Monday, April 20, 2009

My Beautiful (I hope!) Obsession


To say that I've been obsessed would be a gross understatement.

I've pushed aside sleep, exercise, folding laundry (I really cried over that one) and reading (!!) because of my enthusiasm. And for what, you ask?

A website. My website.

Back in the days when the internet was young, websites were simple and images took forever to download, I taught myself HTML. I have a background in graphic design and learning this new technology was fun for me.

But simple HTML was soon crowded out by CSS, XHTML, Flash, and other bells and whistles that made my head spin. I backed away and left web design to others more technologically inclined than me.

Last week after we got home from Yosemite, I decided that I wanted to create a web site for myself, complete with sample chapters and a bio *shudder*. I knew what I wanted the site to do. I just had to figure out the code to make it work that way.

And with the exception of a few ticks which I am NOT going to point out, I did. I think.

Have a look and tell me what YOU think. Is it too much? Not enough? Easy to navigate or confusing? Boring? Ugly? Well done?

Tell me! Because I want to get it right...whatever that means...

www.sherriepetersen.com

17 comments:

lisa and laura said...

The website looks amazing! The only glitch I noticed is that the button for your finalist award and the contact link are on top of each other when I view it. Not sure if that's intentional or not.

Love the design, the picture and your tagline. Perfect!

PJ Hoover said...

I think it looks wonderful! It's simple and informative. Not hard to navigate. Love it!

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

Yeah - I am so proud of you! ;)

Kelly H-Y said...

It looks wonderful!! Well done! :-)

Maggie said...

Sherrie--Your website looks good--very user friendly. There's plenty of space to add your book covers and personal appearances! I especially love the bio section with all the pictures. You are a very photogenic gal!

Sometimes obsession is a good thing, Sherrie!

Maggie

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Sherrie, I think it's beautiful! Easy to navigate, and clean and easy to read. Did you design it yourself? Because I am impressed. I know how hard it is to create and maintain a website. It's insane. Good luck, and great job!

(I'm VERY pick about the website I like, so saying that I like yours really means a lot coming from picky-me). :D

Anonymous said...

It's gorgeous. Holy cow! The only thing is (and from the comments, this must somehow be just me) I can't click anywhere off the first page. My computer's being a bit funky today, though, so I'll check back soon!

So impressed!

Sherrie Petersen said...

Thanks, guys! I was SOOO nervous about posting it!

Lisa & Laura - Not sure why those buttons are over each other. They aren't on mine so I'll have to check from another computer.

Becky - The buttons on the left (About Me, My Writing, etc.)should allow you to navigate to other pages. Again, I'll check on that.

Suzanne Casamento said...

I love it! I love the colors and the great picture. And I love your quote. It's true, we're going to want to remember what's happening -right now. Rock on Sherrie!

Beth Kephart said...

Very well done. This stuff is hard, hard, hard. I have a lot of respect for you! Congrats!

Sherrie Petersen said...

Okay, I'm realizing now that Internet Explorer doesn't like my code. The site works beautifully with Firefox (my favorite) and Safari, but IE won't let you past the first page. Grrr!! There's so much more than one page! Okay, back to coding for me:(

Kelly Polark said...

I love the look of the first page (I couldn't get past that either unfortunately...). The picture on the journal is great (your kids are beautiful). Love the pen next to it. Looking forward seeing the whole site soon! (These glitches must be frustrating, I wouldn't know the first thing to do!) Good luck!

Kelly Polark said...

Last night the site didn't go past the first page, but I just tried it again and it does! Love it!!!!! Love your bio, great pics, great to learn more about you!
I would love to hear a clip of you singing on your blog sometime!!!
Way to go, Sherrie!!

Sherrie Petersen said...

Thanks, Kelly. I'm so glad I got it to work!

Rebecca Gomez said...

I love it! Very cool how it's all set up to look like a writer's desk, with the journal and paper scraps and all. The only thing I personally don't like is the background color, but you can't please everyone.

Great site!

Yat-Yee said...

Your website is AbFab! Way to go! Your bio is one of the easiest and most interesting to read that I have seen on writers' websites. And visually interesting without being busy. You can make a side career of this this website creation thing.

Sherrie Petersen said...

Rebecca - I went back and forth with the background color. It still might change :^)

Yat-Yee - Thanks. I'm looking forward to meeting you in Colorado!

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