(Crossposted at BookViewCafe.com)

Most writers start scribbling stories at a very young age. Not me. I waited until I had graduated from college before I started writing fiction – and what was my motivation? Having read something dreadful, I was struck by the certain knowledge that “Even I could write a better story than that.”

Fast-forward to December 2011. The writers of Book View Café, being well aware of the limitations of our online bookstore, were eagerly anticipating the launch of a brand new website that had been months in the making – only to discover at the eleventh hour that the new website had serious flaws. Correcting the issues would require extensive programming which we could ill afford, and no one felt confident that at the end of it all, we would get the website we wanted.

So we decided to start over.

I’m a fairly new member of BVC, having joined last summer, and hadn’t been involved in the website process, but at that point my occasionally cocky nature reasserted itself. I could build a better website than that, I thought, so I stepped up and volunteered my services.

This wasn’t quite the level of chutzpah I’d shown when I suddenly decided to be a writer. After all, I’d worked for nine years in website development, PHP programming, and database-driven websites. But the website committee was adamant that the new bookstore should run on a WordPress platform, and I knew very little about WordPress.

WordPress is a brand of software widely used to run blogs, including BVC’s blog and my personal blog here at Hahvi.net. On my own blog I’ve modified WordPress to suit my needs. So I thought I knew some things about WordPress – but as it turns out, I’d barely dipped my toes in the ocean of WordPress knowledge and possibilities…

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Four of us joined forces in the effort to come up with a new online bookstore: myself, Dave Trowbridge, Vonda N. McIntyre, and Pati Nagle. The first task was to find and test ecommerce software packages designed to work with WordPress. This went slowly, taking up scattered blocks of time through January. There are a lot of ecommerce packages out there, but not very many that can competently handle downloadable products like ebooks. We found a good one though: by early February we’d agreed to go ahead with a product called Cart66.

In most group situations, I’m the cautious one: hesitant, careful, expecting the worst. So it was amusing to be outdone in this regard by Dave, who insisted that we should develop the new site on a test server, so that there was no way we could blow up the live website.

I was concerned. My expecting-the-worst nature reasserted itself and I worried that when we moved the website back to the live server, all the file paths would break. Nevertheless, working on a test server was proper procedure, so by February 21 we had our test site set up and we were ready to go!

Except that the hosting company hadn’t got it quite right. The file permissions didn’t allow us to make necessary changes, so there was very little we could do.

By the next day though, that was fixed, and we were really ready to go!

Progress through February was slow. Book View Café operates on a consensus system. We don’t really have a “boss,” and there was no supreme project manager. This can be a bit frustrating: issues are discussed, people have really good ideas or they bring up valid concerns, but many times no decision gets made—and besides, all of us had our own lives going on and our own work to do. So it wasn’t until early March that I started seriously looking at out-of-the-box themes designed to work with Cart66. I tried out one or two—and I quickly reached the conclusion that none of them were going to work for us.

WordPress themes are designed to make life easy for people who don’t know PHP or HTML. But when you do know PHP and HTML, themes can feel very restricting. It’s hard to design a theme flexible enough to satisfy any user. As an example, many WordPress themes have a massive header image. The one on my blog is a good example. This works on my blog, but in my opinion, it doesn’t work for an online store because the real estate on the page should be showing off the products, not the pretty magazine-style design of the header image.

So I eventually junked the Cart66 themes. Instead, I took a very basic theme, modified it to what I thought it needed to be, and asked my cohorts, “What do you think about this?” I got a thumbs-up on it, and in the process I learned all about “child themes”—something I hadn’t known about before. Child themes are a means of modifying a theme without changing the parent theme. This is important, because it means you can continuously update the parent theme without overwriting your customizations.

