Authors tend to encounter transitional periods, where their careers either step up or down. Websites are much the same way, hitting critical points where they advance or slip into obsolescence. In this business, good contacts can make a lot of difference in how those transitional periods go. And a good website can become a partner unto itself – or a boat anchor, chain firmly tied around your neck.

With that in mind, I’ll start saying “we” a lot, because I had some help from the good folks at Yay Technology on a full rebuild and rebranding of the site.

First, we’ve finally laid to rest “Blue Horizon”, the old site theme – almost like saying goodbye to an old friend – and what you’re now browsing is the new, high-end theme with many of the bells and whistles appropriate to a true author portal.

It’s symbolic of where we hope to be going over the next several months.

The site has a completely revamped layout and an advanced theme, but it’s not just the window dressing that has changed. We’ve also:

• Done away with a host of old content and added a lot of new items, linked from the top header, in many cases.
• Removed the old four-category format for the blog. From now on, one category for everything. It’s cleaner and leads to less confusion.
• Added new site features have been integrated with an eye on encouraging our target audience to communicate and interact with the site.
• Given the reviews – some of our more popular articles, based on traffic – a page all their own. And more reviews will steadily trickle in.
• Added a new front page slideshow. Top-notch blog posts, news on upcoming events and releases, and other items of importance above the rest of the site’s content will be showcased here.

We’ll have more changes coming, of course. But enough with the meta. Might I give you a little teaser for Sojourns Through Troubled Worlds? What’s that, you might ask?

Just follow the link.

And, as always, stay tuned.