Tag: website

Entire revamp level achieved.

Spearcarrier

You may have noticed, but the entire Apocalypse Writers website has been going through some major changes. As I’ve been talking about in the past week or two, I’ve been thinking about making a move towards making The Writers of the Apocalypse more official and just a very slight bit more professional.

So for starters, the OOAK Leaf store is no more. No one visited it anyway, and I hate wasted memory space. (Old habit from the days of smaller drives.) However, I found myself having to install a brand-new store. I attached it to a publisher imprint name, Wôks Print, and made it the hub of most things publishing. There you will find my books, my husband’s book, and hopefully some books by other people in the future. Step 1 achieved.

Next, I had to revamp the entry portal to this website itself. I could have installed an entire ecommerce solution like so many bigger publishers have done, but if I did that I would have lost a lot of things I worked to build over the years including this blog. So for now, the portal is old-fashioned html. I tried to make it look nice, at least? I invite you to take a look at it and tell me what you think.

Then I had to go through my databases and decide what stayed and what went away. I chose to close my music blog. Music is a hobby for me, and I rarely get to do it. (Although I’m working hard towards a change for the better.) Yes, I want to make more music. Yes, I love voice acting and want to go back to it. No, I’m too busy trying to survive at this time.

I’m not going to give music and voice acting up. Ever. So I merged that blog with this one. Those of you who never knew I did these things can now find the rare voice activity easily.

Last but not least, this blog needed my attention. It’s been a long while since I’ve done any major website management, so it was long overdue. The new theme is based on the old theme I had for the voice blog with a tiny foxy touch. I almost went with a Halloween theme, but decided against it. I’m good with this for now.

I think I’m done revamping this website. I hope you like it, and that it’s easier to navigate. If I start getting overwhelmed with spam through the contact portal again I’ll have to take it back down. But we’ll see how things go.

Onward and upward.

I don’t like the Red Queen’s lips. And the show has horrible CGI. I could do better.

Death

Well, I seem to be in slightly more of a pickle than usual. Due to a combination of the army running my husband and our car ragged on our own dime, the light bill spiking into the several hundreds, and other annoying factors my coffers are flat. I used to have money set aside for emergencies and taxes. I currently have a past due light bill and an empty bank account. In America, the army doesn’t pay you for work. You pay the army.

There have been a few generous donations from Heavenly Bride’s three readers. It should have been enough, but it barely kept the lights from being turned off. So here I sit in a pickle, and that pickle is about to play forth across the internet in a way I’d rather avoid.

My websites are in deep dooky.

I have to come up with the money to renew one in under 24 hours. (Edit: turns out I have a month on that one.) I have to come up with the money to renew Heavenly Bride’s site in about 3 or 4 days (edit) a week. And Akashik I think has a month left? (Edit, it also has a week.) I’ll have to double check to be sure. (See? I did.)

For years each time this matter came up, I would use the money I had earned from my own sweat and tears to do the trick. But the government has made sure I don’t have the money this time. I’m even afraid to buy food, and to top it off our internet bill is past due so what will the point be if I can’t pay that first?

The sadly ironic part here is that I’ve been toying with the idea of just letting the websites go down for a few months now. There’s no activity on them. The only way I know people go to them to read them – outside of the regular three people – is because someone mentioned in a Heavenly Bride review on Amazon that they were thrilled to learn they could read the book for free rather than buy it there. And, as recent events are making clear, I can’t afford the expense anymore.

So now the pinch has come and I’m looking at being forced to do it anyway. Aaaaaand… you know I don’t want to. I’m always afraid someone is waiting to swipe the domain name out from under me. Believe me, I had to fight to get that name.

And it’s only right. Three people donated to help out.

Despite all this drama I’ve been working extra hard on Heavenly Bride. I’ve reached a page in the story that required me to do a little preplanning. Characters had to be developed. Scenes had to be made. It’s more work than usual for a page, but I am hoping it will be worth it. The new creation methods I have been employing have been producing richer artwork that I hope people enjoy.

I’ve been posting sneak previews and wotnot in the Heavenly Bride pup forum. So far I have one pup in attendance, but hey! They say things to me on occasion. Woo hoo!

So on that note I shall get back to work. I’m doing this picture of Jiu Liu that’s going to make his haters hate him even more.