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Monday, June 15, 2009

New Beginnings

When it was time to have my website built I knew I needed something that would capture the mood of my novels, but also represented me as a writer. I’m not very techie, so I knew it was going to be hard to articulate. My first conversation with Ron, my web designer, went a little like this…

“I want something moody, but not horror writer—no bloody knives. I’m a thriller writer, but not the classic thriller— darker, more literary. So it needs to be moody, but not too dark, you know? I'm thinking some nature shots, but creepy ones. Oh, and I don’t have the real cover yet and I’m getting new author pics in July, and blah, blah, blah…”

Then Ron sent me a PDF of my first three pages. WOW! He totally understood what I was looking for and completely exceeded my expectations. We fine-tuned things a little—a color change here, an image moved over there--then it went to Kyle to be programmed. When Kyle sent me the back door link and I saw my website live for the first time, I was thrilled! But the editing process is the same no matter what the product and we still weren’t done. Thankfully, Kyle proved to be just as patient as Ron and we went through each page together.

“Can you put a space between those two boxes of text and move that picture to the left? Can we change the color on that heading and line those up? Can we link that one over there? Can we enlarge the font? Yah, that’s awesome!”

Then the next day.

“Can we move the font back to the other size? No, not that one, the other one, the first one. Can you remove that one dash and take out that other line?”

But then finally there was nothing left to fix. We were done.

It feels a bit like after you’ve moved into a new home. The movers are gone, most of the boxes are unpacked, pictures are hung, and I’m sitting in my living room with a glass of red wine checking out my new digs. This site represents everything I’ve been working towards for years. It was the first time I saw my name on a book cover (Okay, a mock one, but still!), my author bio, and my name on the banner. But my favorite part is the one word under Chevy Stevens—Author.

I’ve had many titles in my life, but this is the one I worked the hardest for. The one I wanted the most. Sometimes it still doesn’t feel real. But it sure feels good.

2 comments:

  1. What an awesome website! I am so excited for you and can't wait until the novel is on the shelves. I will be first in line.

    Marilyn Collier

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  2. I second that! Only, I'm going to be first in line - can't wait to read it!! Congratulations - here's to your brilliant career as a writer..love, Reb

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