This became the pattern for me. Some new feature would be needed so, being used to working on custom programs, I would charge in and start creating it. But because the code is complex and modular, I would have a very hard time with it until, after much Googling, I would stumble over a function or a plugin that would do very easily exactly what I needed. So for me, WordPress was consistently hard to work with until I found the right way of doing something, and then it became incredibly easy. It was like mastering magic spells, one after the other, and I slowly began to grasp the logic and to learn where to look for solutions.

So the basic theme was settled, and Vonda and Pati were working on the details of the CSS. Meanwhile, I was having a crisis of confidence. I had a new book out, but hardly anyone seemed to have noticed. I’d stopped exercising, and my mood was growing bleaker with each passing day. I stopped writing—but at least I had the BVC bookstore to work on. What a great excuse to avoid writing! I enjoy complex website work. It’s challenging, like writing a novel, but the outcome is far more certain, and I can do it no matter how bleak my mood, so I put in a lot of time on the new store—it’s fair to say I was obsessed with it—and knowing myself, I figured it was best to just finish it, so I wouldn’t have to think about it anymore, and then I could get back to writing.

So before long I was satisfied. The store wasn’t a technical marvel, but it was a lot better than what we’d had before.

We showed it to our members. I was a bit nonplussed that the majority of comments we received involved the categories we would use to sort out our books—categories are very flexible and easily adjusted and not very interesting. What about all the cool and challenging stuff we’d done? Like controlling what posts showed up on any particular page? And creating pages for each author, showing their bio and all their books? We had to figure all that stuff out, you know! It’s not like there was a manual; each step forward was a sweet little victory.

But the thing about programming is that when you do it right, the difficulty becomes invisible.

Well, whatever, I thought. I just want to get this project out of my brain-space. So let’s load up our books and get this store launched!

That’s when Dave started making trouble.

In projects other than writing, I tend to be a minimalist. If it works, it’s fine. Right?

Dave, on the other hand, has vision. He’d been looking into what WordPress could do, he was thinking in the long term, and he had ideas. Me? I didn’t want to hear them. The store did what it needed to do. Couldn’t we leave it at that? I’d put in my volunteer hours and I wanted to get back to writing. But while I’m occasionally cocky, I’m not so cocky as to think that my way is always the best way, and eventually I settled down and paid attention.

And it was good.

WordPress comes with a basic blogging package that will get you up and running very quickly. Depending on your purposes you can then start adding “plugins”—additional pieces of software used to achieve some goal. Cart66, our ecommerce software, is a plugin. We’d already used several other plugins for different purposes. Now Dave wanted to introduce plugins to create custom post types, custom taxonomies, and custom fields. (Did you just zone out on all that terminology?) I won’t bore you with an explanation of what all those things are. Let’s just say that in the end, Dave came up with some backend stuff that is incredibly useful for keeping the store organized and making it easier to update—definitely worth the extra hours of work, even if we did have to re-engineer some things.

There were some false paths along the way. We tried some things that didn’t work out, or that might have worked out if we had a lot more time to invest in them. At one point we had a backup of the test site made prior to installing a new and possibly risky plugin. After a day or so we decided the plugin wasn’t what we needed, so we had the hosting company restore the site from the backup—but the backup they used was a backup made after the new plugin had been installed—so after fighting over file permissions again, we had to rebuild the site by hand. But by April 9 we had agreed on a final structure to the store, and on April 12 we had the hosting company move it to the live site.

Of course that didn’t work out quite as hoped. My initial fears were partly realized and there were some broken file paths, but there was also a WordPress magic spell that fixed most of them, and in the end the result was better than my pessimistic self had expected.

Suddenly we were aiming for a May 1 launch date.

Vonda worked like mad to load chapter samples and book covers into the new store.

Dave, Pati, and Vonda spent a lot of time writing up the instructions that would be passed out to BVC members. We’re a cooperative, which means everyone helps, so members were expected to load their own books into the store. The instructions took a surprisingly long time and turned out to be a bit too complicated, so Dave very quickly re-wrote them, and suddenly we were on our way. BVC members started logging in and adding their books to the new store. It wasn’t perfect, but it was working . . . and then, without telling us, the hosting company decided to migrate our website to a new server, but the migration failed, and BookViewCafe.com vanished from the Internet.

