For the past few weeks, I have been working on tachras, my website.
A few years ago, it was totally wiped out when my, then, internet website host, went down the tubes, with no warning at all.
I had to rebuild the site from my backups, notes, and original scripts. It was a massive task, and many parts never were brought back to full condition. I had lots of other work to do, few helpers, and not a lot of free time.
When I finally had the time for myself, I concentrated on my writing, trying to produce a professional piece of work. Something worth publishing. I had to learn all sorts of new stuff. Learn how to submit my work in the manner of the ‘true professionals’. Let us just say that this is ‘a work in progress’!
I decided to get my website back in order. So far, I have worked for weeks, sometimes putting in a 12 hour day (or more – it is currently after midnight!). I have struggled to do all the editing, and proofreading, that I had already done – and lost. I have tracked down the pictures that adorned some of the original series. I have created new titles, artwork for the animated pages, re-designed all the Annexe books (the ‘Angel’ was re-drawn), and tried (still working on some) to improve beyond the old, lost copy. It has been back-breaking work. But I am working to the acceptance standards of someone who insists on getting it right. ME! No interns, no literary agents, university graduates or middle-class intellectuals. No hangers-on, no purveyors of ‘form letters’, no ‘experts’.
For the very few who have helped, I say ‘thank you’. You are truly appreciated.
I will be working for quite a bit longer, but do not let that stop you from reading what is there. There is a lot of good stuff – and not only mine, but the efforts of others. Read it, enjoy it, and go back for more.
Here is the amazing thing. All this work has given me immense satisfaction, and the aches count for nothing compared with the result. Even if not one single soul ever reads one single word of it – I will still know.
I have laboured – and what I build is good. I believe in myself. Even if I am some poor deluded fool, and all my works are ashes, I will still enjoy the effort.
Read it, and decide for yourself.
Oh! and by the way, the little mouse, that you may encounter, is call ‘Darwin’. You may even see him at the top of this page. If you see him, and give him a nudge with the cursor, he may have a message for you!