updates – K. M. Alexander

October 17, 2020

Things are a bit different around here

Back in early October, I mentioned that a change was coming. If you’re a regular reader, by now you’ve probably noticed things look quite a bit different. While on vacation last week, I took some time to redesign the site and move some things around. Some of this was to prep for the coming of Gleam Upon the Waves, and some of it was to reduce the amount of time I dealt with random web stuff. So… what’s new? Let me tell you.

New Domain

Well, kinda. There was always a KMAlexander.com, but before it took you to a static page. Now it brings you here. I’ll touch a little more on this in a bit. Since the domain changed, it felt more appropriate to be a little more professional with the title. The form blog title “I Make Stories” is no more. (Don’t worry, I’m still making stories.)

Sub-Domains Are Gone… Mostly

My book sites used to be on separate webpages nestled under subdomains most of those are now gone and only a few remain. (store.kmalexander.com is one.) If you came from thestarswereright.kmalexander.com, chances are you’ll have landed here. This is part of the redirect process and I’m still trying to figure out a solution. But, those webpages still exist. All my books can now found up on the menu. Which brings me to the next part…

New Book Landing Pages

As I mentioned, in the before times, I had different sites for each book, and each of those had subsites. It was a lot to juggle. With this new site, all those have been merged here! You can find them up under the Bell Forging Cycle tab in the menu. They’re a bit cleaner and will look so much better for those folks using mobile devices. Moving to a more mobile-friendly approach was a big consideration for this redesign. You should check ’em out (share them with your friends.) I think they turned out great.

New About Section

I’ve streamlined all the stuff about me. The Appearances and Contact Info pages are now consolidated under the About section. Those pages will continue to get streamlined, but it made more sense to group them together than have them divergent. Also freed up more room in the menu and simplified things a lot more.

A New Home Page

This one is a bit odd. Since, if you come to kmalexander.com, you’ll land here, on the blog. That’s by design since this is the best place to get news and updates, and I’m not one of those authors who only post once a year. The homepage is currently a catch-all page, and it’s modeled after my old homepage. Still feeling this one out. It might eventually go away. I like the idea of the blog being front and center, but I can see an appeal for a homepage focused mostly on books. So, we’ll see how this goes.

New Sidebar & Footer

Juggled a few things around in the sidebar, and I’m still rearranging the footer. Search is now clearer, as is access to the archives. Overall, I think it’s a bit more streamlined. I’ve got plenty of working space, so don’t be surprised if I add some other stuff in that area as well.

So that’s some of the new changes you’ll find around here. Overall I think this is a solid step forward, and it’s nice not to have to fiddle with many different sites whenever I want to make simple changes. Also, being more mobile-friendly doesn’t hurt. What do you think? Leave a comment below and let me know.

October 4, 2020October 7, 2020

Change Is in the Air

I’ve had this blog since 2012, and for the extent of its life, it’s looked the same. Header, sidebar, posts, pages—everything has remained more or less unchanged for the last eight years and nearly nine-hundred posts. I love it, but sometimes we outgrow the things we love. It’s something I’m facing now.

As the title suggests, a change is coming. While the WordPress theme I started with (Twenty-Thirteen) has served me well, I’m starting to run into various walls. It’s old. Which means it’s not taking advantage of new technology. It’s not as responsive as I want, and the limited space really hinders me from doing some new things I’ve wanted to do.

So, over the next few weeks, expect to see some changes around here. Most of the changes you’ll see will be visual. But the functionality will remain largely unchanged. You’ll still be able to access all of the content, download my brushes, and read previous posts, but there’s a potential that some of the changes might mess with the format of some of my old posts and pages. So I apologize in advance if that happens, it’ll eventually get sorted out.

So, keep an eye out! Changes are coming and I think they’ll be good ones.

April 28, 2018

Ghosts of April

It’s strange to me that in a few days April 2018 will have come and gone and we’ll be moving towards summer here in Seattle. Time—as ever—ticks forward. I realize that for the last few months, April in particular, things have been rather quiet around here. Damn near ghostly, in fact; so I wanted to take a moment to update everyone on what’s been happening.

I’m still hard at work on rewrites and edits for Coal Belly. That seems to be my usual state of being lately. Edits tend to be difficult for me, namely because my eyes see what my brain wanted and not what should be there. Thank goodness for copy editors. That said, it’s coming along at quite a clip, and I’ll be reaching out to my beta readers this summer. Then, once I get their feedback, I go back through it all over again.

The fourth Bell Forging Cycle novel has been in the works for some time now. While there hasn’t been any prose written, I do have a rough outline, and think I know where I want it to go. Now, whether Wal behaves is another matter. So often we writers create characters and then the characters do something wildly different than what we planned. It’ll be interesting going back to it after having written two very different books in the interim.

So that’s been my spring. It’s odd writing posts like these, because while a lot has been happening, it doesn’t always come across that way when you lay everything out. Once that progress slider is full it seems like everything should be done, but in truth, the first draft is only the beginning.

Okay, back to work.

April 13, 2016

New 2016 Stickers

I ran out of stickers (and buttons, actually) at Norwescon, which is great. I love that people love my swag, it’s why I make it. Plus, it allows me to expand the world of The Bell Forging Cycle beyond the page.

However, I felt a few of the stickers were looking a little dated. They just weren’t as cool as the others, so since I ran out, I used this opportunity to refresh a few of the sticker designs. For those who aren’t familiar, stickers are available in my free swag packs, or you can get them by purchasing any book from my store, and of course all are available for free at conventions (along with a bunch of other stuff) as long as my stock holds out.

Let’s take a look at the new designs!

The Stars Were Right Sticker Set

There have been two new updates with The Stars Were Right set, the St. Olmstead sticker has been completely redone and now includes the logo’s lockup. I’ve also added a new skeletal maero hand, taken from the mysterious Fig. 12. It’s very metal.

Old Broken Road Sticker Set

The Old Broken Road sticker set got a pair of updates as well. This is the first time everyone is getting to see the City of Syringa seal. As with Lovat, Syringa is built upon the site of another city and there’s a reference to it in their seal. I’ve also included The City of Lovat Caravan Authority badge, the same mark that officially recognizes the Bell Caravan patches. Since Old Broken Road is about caravans I felt it was fitting.

Red Litten World Sticker Set

The Red Litten World sticker set is only six months old, so it doesn’t have any updates for 2016. But I love it, and its awesomeness is a big reason why I felt like I needed to update the previous sets. Plus I wanted to include it in this post so you can see all sets side by side.

That’s the update for the stickers this year. The outdated images on my store should be updated sometime this weekend. Remember, I give away these stickers and more in my free swag packs, just hit the Free Stuff page and learn how you can get your hands on ’em. (All I ask is you pay for shipping.)

Thoughts? Judgments? Hatred? Why not leave a comment below and tell me what you think?