Abandoning Social Media. Well, Some Social Media

 Okay, so here's the deal: I'm on too much social media.

Welcome to just about everyone's life.

My theory going in was that, in addition to keeping track of friends and family, I could use the internet to promote my books. For those of you who haven't heard, I write books. In fear of losing out on a sale, I'd try new social media sites without abandoning the old ones.

I mean, I got rid of Friendster--let's not get silly. I even, many years after I should have, stopped using MySpace. Remember MySpace? I think I got up to 17 followers.

I still have a Tumbler account. Well, I think, hold on.

There it is, 44 followers. I started it in, oh, 1928; a couple of people liked a post of mine in 1954. On the other hand, I joined Substack a couple of years ago: Without really trying I have 273 followers already, and 36 subscribers. (There's a difference.)

 

The internet, like any other living thing, evolves.

I'm trying to put more time into writing and book promotion, and that means putting less time into other things. So, some places where some of you may see me, you soon may not.

For instance, I have two Twitter accounts, which (like everything on this list) seemed like a good idea at the time. One is my main account, and the second is dedicated to the Storm Chaser book series. Regardless of how you feel about Twit--I mean, X, it doesn't make sense to promote twelve books on one account, then have another where I promote four of them again.

Also, I like to have a little fun on social media, and I can't do that if I'm constantly dashing from site to site.

Something similar happened on Facebook. I have my main account, and an author page, and I also run a page for the Albion Volunteer Fire Department. Then I have one for my book Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights: A Century or So With the Albion Fire Department. One book. "It seemed like a good idea at the time" is my middle name. 

Then there are Facebook Groups. You can find an interest and get addicted, especially me. Marx Johnny West Collection action figures? Check. Military toys from our childhood? Another check. Most of my childhood toys were military related, and nostalgia runs strong in this one.
 

My childhood Thompson, just like Sergeants Rock and Fury carried.

 

What do I want to do when I see these childhood toys I loved and lost? Replace them. But I can't afford that, don't have a place to display them, and don't have time for online shopping. It's time for some of my FB groups to go. 

Whether you're a writer or not, it's dangerous to spread yourself too thin over the internet. No, I'm not slashing and burning--I still like to keep track of family, friends, and fellow authors. I'm just tightening my belt a little.

Isn't that worth it, to make the internet a little bit less about pulling your hair out? 

 

For now you can still find me and/or our books here:

·        Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

·        Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

·        Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

·        Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

·        Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

·        Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

·        Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

·        Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

·        Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

·        Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

·        Substack:  https://substack.com/@markrhunter

·        Tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

·        Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

·        Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@mark.r..hunter

 

Remember: Even if you  totally forgot you had a Tumblr account, it's still there. 

A Toy Soldier Story

 As a kid, I had to use my imagination. No cable, no video games, no Anarchist Cookbook on the internet. If I’d tried to buy the ingredients for a bomb, the store clerk would have been on the phone to my parents before I reached the door.

Then I’d have to cut my own switch, ending my bomb-making aspirations.

Instead I wandered, literally, over hill and dale, made dams in the creek, plodded through swamps. I had a handful of favorite toys, dogs for companionship, and imagination. Any place was a playground, any object a toy.

Every now and then I still check out the toy aisles, but today’s toys just aren’t interesting. You can’t play with today’s toys. You sit and look at them while they play themselves.

I'm old enough now that grandkids and pets are the best gifts. Not that I'd turn down 60s era Marx toy soldiers.

 

Oh, you might press a few buttons, but they do all the rest. They make noise, flash lights, speak to you, move around, until they need recharged. I’m not talking just about video games, which at least give you hand-eye coordination. But on that subject, what do the game makers brag about most? Better graphics and sound, and realistic cut scenes.

Heaven forbid you should imagine any of that.

We generally got toys twice a year, for Christmas and birthdays. My parents never bought me toys because I got a good grade, or cleaned my room, or avoided juvenile hall. I did that stuff because if I didn’t, I’d have to cut a switch. Getting a switch used on me was bad; having to take that long walk out to the bush to cut one was much, much worse. I’d rather pull my teeth out with pliers and use them to chew off my own ear than get sent out to the bush.

Don’t get me wrong, I got some great toys, it's just that I played with them.

I got a scale model of the Starship Enterprise. I didn't push a button to make it fly: I held it out and whooshed it past my imaginary planets. How did my Enterprise make that “whoosh” warp sound? By me saying, “Whoosh!”

I had to use my – say it with me – imagination.

I've had this fire truck for fifty years; it never moved on its own once. If it did, I'd freak out.

Have you ever played World War II video games? The realism is amazing, and if you’re not playing with someone, the game console itself moves the other characters around.

I got a Marx "Battleground” play set. Plastic tanks, cannon, flags, landing craft – and get this, landmines, wounded soldiers, and stretchers. I had German, Japanese, British, and Confederate soldiers from several wars. You can’t have enemy troops these days, because the soldiers of Politically Correctness would pitch a fit. You'd probably get in trouble for pitching things, too.

Eventually I learned war is a terrible thing, even when made necessary by various bad guys, but I still loved my play set. My parents, you see, taught me the difference between fantasy and reality. For example, fantasy was seeding my battleground with firecrackers; reality was them finding out and sending me to cut a switch.

Fake battles led to my lifelong love of history, and I've never invaded Russia once, so I think I did okay.

I had a few remarkably “real” guns, meaning they were my size. No one imagined using one to rob a bank, or being mistaken for a gang member. My favorite was a Thompson machine gun, with which I defended our barn many times. No computer program was needed to produce my attackers – they came from my – wait for it – imagination.

Another favorite gun was my Kentucky rifle, a muzzle loading weapon used in the Revolutionary War. My mother called it her mop handle.

But with the mop taken off, it was the perfect size and shape to win our independence. I fought off entire regiments of Englishmen with that rifle, alongside a company of Minutemen that was very much real to me and my imagination. I’m sure I looked ridiculous in the field behind our house, stabbing with the bayonet on my mop handle, getting hit and falling to the ground, then getting up to defend Lexington and Concord yet again. What did I care?

 

My favorite toy gun. If it was good enough for both Sgt. Rock and Sgt. Fury, it was good enough for me.

Not that fake warfare was my only interest – not with Frisbees, Matchbox cars, and paper airplanes available. My single speed Schwinn bicycle doubled as a spaceship and police car; walkie-talkies were useful for spy missions; and a beach towel was sufficient to make a superhero costume.

I could go on and on (as my regular readers know.) Two chairs and a blanket made a great tent; small sticks and stones could become a city, waiting on an attack by Godzilla; and oh – what we could do with a cardboard box. The possibilities were endless.

I can’t help thinking today’s kids are missing something important … and I’m not talking about the switch.

 

• Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
• Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"
• Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter
• Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/
• Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter
• Substack:  https://substack.com/@markrhunter
• Tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

 

Remember: Books make great bases for your toy soldier battles.