New Site Progress Report & Other Stuff

It’s been a few days, so It’s past due time I checked in here. I’ve been hard at work on the new WordPress.org self hosted site. It’s getting close to finished at this point, but there are still some behind the scenes things that need to be polished and tweaked. Soon though… 🙂

Thinking over the site, and past experience here, I’ve decided that the new blog is going to focus entirely on writing. Absolutely no more social issues, political talk, personal drama (nobody cares), product reviews or even cooking posts. Just everything writing:

• Vanilla Creative Writing; nothing over PG-13
• Reviews of “How To” products on writing (books, videos, websites, etc..)
• Critiques of movies and TV shows from a writer’s perspective; what works and what doesn’t
• Erotica

Erotica and anything “Adult” related will be in a separate section of the blog, and will be behind an age verification pop-up. I’m going to do a better job than I did with this blog in terms of keeping anything NSFW behind that age check. That means NO racy pictures or backgrounds in the primary section of the blog.

Creative writing of all flavors will have separate pages, and the blog posts announcing new stories will only have links to those pages with a note regarding whether it’s NSFW or not.

Realizations

Part of the process with the new blog has been moving some of my more relevant past posts and existing stories from the two old blogs to the new. I want to rewrite damned near everything also, and already have in a couple of cases. I noticed something though as I went back through my lists of pages and posts.

I jumped around WAY too much on the focus of each blog. With the actual creative writing, it was self doubt and too much real life drama killing my mojo. The stuff I tried to do as filler too often took over though. Not only that, I jumped from idea to idea as I tried to keep things fresh and attract new readers. Even when I tried to have a structured theme for daily posts I flopped. I just need to focus on the writing and stay consistent. THAT is my pledge with the new blog.

AND that I’ll also be upping my game across the board. No more holding back on my writing.

In Other News:

This isn’t the new blog, so I can sneak in one or two QUICK personal updates here.

First, the house that we got defrauded on is back on the market, at $50,000 higher than we bought it for. All the mortgage company or listing agents did was the most basic of house flipper cosmetic repairs to hide the defects (patching the cracked mortar, fresh paint, clean the carpets, etc…). It pisses me off that somebody else is going to be put in a likely world of financial trouble as well living in a toxic house. I have precious little idea what I can do to correct the situation though. The laws in Georgia are completely corrupt and promote screwing the buyer. I could get sued for tortious interference with a contract with most options or charged with trespassing if I put up signs, try to talk to people during open houses, etc…

Most people nowadays would sadly be content to sit back and let things unfold, especially if it meant the house would sell for enough money to put them in the clear. This level of injustice literally makes my skin crawl though. Likewise, it’s not right to be made whole at the expense of an innocent party.

And lastly, I *MAY* have a new job; a real one for the first time in a decade. I had the realtor job for a while during that time, but between my health and lack of money, I was never able to really make a run of it. I’m in the final phase of the hiring process. All that remains to be seen is if they will accept the fact that I’m a virtual blank. No social media presence, no credit history now thanks to following the Dave Ramsey plan, and really no recent job history as well.

I’m just glad that the spinal decompression and physical therapy got me to the point I can work again. The prospect of being a contributing member of society has been a huge morale boost.

New Site Update…

It’s been a few days since the last post, announcing my intention to switch platforms to the self-hosted version of WordPress.

I just wanted to let folks know I’m still around and that the update is taking a little longer than anticipated. The full site block(head) editor is a PITA. Promise the new site will be worth it though.

I plan on having both “regular” and adult areas to the new blog, and I’m looking forward to seeing you all there in the near future. 🙂

I’m Done With WordPress…

WordPress.com anyway. 🙂 The high prices for subscription packages are unreal, and the battling with the limited editor options is annoying as well. There’s only one answer:

Yep, that’s right: Tear it all down…

And rebuild it at WordPress.org

I decided to pay for the hosting elsewhere and go with WordPress.org instead.

