If you're extra-observant, you may have noticed

That this site has just had a facelift!

Nearly all the changes should be live now. Please check out the new Home page and see what you think — the actual slides in the rotation may change a bit, but isn’t the basic idea really cool? And as you see, recent blog posts now scroll on the Home page. I’ve wanted that for ages.

Plus, there is now a Twitter feed, not just on the Home page, but also on the blog page — see it there on the right?

Check out the new Books page — it’s been updated to include BLACK DOG, plus if you click through to individual books, you will find buy links directly from the site PLUS downloadable excerpts from each book — the first one or two chapters of each book, in a variety of formats to suit Kindle, Nook, or pdf. Excerpts from all seven books can also be downloaded from this page.

Let me know what you think! And if you happen across any broken links or anything, let me know!

Incidentally, you may recall how The Book Smugglers and others had trouble with web design services a year or two ago? Let me just mention that I’ve been very, very happy with freelance website content manager Darren Turpin. I went to Darren because he’s worked for both Orbit and Strange Chemistry and specializes in work for publishers and authors. I expect he’ll be doing a bit more work for me on an ongoing basis as other contracts solidify and as I start bringing out self-published titles.

As far as I’m concerned, doing website design or re-design is like doing taxes: complicated, uninteresting, intimidating, and with a steep learning curve. If you have or want a website but, like me, your eyes glaze over when you think about having to deal with the ins and outs of website design yourself, you might want to check out Darren’s site.

I hope you enjoy poking around the new, improved site!