 'habit'. One you could get out of, and, thankfully, back in to. Now, i'll pick up my latest book every chance i get instead of the dreaded iPad.

Yeah, yeah, i know you can read books on an iPad as well, and i certainly have a few in there, but there are so many other things you can do on an iPad it's way too easy for me to get distracted and end up playing stupid games of losing myself on Facebook.

Plus, i have so many hard copy books i've bough over the past few years that i really want to start working my way through them. It's exciting stuff.

But along with deciding what book i'm going to READ next, it's almost time to start thinking about what book i'm going to WRITE next... decisions, decisions.

The truth is, before i committed to my latest running book, i actually had two or three others in various stages of development. It was only when the idea of a running book started to take form that i ended up putting it at the top of the list and the other few got set aside. Now that i've had the chance to have a bit of a breather from the latest one, my mind is starting to wander. And wonder.

Which one will it be? Maybe none of them that i've thought of yet... maybe something else entirely? i've definitely considered a running book sequel/follow-up as i had plenty of content that didn't make it into the current one, but the temptation to go and do something completely new and different is high.

I suppose only time will tell. for the immediate future, i have a couple of really exciting projects i'm working on for clients through my marketing business Out of this World, and another non-book project i've been busting to do for about two years now that i really want to launch this year. but somehow, we're already in mid-Feb and i haven't made as much progress on that as i would have liked. Oh, and not to mention the Swashbuckler 'RunVenture' Tours i'll be hosting again this year. I'm off to Cambodia in a few weeks to put together our newest tour for later in the year, and that's taking up quite a bit of time and energy now as well.

Safe to say, it's going to be another busy and exciting year. And, of course, i'll be sure to update you when i know more about what's coming up next.

Dream big. Run far. Sput. x

I finished reading a book. TWO in fact.

So it turns out i'm not as bad a reader as i'd been thinking. In recent years, i'd really fallen off the reading wagon. Don't get me wrong, i still BOUGHT as many books as ever, i just wasn't quite getting around to reading them.

And although i'm not the biggest fan of new year resolutions, i did set a goal to read more this year. I started by finishing two of the books i'd begun reading last year. Maybe it's cheating to say i've read two books already this year, but i have at least FINISHED two that'd been sitting there partially read.

one step beyond

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It turns out less faffing about on my iPad playing stupid games leaves more time for reading. Go figure.

It's actually been pretty cool rediscovering that feeling of not wanting to put a book down. Of wanting to read just one more page... one more chapter to see what happens next. For me, right now, i'm almost through Jump In by Mark Burnett - the guy who makes TV shows like Survivor and The Apprentice. It had some pretty average reviews but i am absolutely loving it. Can't wait to finish it and i'm just a bit sad that because it's about 10 years old now, there won't be any more recent stories in there. Will have to check out if he's written another one i think.

So that's me really. That will be my first started AND finished book of 2014.

As for my book, i'm still just incredibly grateful to anyone who's bought a copy. Thanks in large to the promo I'm doing with TrailRunner Magazine in America, I'm selling quite a few copies stateside which has been just fantastic.

Although i'm still recovering from having written 'Dinosaurs', a lot of people have started asking me what my next book will be so i'm just now starting to think about the answer to that question. I have a few ideas, and in truth, had already started several books before we decided to pursue 'Dinosaurs', but i'm yet to make a firm decision. Plus, i have a big, exciting non-book project i've decided to launch in the next few months so time will tell if there's another book this year or if it will have to wait a little while longer.

Hope your year has gotten off to a good start. Dream big. Run far. s x

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So this is 2014?

I started my near with The New Year's Eve Midnight Run. It was a 10km trail run through the hills in my hometown of Adelaide at midnight. Well, we started at about 10:30pm, ran for about an hour, saw a few scorpions and kangaroos, stopped to watch the fireworks at midnight, then ran back to our cars. It was through The Swashbucklers Club and I was lucky enough to be joined by about 15 other awesome people who also thought doing something like this would be a great way to bring in the new year.

It was damn hot out there, so it was tough going for me. I went out and ran the course at about 6:30pm and laid out glowsticks to mark the way. It was about 35c degrees when i did my first lap of the course. I then met my partner Ky and we dragged a cooler full of drinks up the hill to our stopping point so everyone could enjoy a nice cold drink while we watched the fireworks.

Even at 10:30pm when we started running it was still about 30c degrees. Then we went out on New Years morning to take all the glowsticks down. So i think i covered about 25kms on NYE and another 10 on new years day. But overall, a fantastic way to start my new year.

Onto things literary, I've also been lucky enough to team up with the guys from TrailRunner magazine in the USA to share some of the content from my new book in daily bursts of inspiration. It's a great way to spread the word and hopefully will get plenty of people off to a good start to the new year. (and sell a few books! ;-) ) It's an exciting opportunity - especially as the team there loved the book so much.

And finally, no, it's not a mistake, i've signed up to the 2014 GoodReads Book Challenge with the goal of reading a whopping 6 books. Yes, for the entire year. The truth is between working and writing and running, i haven't been reading all that much lately so i've been realistic with my goal... but all jokes aside, it really is one of my goals to read more this year so with any luck i can at least FINISH some of the books i've already started reading. Hopefully that counts... :-)

Happy new year all.

Dream big. Run far. Read lots.

Thanks. And here we go again.

So it turns out 2013 is about to end. I have no idea how this year worked out for you, but for me it was, as always, a very mixed bag.

In some ways, one of those most challenging years ever. In others, easily the most rewarding.

Our first RunVenture Tour and the new book were obviously two highlights. I also managed to stay in a relationship for an entire calendar year. Actually, there's still a few hours to go so perhaps I shouldn't speak too soon. But so far, so good.

For me personally, I'm going to look back at the year with incredible fondness. And gratitude. Not because there wasn't things to be pissy about and say "oh man, I'll be happy to see that back of this year" like I have so many times in the past. But because the highlights were really, really high. And because the support I received from my friends and 'fans' really was quite overwhelming.

So to each and every one of you who, in some way or another, be it buying a book, coming on a tour or simply a kind word or comment along the way somewhere, thankyou. It sounds cliched, because it is, but i honestly couldn't do what I do without you guys.

This new chapter (see what i did there?) in my life may be still very much at draft stage, but it's only possible because of you, so thankyou kindly.

So it's onwards and upwards into the new year now. I'm still deciding if there'll be a new book in 2014, but there'll certainly be more RunVenture Tours and hopefully a few other cool projects to give birth to. I really must commit to putting out a lot more video content as well as the vaults are overflowing with stupid and cool and stupidly cool stuff that needs to see the light of day.

Til then, wishing you all the very best for 2014. And beyond.

Dream big. Run far.

Sput. x