I’m steadily working on making this website more professional and attractive and accessible and all of that. It’s still nowhere near where I want it to eventually be, but I think I’m getting closer. I’m not a web designer by any stretch, so I’m relying on the talents of others to pull me through.
However, I’m experiencing a bit of a dilemma. My eventual goal is for this domain to be my “Author Website.” (That’s pretty much always been my goal, but until recently the “Author” part has been a lot more distant.) I think I have some good ideas for dynamic content that will attract people to the site and have them returning as well, but the one thing I am very undecided about is this journal/blog. I’ve maintained an online journal for over ten years. I chose long ago to allow the world glimpses into my personal life, and at times I have put very personal stuff on here. However, there’s still quite a bit that y’all don’t see. I try to never air any dirty laundry about my relationships with any members of my family. I very seldom say anything detailed about dayjob work; I do my best to keep anything like that very generalized, and (hopefully) nothing that could ever come back to haunt me. I also worked in computer crimes long enough to have some common sense about security. (99% of the people who read this journal do not know my daughter’s real name, and the other 1% know it because they know me/her in real life. I also know that if anyone is really determined and has the right resources, they’ll be able to find out far more about me than I could ever hope to reveal on this site.)
So, the dilemma is this: If I’m fortunate enough to sell my books and this website indeed becomes an “Author’s Website”, should I remove the journal or should I allow readers and potential readers of my books continued easy access to this insight of Diana Rowland the writer/mom/cop/IT professional/person? I’ve seen quite a bit of advice on how to set up a “professional” website, and there are usually words of warning about maintaining blogs that deal with anything beyond the business of writing. But that just seems so… boring. [shrug]
I figure I have two choices: I can move this personal journal to a different domain, one that is not so obviously “Diana Rowland the Author”, and then simply maintain a writing-related blog on this domain. Or, I can keep doing what I’ve been doing–sharing the ME with the world, and include people who have read or are going to read my books and hopefully not turn anyone off by showing so much of ME.
This may take some pondering.
I would be very cautious about what sort of personal information you put on an author’s blog. My wife reads various writers’ lists and there are too many stories about “fans” taking an unhealthy interest in writers, and I’m not talking about bestselling authors either. Having said that, many writers put everything including a map to their door on their sites. So they obviously don’t feel it’s an issue. I put far less personal stuff on my blog than I used to put in the zine I published for a small mailing list. Sometimes I feel I’d like to write more, but I think it would be unwise. Were I starting over I would definitely use a pen name!
2007
Eric Mayer