MY NEW WEBSITE IS ALMOST DONE! What Do You Think?

Happy New Year and Happy Thursday!!!

Well, you know, while I was away (I've been on an extended vacation and writer's retreat) I made some decisions about my writing I'll share as the weeks go by. But today, the big one is I am close to finishing up my new website with the assistance of my design team Limb Design and in particular Corey Chow (lead designer).

As part of the marketing tips thing I like to do now and then, I wanted to share with you examples of the graphics and the process Corey and I have gone through to create the 'look' for the website.

Here goes:

Guess which one I like? You'll see when I launch the site:)...

Now, the photos will change and are really more 'place holders' - but I think you get the idea that as an author I write urban fantasy, but also have other stories I want to tell.

Here are some other tips. We are using a $35 template from Mojo Themes for Wordpress. Go here to see the template I'm using. It's cost effective and cuts down (way down) on the price for working with a design team. My palate is orange (power color, I'm told:)...but I also LOVE cities and that's the skyline. I must admit I'm not sure about the font (lettering) for my name - but what do you think?

And oh, in case you are wondering - no, I am not published. I am pre-published and an optimist. I also know that branding and marketing are critical components that agents and editors expect authors to bring to the table. And don't even mention self-publishing. This is part of what you MUST do there.

So I ask again, what do you think? And thanks in advance for your feedback.

Happy New Year! And Let the Resolutions for 2010 Begin!

Photo taken by Denny S. Bryce 1/1/10 in Baltimore, MD

Good thing I'm taking a feature article writing course beginning next week. I swear some days I have no idea how to kick start my blog post. It has to do with how my brain works. I have at least a dozen story/article ideas a minute, all of which I think are good ideas at the time I think them. Then when I'm in front of the computer, fingers poised, I go through a kind of panic and I'm stuck.

And damn it - this post should be the easiest of the year. It's the first of 2010 and I have no reason to feel defeated about anything because nothing has happened yet.

Anyway, here's the deal. I'm hanging out in Baltimore, wanted a change of scenery for the New Year and wanted a neutral environment where I could reflect on 2009 without being reminded of failed goals (my living room sofa can do that sometimes). Top of my list, of course, is what's up with the manuscript. I'm somewhat frantic about it on a daily basis. I feel I have no control over when my writing mood hits (and 2 a.m. is getting old, people). So I need control, it's going to be one of my resolutions for 2010. Carve out a specific time during the day for writing, another time for reading, and another time for work (the gig that pays the bills). I'm going to make it easy on myself in the beginning. I am committed to writing (working on the manuscript that is, because I write all day long) a minimum of two hours a day. Those two hours cannot begin before I've exercised and had breakfast, period. The final resolution is the two hours can't start after 8 p.m. Today, I've completed the first two - exercised and ate breakfast (didn't get around to breakfast until 1 p.m., but day 1 is shaky on the 'resolution train'). So next I need my two hours of writing, writing, writing.

In the meantime, this weekend, I've got to complete my Marlene Contest application (PS...I guess I have to enter for real. I just paid the $25 entry fee!) and finalize my agent list. I've got two so far. But what should I do about the one I submitted to this past summer following RWA? I haven't heard from her since August. Should I resubmit? Anybody got ideas?

Also, I reorganized my blog this morning. Got rid of things I don't need on it - and kept things I do. It's definitely honing in on the real me. That is the Denny S. Bryce me. She's a writer of fiction, so anything that distracts me from that doesn't have a place on this blog. Okay!

Yeah. I thought you'd agree.

And Happy New Year!