If you’ve been on this website more than once (or even just once, depending on your powers of observation), you may have noticed that things are a little different this time around.

The header is different, for one. The navbar’s been completely rearranged and looks like it might have more stuff on it and

HOLY CRAP WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LAST THREE FULL BLOG POSTS?!?

*hands paper bag*

Don’t worry, I’ll get to that. :) First, though:

The Header. !!!

Much as I liked the old one, there was always something missing from it. This one has way more personality, and it’s way more fun to look at, in my opinion (that and all the words are finally acceptably straight, which was bugging me like crazy). As much as I write about serious stuff, I also want to write more about funny stuff. I really, really enjoy life, and I wanted that to be more clear here, so, well, the header got a makeover.

The tagline is also different, but for a different reason. I’ve had two taglines previous to this which were good but, like the rest of the header, didn’t quite do it for me. This one did. :)

Ye Olde Navbarre

Lately, I’ve been doing a bunch of work on a bunch of different things, and it’s all been rather cool, but it’s really hard to do that when you don’t have a way to showcase things in progress. By which I’m mostly referring to the worlds I make up for my stories.

For some reason, I thought that no one would be interesting in seeing anything I’ve done until I can give them a finished project. Which is a rather stupid and unfounded thing to think. I, for one, love seeing the little sketches and reading the background bits that go into the planning of a book. Heck, why else do you think we have so much behind-the-scenes-type bonus features on nearly every DVD and Blu-ray that’s ever come out? Not only that, but why else would I always get SO FREAKING EXCITED every time Holly Lisle releases an updated version of the Minecraft map she made to help her keep track of the insides of spaceships and space stations that appear in the science fiction series she’s currently writing*?

So, I went to add the “Worlds” bit on there, one thing led to another and, next thing you know, I’ve reorganized the whole navbar.

*I do. Very loudly and so that everyone in the house knows about it. And then I drop literally everything I was even thinking of doing at that moment so that I can explore all the new things she’s added.

Ye Olde Navbarre Toure

Since I like it when things are easy to find on websites, I did my best to make everything on the navbar clearly understood, and I also put everything in order of importance while trying to group things with like things. That said, though, I wanted to give you a tour so that you can give me feedback about everything’s useability. So, everything in order:

“Books”: This page gives information about books I have out or are coming out next. This part on the navbar also has a drop-down menu which includes:

• “Are You My Reader?”: In here I describe what kinds of things I write about, allowing you to decide if you’d like my stories.
• “Online Fiction”: This opens up a new tab to my blog Written Arpeggios, where you can read several of my practise stories and the occasional rant. Eventually, I’ll be including all of these onto this website but, for now, they exist separately.

“Worlds”: Clicking here will lead you to a list of worlds I’ve created for stories, plus short descriptions of each. They also appear in a drop-down menu, named after the series that takes place in them (but go to the main Worlds page before you check out the worlds. You’ll know why when you see it. :) ):

• “Peculiar Certainties”: A diverse world full of magical beings, nobility that drive in cars, and magic that prefers to play by its own rules.
• “The Storm-Dance”: A world where virtually everyone can do magic, one continent of which is so plagued by magical storms that it nearly none of the colonies started there could survive. Nearly.

I also have more worlds up my sleeve. *looks in sleeve* *grins*

“Blog”: This returns you to the main blog page. At some point, I want to have a real McCoy homepage, which means that I’ll need this spot on the navbar to allow people to go to just my blog. Until then, it’s there to remind me to figure out how to get that to work. :)

“Returning to the Quiet”: This is where the last three blog posts have gone. I will explain the whys and wherefores in the next section, because this change deserves its own section.

“Art”: Currently, this opens up a new tab to Drawing in Colour, which is my art blog. This is a temporary arrangement, as the blog is/was only meant for the November Art Every Day Challenge. Eventually, I’m going to have this open to a gallery of my art. I just haven’t decided yet how I’m going to do that.

“Music”: Eventually, this will go to music stuff. I promise. I’ve been teasing you enough with that COMING SOON bit, haven’t I?

“About”: The page about moi. Naturally. :) It shall also have info about this site in general sometime in the near future.

“Contact”: This page has a contact form whereby you can send me messages, should you desire. I’ve also put my social media (and related things) links on there, below the contact form.

What Happened to Returning to the Quiet?

As it turns out, I’m writing a book with that. Literally. And, since I didn’t want to just be writing a book on here when I could possibly be saying other things as well, I decided to put Returning to the Quiet in its own special section on the site, so that I could still blog at the same time.

Which means that, yes, you’ll be able to read this book as it gets written. Once it’s done, I may or may not put the last part(s) on here, then I will edit the whole thing, make a cover, and publish it (there may even be extra stuff in the final version, but I’m not sure). The version on here will remain on here, always and forever, or as close to it as I can manage, and its success or lack thereof will influence how many more books I end up doing this way.

Because, hey, it’s fun, and you don’t have to wait forever for something new from me to read. I’ve already got ideas for possibilities for the next book(s) that I’ll do this way.

And those are all the changes to the site! I hope you enjoy everything just as much as I enjoyed making it for you. :)