It took a good while, but I bundled up and exported everything from this site to the new one. Unfortunately, preserving appearance settings didn’t work so well. The site is a definite work in progress. I’m planning on making the new version something special though.

It will likely be a couple days before the new site is ready. I have plans most of the day tomorrow. This project is going to take some real work as well.

Once it’s done, I’ll give post the new URL for everyone.

(Mis)Adventures in WordPress

I spent the last couple of days involved in an exercise in futility; trying to upgrade this site to make it a little more modern looking as well as accessible to the disabled. Drop down menus can be a bigger issue for them in some cases than I realized.

What Happened:

I started by changing the blog’s status to “Coming Soon”. That’s better than having a follower (potential or actual) see the blog morphing in different ways as I try to figure out what I think works from a design perspective. No issues there.

THEN… I tried to switch to the new 2023 blog template. The outright switch was also simple enough. It’s when we got to TRYING TO customize the site that everything went FUBAR.

First, there’s NO apparent way to add a background image. I went to YouTube and looked at tutorial videos for answers. WordPress.Org (the version for self hosting) seems to have extra editing controls that are missing for us poor relations here on WordPress.com. Even with those extra controls, there only seemed to be an option for pre-packaged templates that were simple colored backgrounds.

Yes, I know that the 2023 theme runs on directory style pages to get to actual posts. THIS theme (the 2011 theme) has the background image to the sides of the main content areas though. THAT is what I was looking for on the attempted new version. Essentially something that would dress up the home page. No dice.

I’m convinced that the WP.com version of the editor is just plain broken. I didn’t even have an option to change the header picture until this morning. By that time, I said the hell with it. The blog had already been down 2 1/2 days at that point. That was long enough.

Unsurprisingly, there’s no option to revert the blog back to an old format also. Even when I went to manually hunt down the 2011 theme, it wasn’t listed in any of the options. I had to manually search for the theme by name in order to bring it back up. In the only stroke of good luck during the process, the blog restored perfectly to it’s old format, pictures and all.

Why the Hate?

The reason I’m so frustrated here is because basic “What You See Is What You Get” editing has been around for decades. It’s the basis of desktop publishing programs, and better word processing programs like Corel WordPerfect. With Corel, I can put the cursor anywhere I want on a page and just start typing. Yes, WYSIWYG formatting has been around for ages for website design also. It’s still out there. Just Google “WYSIWYG Site Builder” and see how many results you get.

WordPress can’t be bothered to make something that simple for the average user. You have to have a coding background to get real functionality out of the WP Editor, and only a coder will find the broken controls for the full site editor intuitive at all. Personally, I find working with the old piece-meal editing tools easier, and I have an IT background.

What’s Next?

Part of my time ended up being spent exploring other options, thanks to my frustration. Medium in particular intrigued me. MANY people have made the jump from here over to Medium already. I’ll share some thoughts on Medium in a separate post later today. There are ALOT of pros and cons to the site.

Let me just cut to the chase and say I’m determined to continue my blogging. In terms of using WordPress however, I’m 95% likely to switch over to private hosting and using WordPress.org. The tools are better, there are more options for plug-ins and other features… Even more so that WP.com premium accounts have. It’s just all around a better product. Since the software is all tied together, my posts would still be shared in the reader, and I’d still be able to follow those using the free .com version of WP.

For those of you who are of a similar mindset, Siteground.com has a massive sale right now. This is the site that the guy whose tutorial I watched uses and recommends. The caveat is that you have to pay for a full year in advance. Even with the middle cost plan that’s only $60 however, and includes a free domain name for the year. THAT however is with an 80% discount offer, which means the second year your costs will increase dramatically without some type of discounted renewal offer.

HostGator and similar sites that offer automated WordPress hosting (including automatic software updates) all offer similar deals.

Then there’s Medium.com. At this point, I’m strongly considering mirroring my postings there as well. It will give me better visibility and readership. I **WILL NOT** however,do what many WP.com defectors have done and only post a snippet here followed by a link to Medium. My feeling is that readers come to a blog expecting to read, not get an advertisement and a redirect.

