The Great Google War of 2016-17 Is Over

I never thought it would happen but it did.

Google slapped me with a penalty claiming I had some funky links that didn’t meet their Terms of Service.

I didn’t expect it because I have done very few sponsored posts and those I did came from reputable companies whose names you know.

Nintendo, Subway, Kenmore and a few others.

I made a point to make sure I disclosed my relationship and went about my business but old man Google didn’t like it.

He/She/It told me about the penalty last October or maybe it was November and said that until I cleaned things up they would not crawl my site.

Since they didn’t tell me what was wrong it took a bit of time to cull through 10,000 posts and guess at what needed to be fixed.

Apparently, I figured it out and was reinstated.

The Great Google War of 2016-17 is over.

Push Forward

I was irritated by the penalty but it didn’t stop me from writing or trying to push forward.

My kids hear me talk about the importance of being relentless and of chasing down our dreams and I do my best to live it.

It is part of why I haven’t been as active here because I have been pushing forward in other places.

*****

I am a big fan of Teddy Roosevelt…quotes.

If you are among the long time readers you have seen me use a bunch of different ones on numerous occasions.

Ideally, they have done a good job of helping to illustrate a point and or add some depth and layers that wouldn’t otherwise exist.

That has been a part of the push, becoming a better writer/storyteller and I feel like I am making progress.

Stories To Share

Got a bunch of stories locked up inside my head that I want to share but I haven’t figured out the who, what, where and when.

Haven’t decided if I want to do it here or elsewhere.

Haven’t decided if I want to test things out here with my pseudonym or if I should do it under my real name.

There are bigger and more important decisions that occupy my days, but this one holds some weight.

Circle back to the quote about courage and you have my biggest issue.

The other stuff that is going on in my life is tiring me out and my reserves are low so my willingness to put some personal stuff out there is a bit lower.

It is not that I can’t handle criticism, but I kind of don’t want to right now.

That is not a good recipe for success but it is a good excuse for not doing anything right now.

So I am working on balancing things out by giving myself a little break. Doesn’t mean you won’t see anything new here, but it does mean that I might continue to wait to produce some new fiction.

We shall see, in the interim I am exhausted after a long day of Superbowl watching and other stuff so will end this now and say see you tomorrow.