September 16, 2008

Pegasus II  coming in 2014
Shadows coming in 2013

It’s alive

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

 

http://www.robinmckinley.com/

 

Open for business.  Mind you, this is only the first instalment.  And I don’t make any guarantees about how often I’m going to deliver future instalments.* 

But isn’t it pretty?

                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                      

 

* I have Pegasus to write!

                                                                                                          

                                                                                                        

comments

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Comment by Black Bear

Now that thar is a fine lookin’ website. Nice work, to both you and Blogmom. And it comes with puppy pictures! Woo hoo!!

Comment by Robin

Yes, well, *more* puppy pics are on the list . . .

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Comment by Julia

Yay!
And here you had us thinking it would be more like, say, the transitioning from livejournal… what with all you said about needing more time and not being anywhere near finished and so on… and yet here it is, a wonderful new website that I needed to click away from so I would remember to post about it being here and functioning and fabulous.
yippee.

I’ll return to the website now to keep reading….
:)

–Julia

Comment by Robin

VERY GLAD TO HEAR it’s functioning . . . :)

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Comment by Julia

Oh, but wait– what happened to all the essays and fake interviews and book mail rants and so on? Did I just not see them? Or are they gone? Or just not back yet?

–Julia

Comment by Robin

They’re not back yet. That’s what I mean about only the first instalment.

 
 
Comment by Julia

Okay then. Because I would miss them if they were gone for good.
In my [oh so humble] opinion, the several[hundred] installments method of putting together your website is perfect- you get to rest a bit [ha!] and we have more to look forward to. Everyone wins!
:)

–Julia

Comment by Robin

That’s EXACTLY the plan. :)

 
 
 
 
Comment by Susan from Athens

Working well and most elegant. I will not mention the two typos I spotted on the first question of the FAQ I opened.

Comment by Robin

Oh, come on. In the firs t place you *have* mentioned them, in the second place SEND THEM TO BLOGMOM.

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Comment by Susan from Athens

Done on one – have misplaced the other. Too cross-eyed from work to look over the same ground again. Will go over things in greater detail when my brain clears. The one I spotted and sent (so nobody does it again is under Will you read my manuscript, at the start of para. 2

(and no, I wasn’t looking there because I have a ms or because I want you to read it – I just hadn’t seen that response before and wanted to see just how trenchant you were going to be :)

Comment by Robin

Oh. Because that one isn’t much rewritten from the old site.

 
 
 
 
Comment by southdowner

Very pretty, love the photos you’ve uploaded to the site, and not only gorgeous, but it’s full functional too – congratulations to you and blog/web mom :)))

Comment by Robin

Say this at REGULAR INTERVALS so we’ll KEEP ON with getting it up there . . .

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Comment by southdowner

****** Say this at REGULAR INTERVALS so we’ll KEEP ON with getting it up there . . .

Pats Robin – have a click (here – http://www.dogworld.co.uk/home.aspx ) and treat (whippet picture!) :)

 
 
 
Comment by Jax

It’s pretty. Lovely hellhounds.

(Dare I mention you’re missing a bracket on the “When are you going to write another Damar book” page http://www.robinmckinley.com/faq/faq.php?q_id=19 ?)

(Second paragraph.)

Sorry. Hth

Comment by Robin

Send it to Blogmom!!!!!!!

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Comment by Jax
Comment by Robin

Thank you! :)

 
 
 
 
Comment by Q

It’s alive, and it’s beautiful!

Comment by Robin

Thank you!

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Comment by /Karen/

Ooh! Pretty! Shiny! New!

Such an improvement on the old site too! Well done to you and Blogmom!

 
Comment by jmeadows

It’s sooo gorgeous. Makes me swoon. Good job, both of you. It’s very Chalice-y and very Robiny looking.

Comment by Robin

:)

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Comment by Katherine

It’s so pretty! And CLEAN, which I love. Elegant, even. Brava, both of you.

Also, I love all the little rose and puppers pics everywhere. And I had not seen the new Dragonhaven cover which is either really cool or the dragon is smirking. (I couldn’t get the picture big enough to be able to tell).

Really, really very nice.

Comment by Robin

Thank you! CLEAN, yes! :)

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Comment by Alannaeowyn

You did it! You wrote decent blurbs!

And the site is very pretty. :)

 
Comment by Melissa Mead

It’s great! Pretty but not cluttered.

