I have just finished adding a page to Guardian Sci fi website tracing the development of the Guardian book cover. (Evolution of a Book Cover) It took a while and some experimentation to get the pictures of the covers to expand when they are clicked on. The finished effect is effective and lets you view the covers in detail while keeping the page small I hope you agree it was worth the effort.

I am still waiting for the final proof from the publisher.  Now the cover is finished things seem to be dragging again. I want to hold the book in my hands!

I have enjoyed producing the website and I now have a range of software and themes. I have learnt a lot getting the website how I want it. The last thing I purchased was HTML-Optimizer Plus, software to ‘tune’ the code. The website is run through it before being published. It removes unnecessary code and compacts the graphics. It ensures that when a visitor navigates to one of my pages it loads as quickly as possible. On average each page loads 35% faster than it would have before the ‘tuning’ process.

If you like my site and would like your own website and blog for whatever reason please feel free to email me. I would be happy to help you produce an effective website from simple advise up to doing all the work for you, including obtaining a domain name and host.

Here is the final cover version. Penpress’s Art Dept has included the figure of Aurelia produced for me by Dave Cantù www.davecantu.com

The back cover text and authors name are now correct. The planned cover price is as you can see £7.99  ($11.38 at today’s exchange rate if you are in the USA)

I have decided that if you buy a signed copy from me I will donate 5% of the net proceeds to cancer research. When the book is available I will set up a page on the website with Paypal and Google Check Out to make it safe and easy for you to make a purchase.

Final Cover Version

A red-letter day! I have a draft copy of my book cover. There are one or two changes I have requested but otherwise the final cover will be substantially as you see it.

I have requested that the aliens face is filled out a little and made darker so she looks a little less like a vampire. I also need the Osborne included in the authors name. The back cover blurb is not quite right either as it is the original version produced by the publisher.

The final version should read;

Having retired for a quiet life in an isolated part of the country following an unsuccessful and debilitating experiment by the Navy, Tristan Taylor’s life is turned upside down by the arrival of Aurelia- an alien warrior whose fighter has crash-landed behind his cottage!
With the realisation that he can ‘feel’ the alien’s thoughts and with the knowledge that the previously failed brain implant can now interface with the alien’s computers. Tristan begins his quest to end the rule of the dominant Dacian people and bring peace and equality to all races.

The bold is where it is different from the publisher’s version.

Please let me know what you think and above all if you picked it up from the bookshelf and looked at the cover would you be tempted to buy it?

Publishers Version of the Book Cover

Last night I joined Yahoo Myweb. I thought it was a good idea as you build up a list of favourite or useful websites and you can share the recommendations with other people.

Yahoo construct an HTML snippet of your list to upload to a website. The list is dynamically changed as your list changes. (That’s what I thought happened anyway)

Luckily by chance this morning I checked my site and was horrified to find the list on my website had been taken over by one person. It was full of links to hardcore porn sites! (I didn’t look honest)

I deleted the snippet from Yahoo immediately and republished my site. Luckily no harm seems to have been done (fingers crossed).

So if you don’t want your website taken over by porn make sure you avoid Yahoo Myweb!

I seem to have been avoiding Guardian book two at the moment, I have spent more time working on my website instead. Perhaps it is a form of writer’s block!  I was not happy with the theme I had chosen. It worked and was clean but it was some how rather flat and boring.

I searched the web for more Rapidweaver themes. I wanted one that looked elegant, had a bit of class and above all was open to some modification. After searching around I found www.rwthemes.com.  There were two themes that caught my eye DC Glasstastic 1.2 and DC Paper Strips 3.2.  I settled on DC Glasstastic. I paid and downloaded a copy. I started to convert my website to see what it looked like. I use a copied version of my site called themetest so I can try things out first without messing with my active site.

I got the theme loaded and set up with my web content then started to adjust the colour and layout. I found that there was a limitation with the page colour. I thought I would try the RWThemes support. I sent my question not expecting a reply for several days if at all.

Less than fifty (yes 50!) minutes later I had a reply with the solution to my question. I could hardly believe it. That is what I call customer support!!

I spent the rest of the day getting the new site to my liking. I adjusted the background and experimented with page colours. I also pulled in a graphic from the DC Paper Strips theme.

Dave Cantù the guy who runs the company (and who answered my question so promptly) is an artist as well as a RW Theme developer, this to my mind shows up in the quality of his themes.

The resultant site is here for all to see and I have to say I am at last satisfied that I have a website to be proud of. One I hope will set off my Sci Fi book(s) to good effect.

It would be good to know if you agree with me or not. Email correspondence is all gratefully received so don’t be shy; I don’t bite (often)!

Now the site is finished I can get back to Guardian book two. I have plenty of ideas but it is getting them to fit together on paper I am having a problem with. Perhaps if I make a start the story line will appear to me. After all what’s the point of a book if you know what is going to happen next?