I’ve still got a little thinking to do on the whole hosting issue. A final decision will depend upon what options I can find here as well. Any readers inclined to make changes themselves should wait until I’ve posted my findings regarding Medium also.

Alive… AGAIN!

Yes, I’m back after a year and a half.

The last couple of years have been hellish, to say the least. On top of everything else I wrote about, we got defrauded on a home purchase, lost our life savings, got cheated by the lawyer we hired to help us, got severe COVID, and dealt with a dozen other lesser issues. I even injured my back with the rowing machine that I highlighted in a previous post.

Setting this blog aside has happened more than once already.

I’m grateful that by some miracle I still have all my followers. In a bit of irony, this blog got more views during my absence than my “main” blog did. Over twice as much for more than 15 months straight! Obviously I chose the wrong blog to step away from. As I’ve said on past posts however, it’s HARD (no pun intended for a change) to write anything remotely sexy when your world is falling apart.

I can’t say that I’m in an ideal situation at present. SOME things have improved. Some, such as the house, continue to dangle over our heads like the Sword of Damocles.

What II can promise my readers is that I’m mentally in a much better place than I have been in many years. I somehow in the midst of all the disaster regained my center. Everything just fell into place and I’m more focused.

Plans for the Blog:

First, I plan on returning to writing. Everything from a reboot of my Witchfire series to more “conventional” erotica. I think I’m FINALLY at a point where my former self-doubt is no longer killing my ability to write erotica. I’ve spent some time studying up on writing as well, so as to get myself to a higher level than my previous posts and stories.

For you kids who don’t recognize it, that’s called a notebook… and a pen. 😀

I’ve spent time sorting through quite a bit of trash writing advice and found some really good stuff as well, so on top of my usual stories, I’m planning on doing some reviews in the hopes of helping other authors find quality advice. Hint: MasterCass.com’s writing classes are amazing. I will be reviewing far more than those however.

I also want to throw in some reviews of TV shows, movies, etc… from a writer’s POV and point out areas where I feel they made mistakes.

I’ll also be writing the occasional sex advice article like my previous one on boobgasms. I’m by NO means the absolute expert, but it SEEMS like bad ideas about sex are growing even faster nowadays than the hostile political climate.

I’m also going to be shutting down the other blog. It’s always been a distraction to my writing ambitions. I did nothing but cater to my audience and beg for followers. I’d prefer to focus my efforts here.

Eventually, I plan on hopping the blog over to paid hosting and switching to WordPress.org as well. More options, fewer restrictions, and I’m all but sure I can get a simple yes or no age gate to help reduce the potential for drama and let me get away with a few racy pictures. 😉

It’s good to be back. I missed you all.

Alive!

Yes, I’m back. Real life had gotten kind of hectic. Some of that is detailed in the other, vanilla blog. That specific link will take you to my most recent post there, where I complain about feeling I can’t be myself or say what I want as a blogger. Read it if you want, if Not I understand. Be forewarned though; it is a classic redhead rant, lol.

What I’d like to dialog here about though is a calmer continuation of that whole mess as relates to sexy blogging. I have two main stumbling blocks when it comes to posting here or getting anything “adult” written.

First, as I mentioned in the other blog, there’s the worry of being judged and labeled. Doesn’t matter who you are, if you deal with erotica and similar topics, you’re either a whore or a male pig. You’d think being a redhead, I wouldn’t give a F what others think, BUT like most stereotypes, that’s all it really is. I have a fairly strong spiritual side and am an honest to goodness empath too. That last part in particular makes it hard to tune out the crap sometimes.

Second is a problem even “regular” writers face; I have to REALLY be inspired to write. In the case of erotica, that’s in the mood and able to visualize the scene almost enough that I could almost see it as I’m writing.

That second part is the bigger stumbling block by far. Those of you out there who actually find the creativity to turn out high quality stuff regularly, I’m truly jealous of.

So who has any advice? How do you turn off the worry and find inspiration? I’ve had several ideas for ages, I just haven’t been able to get them off the ground.

