Changes afoot
I think we all have times like this.
Changes abound in my end of the world, changes that I have been planning for some time.
To tell the truth, it’s a relief to get started. Last year was something of a marsh for me: every step sucked and progress was slow, heavy work. I had a to-do list that only grew, and pretty much fought just to break even.
This year, it’s a different story. I didn’t set out to find a way out of the marsh, though I definitely wanted it. I threw myself into the yoke the same way I always do at the start of a new year, laying out the paths I want to tread and pushing to see how many of them I make it to. On I plod, one foot in front of the other.
It’s the things that come out of left field that are making the difference right now. It’s the publishing platform that asked for my input and help, which I’m using to get a new project out through, and which in turn has made me give that project a focus it hasn’t ever had before.* It’s the bad idea that turned into a pile of silly fun, and which is now turning into an experiment and an exploration.* It’s frustration and determination that is finally tipping me over the end of a problem and into the long slog of solving that problem.
Maybe it’s the looming end of Starwalker, too, the toil of five years of my life now. After struggling through the climax of Book 4, it is hurrying towards the end at a startling pace. Sometime soon, it’ll be done, and I will have to find something else to push me to write every week.
Change is coming whether I like it or not. But I do like it.
After all, I do have a to-do list as long as my arm. I have projects clamouring for attention, things I am itching to write, that I am excited to write. I won’t be short of things to do for some time to come.
But that change is for the future. I have a few more Starwalker posts yet to write.
A change I can make now is to move my web hosting, from its current home to a new, better one. I have been with the same web host for several years, but the cost and reliability aren’t suitable any more. It’s not cheap hosting and it has too much downtime for my liking.
I have been pondering a change for a while, done some research and found a good alternative. But it’s a big job. I have several websites that I maintain, including this writing blog, the Apocalypse Blog site, and Starwalker. There’s all that data to transfer, plus email addresses and DNS updates, new websites to set up, imports to do, making sure everything is running properly on the new server.
I’m taking it one step at a time. One site at a time. Over the last couple of days, I made a start and it was with this blog. The site has been copied and set up. All the data is there, from posts to pictures to comments. Right now, you’re reading it in its new home.
Of course, this blog has previously been a sub-domain of the main Apocalypse Blog site (writer.apocalypseblog.com). To move it on its own, and to get the new server set up, I had to use a different domain. So I finally activated a domain I registered ages ago but never used: my own name, melanieedmonds.com.
So update your bookmarks! I have forwarded the old address to the new one, so existing links and bookmarks will work. Over the next few weeks and months, I’ll gradually move all my other stuff over too. If a site goes own for a little while, it’s probably in flux.
Things are changing. Slowly, patiently. It feels good. I hope you all come along for the ride.
* There’ll be more about those in the near future. Wheels are turning!
Avril Sabine says:
Congrats on finding your way out of the marsh. And good luck with the rest of the transfer of data.
March 29th, 2015 at 10:21 pm
Francisco says:
Quote: It’s the things that come out of left field that are making the difference right now. It’s the publishing platform that asked for my input and help, which I’m using to get a new project out through, and which in turn has made me give that project a focus it hasn’t ever had before.* It’s the bad idea that turned into a pile of silly fun, and which is now turning into an experiment and an exploration.*
To mis-quote a load of people surrounding Olivia Newton John and John Travolta:
Tell me more,
Tell me more,
Is it to do with .. ?
March 30th, 2015 at 6:29 am
Francisco says:
1st guess: Vampire Electric?
March 30th, 2015 at 6:30 am
Mel says:
Thanks Avril! It was surprisingly easy for this one, only a couple of minor bumps. Fingers crossed, the rest will be as well-behaved. 🙂
Francisco – nope, not Vampire Electric! The first one is a reference to a vampire piece/project, just not that one. 😉 I’m hoping to have an announcement about that available really soon (I’m currently sourcing a cover for it).
The second one is something really different to me, which I’m going to release under a pseudonym. But I’ll probably talk about it here because I’m shameless.
More coming soon, I promise!
March 30th, 2015 at 8:44 am
Alexander Hollins (leaking pen) says:
I take it that Inkspired is the new platform you mention helping with? looks interesting, what have your experiences been with it writing and reading so far?
April 25th, 2015 at 9:29 pm
Mel says:
Yes! Inkspired is the one. There’ll be blog posts about it soon.
In short: writing is really easy. Very basic formatting options, but that’s fine given the nature of the portal. You can do image-based stories/serials too, so they have some comics on there.
For reading, I have only used the website and it’s pretty good. It has text and background colour options, so you can pick something easier on your eyes if you want.
It’s still marked as beta, I think, and they’re still adding features. They’re really welcoming to suggestions, which is nice. I’ll definitely be posting more as I get more into the projects there. 🙂
April 25th, 2015 at 9:56 pm
Alexander Hollins (Leaking Pen) says:
I took a look around, the lack of top and bottom navigation in stories threw me a bit, but the button for chapters seems like it negates the need. I was a bit confused about all the old stories up for a bit, till i realized they put them up (im hoping all out of copyright, heh) themeselves to help have something to read on the platform, that’s an interesting idea. I think I’ll toss a couple of my old projects up there , see if i get interest, and start working on them again. You should totally make a thread about it over at WebFictionGuide.
April 26th, 2015 at 7:32 am
Mel says:
Yeah, I believe they’ve been putting up some common domain stuff, as well as original works, to get things going. 🙂
And yes! I am planning to start a thread on WFG. I was getting my head around it first (and finishing off a hundred things), but I might do that today.
April 26th, 2015 at 12:39 pm