This happened on Saturday evening the weekend before we were scheduled to launch the new store. BVC members who’d set aside a block of time to load their books were unable to do so … and time ticked past. Sunday afternoon rolled around, and the website reappeared, but it was much too late for a Monday launch, and besides, our email wasn’t working. With the new store, our customers receive an email receipt that includes instructions on downloading their purchased ebooks. There was no point in launching the store if we could not send our customers this email. So we waited for word from our hosting company on when things would be fixed.

And we waited.

And by Friday we decided we needed a new hosting company. This took a few days, but by May 11, the entire website had been moved. Debugging followed, while Vonda and Pati worked hard to get the rest of the ebooks into the store and clean everything up.

Then on the evening of Monday, May 14, the new store went quietly live. We haven’t made a hoopla over it yet. We wanted to go with a quiet opening, that would let us address any issues that might crop up. So far, things seem to be going very smoothly.

We hope you’ll visit our new store, look around, buy a book or two if you’re so inclined, and let us know what you think.

The celebrated “grand opening” is still to come.

I stumbled on this Atlantic essay via twitter**: Caring for Your Introvert: The habits and needs of a little-understood group, written by Jonathan Rauch. By the end I was wiping away tears of laughter because so much of it is so true.

Do you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? Who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate?

Yes, I’m an introvert. Not a big surprise there, I suspect. Most writers are. I think a lot of people who might otherwise make great writers fail at it because they can’t abide sitting alone for hours on end, day after day. We introverts get pretty twitchy if we don’t get to spend hours alone.

When I decided on a career switch back in 2000, I took up programming for two specific reasons: So I could make lots of money, and not have to talk to anyone. Of course I was wrong on both counts, but hey, it was a plan.

I’m not antisocial. I like going out for drinks, talking to people, hearing what they’re up to. One-on-one and one-on-two situations are great. But where I absolutely flounder is in large groups: cocktail mixers, conventions, that sort of thing.

Conventions! (Cue burst of scary music.) Genre conventions involve multitudes of people all of whom apparently know each other and admire each other, while I know none of them. Combine this with my congenital challenges with facial recognition and my woefully inadequate reading of well-known works in the field, and I become a deer in the headlights, not knowing which way to turn.

The ability of other people to navigate a group astounds me. I’ve been in groups of women in which two will begin talking intimately about a matter of mutual interest within two minutes of being in the same room. Naturally, I’ll assume these women already know each other, only to discover later that they’ve just met and were only making conversation. How do you do that? How do you know what to say that connects you immediately to a perfect stranger? It’s like studying an alien life form.

But I’ll keep up the study, because after all, amongst others is where I live. Just please be understanding if I need to flee back to my cave after a few hours out in the world.

**tweet originated by @julietgrames and retweeted by @innaj

Yesterday I was privileged to watch the new documentary film How to Start a Revolution. It’s an exploration of the ideas and real-world implementation of Gene Sharp’s thoughts on non-violent resistance contained in the book From Dictatorship to Democracy.

If that sounds dryly academic, it’s not. The film is fascinating and deeply moving—a wonderful antidote to the shallow, toxic reporting on world events that makes up so much of cable news.

Who is Gene Sharp? I confess I never heard of him before watching this film, but I’ll remember him now. He’s a quiet scholar who’s spent many years thinking and writing on effective, non-violent means to political reform.

If you have a chance to see How to Start a Revolution, please go. I think the DVD is due to be released before long.

I just want to say I love this stamp. Makes you want to send a snail-mail letter to Mayor Bloomberg, doesn’t it?

Also, twitter tells me it’s #buyabooktoday. Who gets to make this stuff up I don’t know, but here are some books that I’ve read and enjoyed in the past months: My Book Raves

It’s a stealth weapon. Its attacks are rare and random. It generally strikes once and is gone. It’s never seen.