 
Comment by LRK

****But isn’t it pretty?

Of course it is! (The web site, obviously!) I’ve just nipped over there, and would have got thoroughly stuck only my eyes are burning – but still I had to wrench myself away with an effort. I rather miss the dragon, though – it was cute! Oh, and I agree with Julia, I’d miss the rants & essays if they were gone for ever – they were fun! Anyway, congratulations!

Comment by Robin

It’s just going to take a while to get everything back up. Think how happy you’ll be to see the rants after a gap. Absence makes the heart, etc. :)

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Comment by Ithilien

I love the little gizmo that does the changing puppy pictures. And the site design is gorgeous.

(I second Julia on the rants. I miss the rants. Speaking of which, will we get to see that Clueless Person’s Email that you spoke about earlier?)

Completely off topic now, I think I”ve been making the neighbours worry about my sanity by sitting around admiring my roses in the mornings, with their beautiful new leaves that are shiny and glossy and gorgeous. There are now several sprays of leaves on Papa Meilland 1. Papa Meilland 2 is a bit slower, despite being on the sunny northern side of the house, with only one spray of leaves. Grow, little rose plants, grow…

Comment by Robin

Your neighbours have no imagination. Ignore them. :)

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Comment by Vikkik

Oooh!!
Pretty, shiny, new website!!!

It’s lovely Robin. :-)

Comment by Robin

thank you! (Thank blogmom!) :)

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Comment by JM

Oh well done! Brava!
(and so far one tiny piddling thing noticed … I’ll email blogmom tout de suite)

 
Comment by Judith

*****And I haven’t even told you about how the first thing that happened when it went live is that all the apostrophes in the booklist morphed into question marks*****

My best guess on this one is that you used “smart quotes” and “smart single quotes/apostrophes” in your word processor when you wrote the page, cut and pasted the stuff in, and then whatever you copied into didn’t recognize such complex characters. Whenever I write or copy stuff off the web, I always use or convert smart quotes to straight ASCII quotes. Same for anything like em dashes. They look mighty pretty in word processing documents (except for smart quotes, which I can’t abide), but if, for example, you’re writing an e-mail to someone whose mail program doesn’t accept anything other than plain text, all they’ll get in place of your fancy em dashes, smart quotes, etc. will be question marks. I’ve often done a search and replace for these characters before copying text into a mailnote and sending it out to avoid this problem.

Judith

Comment by Robin

Yes, well, I don’t function at this high a level. :) That’s roughly what Blogmom said, and that she’ll have an eye out in future.

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Comment by Judith

Just checked out the site. Very attractive!

Are you pleased or displeased with the new cover for Dragonhaven? It’s certainly striking, and I like it. I’d think you might like or dislike it depending on whether it looks like how you imagine your dragons to look.

Judith

Comment by Robin

I *don’t* like it. They tell me it’ll sell. Sigh.

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Comment by Maureen E

It’s really beautiful! And the picture of Hellhounds playing did something to my heart–and I’m not even a dog person as such.

Comment by Robin

Repeated exposure will MAKE you a dog person, you know. Beware! (A retired greyhound may have your name! :))

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Comment by Maureen E

That’s kind of what I’m afraid of. Oh well, if I ever get my dream and live out in the country on some land, I suppose I could handle it. Also if it was the Right Dog.

 
 
 
Comment by b_twin_1

Sweeeeeeet. :) Well Done to you and Blogmom!!

Here – have a lamb (or two) to celebrate …. ;) http://b-twin-1.livejournal.com/

PS. sun is shining here … hope you got some more?

Comment by Robin

AWWWWWWWWW.:) Why did C&C’s mum die? And are they likely to make it? (I’m still sorry about the earlier little one. . . .)

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Comment by b_twin_1

I don’t know … she was getting aged. I think she may have had congestive heart failure. Not sure really. (it’s always the best ones…)
The lambs should make it just fine. If I can get blasted Charlie to actually DRINK.

Comment by Robin

TIE HIM DOWN. (No kangaroos. No sport.)

 
 
Comment by b_twin_1

TIE HIM DOWN. (No kangaroos. No sport.)
BWAHAHAHAHAHA

I threatened him with the stomach tube this morning. He just clenched his teeth and dribbled. ::sigh::

Comment by Robin

Yes, and don’t you hate beating up on little baby things? Sigh.

 
 
Comment by b_twin_1

Well I am heading out to try with Charlie again …..
Hope tomorrow is ALL GOOD, despite the sadist, errr I mean dentist.

