Friday, May 7, 2010

Being Connected

I don't have much substance in this post. It's one of those "Have a look at what this person's up to" linking sort of posts. There are some people I follow that post nearly daily and, once in a while, convey great pieces of information that gets you thinking (more so than usual).

Aaron Polson's post from yesterday, Giant's Robes on a Dwarfish Thief, is about using your blog as a connection tool rather than a networking or promoting tool. "Just talk" is a strong theme in his heartfelt post. That's something I've come to admire about Aaron this past year. Aside from the fact he's a man of many talents: school teacher, writer, ezine publisher...he is also a man of strong character who works hard at his craft and is always quick to visit your blog with a kind or helpful word. One of the good guys out in cyberspace. If his blog is for talking, I think people are definitely listening. I'll share a true story of networking taking care of itself...

The other day I received a copy of The Devil's Food anthology from Aaron in the mail. I won it in a contest he held recently at his blog (which was really cool, because I've never won literature before). Anyhow, the book was unwrapped and lay upon the dining room table. My son came home for lunch with one of his school friends in tow. Sean spotted the book on the table and began leafing through the ToC. I was downstairs at work in my office and heard him exclaim, "Cool! Aaron Polson's in this book!" The power of networking really boggles the mind. Aaron has one story (Spider and I) in the book and Sean quickly found it (note: the book also contains stories by Natalie Sin and Jameson Caine, both readers of this blog). Sean happened to remember Aaron's name from reading his story 'The Distillery' in the last issue of Necrotic Tissue I had received in the mail. Who would have thought that a writer of horror from Kansas would be getting talked about by 14 year old boys on an island reaching into the Atlantic (umm...I'm not sure if that came out right. I mean talked about in a good way).

"Just talk" seems to be sound advice, because the networking is taking care of itself. I've talked enough...take a few minutes, though, to check out that posting from yesterday. If for no other reason, he provides a link to the ''Wussy Boy Manifesto," a hilarious rant by Big Poppa E on YouTube.

11 comments:

Cathy Olliffe-Webster said...

You know what? I enjoyed the chatty tone of this post immensely, Alan, and I agree with you about Aaron and I will check him out.
You remind me a bit of Stuart McLean, who I just adore. It's that same conversational tone in your blog that invites the comparison.

Aaron Polson said...

Cut right to the core of my Wussy Boy heart, Alan. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

"Aaron Polson's post from yesterday, Giant's Robes on a Dwarfish Thief, is about using your blog as a connection tool rather than a networking or promoting tool."

I'm glad he chose this important topic and didn't just quote a bunch of semantic nonsense.

Aaron Polson said...

Sometimes all I have is semantic nonsense.

Cate Gardner said...

How cool that your son wanted to read Aaron's story.

Kara McElhinny said...

I'll second Cate's comment and go on to say that while I do enjoy spouting out my rambling garble sometimes it makes me feel like I'm trying to be self-important when really they are just random thoughts I have. So I try to keep an even balance of writing stuff and other things that might pop up on my mind.

Paula RC said...

How quick good news travals here in our small part of the internet.

Wonderful!

Fox Lee said...

I'm waiting for Aaron to amass a large gay following, like Dolly Parton : )

Alan W. Davidson said...

Cathy- Thanks. I guess I do get a bit chatty at times. I must admit I had to look up Stuart McLean. I have never heard the 'Vinyl Cafe', but appreciate the comparison. Hmm...my grandmother was a McLean, maybe he and I are related...

Aaron- You're welcome. Honesty from the heart is never wussy.

Anton- I understood the word 'connecting' as relating to your fellow man...I understood 'networking' as promoting oneself or others out in the media in some fashion.

Cate- Yeah, it really gave me a shock. Let's see if he can 'network' for the horror writers here in Newfoundland.

Kara- Yep. Balance is good. I enjoy reading your rambling garble.

Jarmara- Hmm...travelling good news...you're not refering to the elections going on there, are you?

Nat- Your comment had me nearly snorting coffee out my nose, and that would have been a terrible waste. Perhaps your observation is not far off the mark. Maybe you could feature Mr. Polson as a character in one of your more risque stories?

Fox Lee said...

"Aaron Polson and the Dungeon of Forbidden Desires."

Katey said...

Natalie has it!

Yeah though, that is a really good story about how that works. I find that my friends are starting to pick up on things like that too when I send them books and just call them to talk. Amazing what it can do!