Case History: I will feel a sudden, slight prick, generally under clothing, and discover a fresh “bug” bite, but with nothing there that could have caused the bite. The bite will swell into a hard, mildly itchy lump, and will often develop a red halo an inch and a half or more across. If that’s an infection, this little nasty has some very dirty jaws.

Additional Details: There is only one bite. Months, even years, separate repeat occurrences. Geography doesn’t seem to matter. The last time this happened was nine months ago in an air-conditioned hotel room in Palm Desert, California.

Occam’s Razor suggests the assailant is a naturally evolved arthropod—either insect or arachnid—but exactly what it is, I still have no idea.

It’s not a mosquito. I hardly react to those and they don’t get under clothes.

It’s probably not a bedbug or a flea, because they don’t bite just once and then disappear.

I’m guessing it’s a spider, probably a tiny, newly hatched one. I’d really like to know what it is though. I’d like to see it. So I can smash it.

Deep down, I’m not a very nice person.

The stars aligned, the Gods willed it, and suddenly the husband and I found ourselves with a Blue-ray capable Playstation, a young man who could show us how to use it, and a set of Battlestar Galactica Blue-ray DVDs in hand.

We both had vague memories of the nothing-to-brag-about 1970s version of BSG, but neither of us had seen any episodes from the “new” series. So we set out to watch the four (or is it 4.5?) seasons. We finished the series a few nights ago. I’m assuming just about everybody else out there has seen the series, but if not, BE WARNED: there are lots of spoilers after the jump!!

Here are the more memorable comments made as the series progressed:
(more…)

This announcement is via Gregory Frost and the Philadelphia Liars Club and is re-posted here to help spread the word. Up and coming writers should take special note of the manuscript critiques offered by professional editors.

Writers’ Bash: Benefit for Author L.A. Banks
Saturday, August 6
7:00pm – 11:30pm
Smokey Joe’s Bar
208 S. 40th Street (University City)
Philadelphia, PA

Join the Liars Club and tons of authors, editors and creative folk at Smokey Joe’s bar in University City on the University of Pennsylvania Campus at this Writers’ Bash, a networking party filled with fun, chances to win raffles and to bid on red-hot stuff like top literary agent critiques!

Cost: $20, $10 for students with college I.D.

Proceeds go toward the expenses of ill author and Liars Club member Leslie Esdaile Banks (L.A. Banks), who is battling a rare cancer.

*Can’t come but still want to donate to Leslie’s medical needs? Go to http://liarsclubphilly.com /?p=1958 and scroll to the donation button*

At the Writers’ Bash, enjoy music and munchies, discounted drinks ($2 beers and $3 wines), and for the adventurous, the bar will be selling a special drink called “The Vamp,” dedicated to Banks and her popular Vampire Huntress novels.

You can also participate in a 50/50, in inexpensive basket raffles, and in our impressive silent auction. This will definitely be one red-hot meetup.

SILENT AUCTION ITEMS THAT WILL BE UP FOR BID:
*for most current list, visit http://liarsclubphilly.com /?page_id=1947

2 premium tickets to Jersey Boys on Broadway, plus a backstage tour and poster signed by the cast.

Manuscript critiques by the following agents:
– Jennifer DeChiara of the Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency: full ms. read, plus critique given by phone
– Rebecca Strauss, McIntosh and Otis Literary Agency: 45 page ms. critique
– Jenny Bent, The Bent Agency
– Celeste Fine, Folio
– Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger

Manuscript critiques by the following editors:
– Rose Hilliard, Editor, St. Martin’s Press
– Jennifer Heddle, Senior Editor, Pocket Books
– Ginjer Buchanan, Editor in Chief, Ace/ROC

Signed books by the following authors:
– New York Times bestseller Charlaine Harris
– New York Times bestseller Heather Graham
– New York Times bestseller Sherrilyn Kenyon

