Wow, 100 posts on this blog now!
And wow, it only took two years!
What took so long, and how can we ensure more posts happen over the next two years?
Today I’d like to look back on the Big Sky Words Montana blog and offer some roadmaps for going forward.
And wow, it only took two years!
What took so long, and how can we ensure more posts happen over the next two years?
Today I’d like to look back on the Big Sky Words Montana blog and offer some roadmaps for going forward.
Starting the Montana Blog
I started this blog on March 4, 2013, while I was living in Shenzhen, China. I remember the exact evening, after work, and coming out to the kitchen.
“I think I just made a big mistake,” I said to my wife.
At the time I was overworked and had little money. Plus I was trying to work on several other projects, including two blogs. Since then my attitude has improved but everything else has remained the same. You can read more about this in my post of a few days ago, Big Sky Words is 2-Years-Old Today.
That first month I put up a post a day, for a total of 27 posts. Those posts would form the core of Tribes and Trappers: A History of Montana, Volume One. Here are some highlights:
After that I started putting up posts that would become part of Priests and Prospectors: A History of Montana, Volume Two. Here are some of those:
I started this blog on March 4, 2013, while I was living in Shenzhen, China. I remember the exact evening, after work, and coming out to the kitchen.
“I think I just made a big mistake,” I said to my wife.
At the time I was overworked and had little money. Plus I was trying to work on several other projects, including two blogs. Since then my attitude has improved but everything else has remained the same. You can read more about this in my post of a few days ago, Big Sky Words is 2-Years-Old Today.
That first month I put up a post a day, for a total of 27 posts. Those posts would form the core of Tribes and Trappers: A History of Montana, Volume One. Here are some highlights:
After that I started putting up posts that would become part of Priests and Prospectors: A History of Montana, Volume Two. Here are some of those:
And then I got kind of tired of putting up sections that would become my books. I’d moved back to Montana by that time, in June of 2013. I was ready to talk about some new things, and these are some posts that came out of this period:
Over the next year I’d write two more books about Montana history, Braves and Businessmen: A History of Montana, Volume Three and Hustlers and Homesteaders: A History of Montana, Volume Four. Here are some links from those books:
And now here we are, ready to embark upon a fresh 100 posts. I’m working on my fifth volume of Montana history, and here are some links to that, which I’ll periodically add to:
Over the next year I’d write two more books about Montana history, Braves and Businessmen: A History of Montana, Volume Three and Hustlers and Homesteaders: A History of Montana, Volume Four. Here are some links from those books:
And now here we are, ready to embark upon a fresh 100 posts. I’m working on my fifth volume of Montana history, and here are some links to that, which I’ll periodically add to:
It kind of makes me feel bad, just 100 posts in two years. That’s not many. Gosh, I’ve put up 100 posts on my two sites in a month before!
So what happened?
I think the main thing that happened was politics. I wrote a post back in January 2014 called Should I Run for Senate District 49? In that post I speculated on which Missoula legislative race I should run in during the 2014 elections.
I didn’t really like that post…it just didn’t feel right on this blog. So a short time later I started the 2014 Montana Election Blog, which got up to 350 posts before I ended it just a week or so ago.
Does that mean this blog will get more political? Perhaps, but nothing like the Election Blog was. I want a blog that’s more respectable, and that gets approval from both political parties in Montana, and perhaps a few others as well. I want it to be like one of those state administrators that people always know has good information.
Does that mean this blog is tarnished by the earlier blog? I think not, much like K. Ross Toole wasn’t too tarnished by some of his more “out-there” writings. Of course he pissed just about everyone off before and after then too, so…
Anyways, I need to be spending some more time on this blog, and I’ll be doing that. What will that look like? These are some posts I’m working on:
Those are all in my folder, just waiting to be polished up, or just spit out in some cases. County splitting and Buffalo Soldiers are topics in Hustlers and Homesteaders, and I’m just waiting for opportune times to release those short excerpts.
Thanks a lot for reading, and thanks for buying my Montana books and some of my other books. That’s the money I use to keep writing, so your support means a lot. Thanks!
So what happened?
I think the main thing that happened was politics. I wrote a post back in January 2014 called Should I Run for Senate District 49? In that post I speculated on which Missoula legislative race I should run in during the 2014 elections.
I didn’t really like that post…it just didn’t feel right on this blog. So a short time later I started the 2014 Montana Election Blog, which got up to 350 posts before I ended it just a week or so ago.
Does that mean this blog will get more political? Perhaps, but nothing like the Election Blog was. I want a blog that’s more respectable, and that gets approval from both political parties in Montana, and perhaps a few others as well. I want it to be like one of those state administrators that people always know has good information.
Does that mean this blog is tarnished by the earlier blog? I think not, much like K. Ross Toole wasn’t too tarnished by some of his more “out-there” writings. Of course he pissed just about everyone off before and after then too, so…
Anyways, I need to be spending some more time on this blog, and I’ll be doing that. What will that look like? These are some posts I’m working on:
- County Splitting in Montana;
- Early Montana Explorers;
- Famous Montana Celebrities #5;
- Fort Benton;
- Montana’s Buffalo Soldiers in Cuba;
- More Great Prepper Books;
- Socialism in Montana;
- The Montana University System and Its Shortcomings;
- Tracking Montana War Heroes;
- Using Montana Media Resources Wisely;
- What are the Largest Ranches in Montana?
Those are all in my folder, just waiting to be polished up, or just spit out in some cases. County splitting and Buffalo Soldiers are topics in Hustlers and Homesteaders, and I’m just waiting for opportune times to release those short excerpts.
Thanks a lot for reading, and thanks for buying my Montana books and some of my other books. That’s the money I use to keep writing, so your support means a lot. Thanks!