New Character Biographies Posted

I’ve been working on a handful of character biographies for my Witchfire stories. First, I started with Witchfire herself, and cleaned up some of her weaknesses and powers. Subtle but it’s there. I also changed her top back to a corset after finding one in the character builder that I liked, and cleaned up her hair. I liked the idea of wavy hair for her, but the pieces I put together for her last style just didn’t blend together smoothly at all.

The new look is simple, clean and comfortable, although I do still wish I could have gotten a bit of a wavy look to it. The new look follows my belief that keeping things simple is usually better though. Speaking of which; here’s her new costume:

The corset should be easier to get in and out of. Important in naughty stories. 😉

Aside from Witchfire, I did biographies for three characters created at DangerBabeCentral.com (where all this madness started, lol). Witchfire’s girlfriend Amazing Babe has a biography now, and I expanded upon the existing mini-biographies for Mister X’s characters Omega Woman and Battle Sprite.

For Amazing Babe and Omega Woman, I used pictures from DangerBabeCentral to show their costumes, then created some renders for their street clothes and less.

Battle Sprite was a one story character who only appeared for a few panels at DBC. I decided to challenge myself to make her into a more legitimate character. See for yourselves how it worked.

Note also that all the biographies have an intimate details section at the bottom. The measurements are because I write for men and women. The rest is notes for me to help keep each character unique when I get to the kinky parts. Readers can use the info to get a little better understanding of each character.

Tomorrow, since I’m getting close to publishing again, I’ll talk about the concept and goal behind the Witchfire series, and a tiny bit about where it’s going.

Witchfire Isn’t Dead…

And neither am I. 🙂

Things have been really hectic in my personal life the last few months.

I’ve really want to get back to writing though, and promise I’ll be back soon. I’m already working on outlines now. Aside from Witchfire’s ongoing story I have other ideas that I’m trying to develop, including a possible erotic walk through of the game Skyrim (if I get any interest there) and some Star Wars stuff. I don’t want to say more than that just yet. I’d prefer to under-promise and over-deliver.

Writer’s Blues…

Warning: Rant Ahead

Here I sit trying to get some writing done and life once again has me at my wit’s and creativity’s end. Adding to my frustration is the fact that every time it feels like I start to get some forward movement, life comes along and decides to screw with me. It’s been this way my entire life too. Enough so that part of me wants to scream every time I see an article saying “Just trust God and work harder / smarter”. At some point, both faith and work are supposed to pay off…

I get good at cooking, and I suffer hearing damage so I couldn’t function in a professional kitchen… I tried to do real estate and all I got for clients were idiots who thought they were going to find houses at half the market price and become HGTV’s next big investor, AND my back acts up enough to keep me from doing even that also.

Well, to cut the rant short, this time it’s the back and neck still, stresses from crime in the neighborhood, drama with prep for moving and communication issues that should NOT be there so early in a new marriage.

Erotica is probably one of the more difficult genres to write well. To write ANY genre well, you have to be able to put yourself into the story and see it through the characters’ eyes. You have to connect with the story on some level.

To put it bluntly, it’s REALLY hard to feel sexy (and thus write sexy) when you’re surrounded by drama and your spine feels like it got stampeded upon by a herd of elephants.

End of Rant…

Writing Update

Just a quick one here. First, I went back and updated both pages of Witchfire’s pictures to reflect the final changes I worked out. Remember the “out of costume” pics are NSFW, but the in costume ones are PG rated.

As a side note, if I had an IDEAL version of Witchfire’s mask, it would be a Venetian carnival mask almost exactly like this only gold in color:

Witchfire and I were also really tired last night when I did her interview, so we went back and corrected a few points that didn’t appear to jibe with her existing information

As a couple of final points, I’ve switched to a larger font size as making the text larger is supposed to cut down on reading miscomprehension. I’ve also started writing the next part off Witchfire’s story.

Oh yes, and Witchfire is waiting impatiently for some reply posted questions in her interview. Her only request is keep it semi-classy.