::tosses over another apple cake before heading out the door::

Comment by Robin

**tosses it right back** Have you tried Charlie on **apple cake**? He may simply not like MILK. :)

 
 
 
 
Comment by b_twin_1

* I have Pegasus to write!

Oh yes you do! Luckily for you we will be distracted with Chalice for a while before we start nagging. ;)

Comment by Robin

**Stay** distracted. :)

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Comment by Jeanine of Florida

Your new website! It’s truly lovely! And just in time for Chalice! Yay! Good job!

Could I possibly use any more exclamation marks????? LOL!

 
Comment by Lianne

It’s beautiful. Lovely colors, discreet but attractive background, everything’s laid out nicely and easy to find… everything I like best, and I really do mean that. So many websites are jumbled up or hard to read or find what you’re looking for or have such glaring colors I want to jump off to somebody else’s website.

I would call this website the example to which all websites should aspire.

Comment by Robin

Well, we thank you! :) I agree about simple and straightforward–the old web site had pretty much imploded from my not getting my act together to tell my poor first Blog/Sitemom what I wanted. New Blogmom is much fiercer! :)

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Comment by spindriftdancer

The ‘playing hellhounds’ picture is awesome(: And I appreciated the FAQ… You and Blogmom have done some stellar work.

 
Comment by Diane in MN

Hurrah for the new web site–and what a great picture of the hellhounds on the bio page. Since it is 3:00 am here–I fell asleep in my good chair 10:45 and woke up at 12:15, which is why I’m awake *now,* I only skimmed the surface, but the design is lovely.

Comment by Robin

Yes, isn’t the design great? And it’s ALL BLOGMOM. all I did was say ‘yes’ occasionally. :)

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Comment by bluerose

Yay for shiny and pretty new website!!

And in other news, my order from Amazon that was awaiting the Chalice release date shipped today!

It should arrive just in time for my birthday :) Thankyou for writing me such a lovely present!

Comment by Robin

Yaaay! You’re welcome! :)

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Comment by Julia

bluerose– when is your birthday?
I only ask because mine is on Sunday, and I have been saying the same thing- what a wonderful birthday present!

:)

–Julia

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Comment by BlueRose

Mine is 4th October but Im in New Zealand and it usually takes 2-3 weeks for an Amazon parcel to make it all the way to the bottom of the world :)

Tho I was super impressed that the book on making bobbin lace that I ordered (after finding a copy in the library and being SO impressed I had to get my own copy) turned up in about 6 days!

 
Comment by Julia

October 4? That’s my cousin’s birthday too!
:)

 
 
 
Comment by AJLR

Many congratulations to you (and to Blog/webmom). A very nice looking site that’s obviously had a lot of time and effort spent on it. I look forward to its healthy growth. :)

And, off-topic but I thought might prove interesting, given recent postings here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7619303.stm .

 
Comment by JennyZ

Soo… my comment has nothing to do with the new blog, but I wanted to gloat a little… My copy of Chalice arrived TODAY in a beautiful brown Amazon box! WOOO! There was a happy dance of epic proportions and my family stared at me as if they were wondering whether or not to lock me in a padded room.

Comment by Robin

Sure. Padded rooms are great for reading–people tend to leave you ALONE. :)

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Comment by Lusty Librarian

It is looking good. Congrats! I’m meant to be working but I couldn’t resist casting my eye over it! I update the library’s website at least once a week, and there are ALWAYS errors that I just can’t see until I think I’m done.

Still hoping that the bookstore will call and tell me CHALICE has arrived tomorrow. Unfortunately they use the same jobber as my library, and when I poked around in the database it looks like the jobber STILL doesn’t have copies on hand, let alone shipped. (BAH. Grumble, grumble.) Kinda makes me wish I’d ordered from Amazon. *does dance of impatience*

Comment by Robin

there are ALWAYS errors that I just can’t see until I think I’m done

********* Yes.

Arrrgh for incompetent jobbers. ARRRRRRGH.

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Comment by lj_cox

It’s lovely, and it’s very nice to have something that’s easier to maneuver in than the old one was. And, just to mention, I have my copy of Chalice here in my hot little hands and am settling in to a comfortable read (ignoring many household chores — they’ll still be there when I am done.)

Linda C.

Comment by Robin

EXCELLENT. :)

Yes, the old site had got totally unwieldy. Forewarned, etc, this one should NOT get that way. Also Blogmom is *fierce* . . . :)

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