I've been noodling away at my author website in spare moments over the Christmas break (you know, in between eating too much, drinking too much and watching Doctor Who). I'd held off doing much beyond a holding page until now for a couple of reasons: firstly, I had to write the second Carter Blake book, and secondly I didn't have a good web design tool, and the free ones I tried kind of sucked.
With its usual impeccable timing, it just so happens that Google managed to launch a beta version of
Google Web Designer about a week before I thought to myself: 'Hey, I wonder if Google offers free web design software?' The answer is yes, and if you're willing to put up with a bit of head-scratching, trial and error and occasional screams of frustration (it is a beta, after all), it's actually pretty good. It's certainly a hell of a lot cheaper than shelling out for a Dreamweaver license, and I didn't find it as restrictive as Wordpress.
I've had a look at a few other author websites and included the basics, but this is very much a work in progress. As we get closer to publication, I'll be updating the content with new articles, upcoming events and news, and no doubt I'll be doing a bit of tweaking on the design as well. You can have a look at
www.carterblake.net, and any feedback is gratefully received. It seems to display okay on Internet Explorer and Chrome, but any Firefox aficionados with a bit of time to spend looking around are more than welcome.
Short update this time; there's some cold beer and leftover roast beef sandwiches I have to get to post-haste.
Merry Christmas everyone, I hope Santa brought you some good reading material.