Writer’s Conference Scholarships:
– Push to Publish Conference, offered by Philadelphia Stories, Rosemont College, October 15th

Self-publishing Services:
– Convert your manuscript to ebook for Kindle, Nook and Smashwords, and design your Print on Demand interior text, offered by 52 Novels ($650 value)
– Manuscript layout for the internal book for someone who wants to do Print on Demand through Createspace, offered by Cheryl Perez ($200 value)

…and much, much more. So spread the word, bring your friends, and join the Liars Club to hoist a cold one for Leslie. It’ll be a blast. Honest!

Update: L.A. Banks passed away on August 2, 2011. See the article in Locus Online.

Jack Webb, age 20, US Army Air Corp

1950s: the cowboy hat disappeared in later years

Fishing off Honolulu

1982

There’s been a widespread discussion on the web these past few weeks about women writing science fiction. Today is Father’s Day here in the USA, so I’d just like to say the person most responsible for getting me interested in science fiction was this man right here, my dad, Jack Webb.

These days I think most dads know they need to encourage sons and daughters both to believe in themselves, to try new stuff, to be smart, self-reliant, and to develop an adventurous spirit. Back in the sixties and seventies, when I was a kid, that was still fairly rare if you were a girl.

My dad though, was ahead of his time. Because he was always looking for the next adventure, I grew up variously on the back of a motorcycle, riding horses, getting ill on fishing boats, hiking, camping, and flying between the Hawaiian Islands in little two and four-seater airplanes. My dad was also always sharing his interest in science and gadgets, and would never bat an eye when I would proclaim that I was going to grow up to be a primatologist, or an aeronautical engineer, or go to the air force academy. Never once do I remember hearing, “Girls don’t do that sort of thing.”

He was also always reading, fiction and non-fiction both, but always lots of science fiction, and naturally I followed along.

So for better or worse I blame my dad for setting me on the path to writing science fiction. It starts at home, guys, as most of you young dads already know.

My dad read all my books. He was my biggest fan and quite convinced I was the best writer out there, as a loyal dad should be.

He passed away five years ago at the age of 82. He lived a very full life.

Comic books didn’t exist in my home when I was growing up in the sixties and seventies. I don’t remember if the exact reasoning was ever explained to me, but I definitely remember my mom’s sentiment that “smart kids” read books, not comic books–and wanting to be a smart kid, I don’t recall ever arguing about it. (We were free to read whatever sort of books we got our hands on. No one ever seemed to pay any attention to that.)

My own kids were allowed comic books, but they went in the direction of Star Wars and various manga.

As a result I grew up ignorant, and remain ignorant, of what seems to be the most common source of movie fodder these days: Marvel Comics.

For example, I just got back from seeing Thor. I had no idea Thor was a Marvel comic. I thought he was, you know, a Norse god. Right?

Reviewing a list of Marvel-based movies I can’t say I’m a fan. (Exception: I liked the first Men in Black & had no idea it was based on a comic). So anyway, I guess my Mom’s devious plan to get me to not read comics worked all-too-well.

A few days ago, motion drew my eye to the window. A bird was hopping around in the butterfly bush. Nothing unusual about that, but this particular bird made me do a double-take:

What was going on? Had I been transported to the Island of Dr. Moreau? Was someone in the neighborhood doing weird experiments on the local bird life? Please tell me that is not really the head of a black finch transplanted onto the body of a cardinal . . . .

A Google search soon informed me I wasn’t the only one who had seen such a sight and wondered about it. The bird in question is definitely a cardinal, but it’s a bald cardinal, with no feathers on its head.

Opinions on what causes cardinals to lose all their head feathers are mixed, but most seem to involve mites and seasonal molting. It is agreed the condition generally takes place after the breeding season, that it isn’t permanent, and that the feathers grow back.

I have to say though, that a cardinal with a head as bald as a vulture’s is a rather disturbing sight.