I’ve installed a guest book for people who’d like to say hello but don’t want to comment on a specific blog post.

I’ve also changed the name of the wedding story preview in the Upcoming section: “My secret music boyfriend” was always intended to be a working title, and I think I’ve found a title that’s a bit more evocative of the story as it’s currently shaping up: “Apples and Gin”, as in a song lyric by one of the characters.

(Insert Yours Humbly giggling with glee here.)

I’ve also updated the excerpt, as a lot’s happened with that story since I first posted about it.

Two more titles have also been added to the Upcoming section, though they do not have excerpts yet as I don’t have anything to post. A Taste of Honey is the next in the San Francisco series, and will focus on Ben and Jamie again; and The Queen of Wands is another in the Arcana imprint for Torquere Press. I’ll activate those links as soon as I have something to show.

Torquere Press has moved its books and press site to their own servers, which means URLs have changed all over the place. I’ve updated the URLs for my books on their publications pages and will catch them in blog entries at a later date.

I will also be working on the layout for jj.com today, so expect things to be in flux a bit.

I’ve added a calendar utility to the website. I’ll list things like release dates, contest deadlines and events like hosting the torquere_social community on Livejournal there.

It’ll be bare for a while. I’m just writing this month. (Twelve thousand words on the next San Francisco novel, kids. I’m thrilled to bits.)

I’ve decided to remove the links to retailers from the books’ pages. I can’t keep up! But all three of my books are available from numerous sources beyond Torquere Press directly.

I may make a retailers master list at some point, but I’m still making up my mind about that.

If you’ll kindly look to the right of the layout, you’ll see my blogroll. Among the expected writer, editor and review sites, there’s a section called “My Places.” I thought it would be helpful to explain these a bit.

I Am Not a Foodie is a recipe collection site. As the name says, I’m not a foodie: I eat far too many burgers for that. But I do like experimenting now and again and collecting interesting (and simple!) recipes, so that’s the primary function of that site. I’ve also got a lot of family favorites added (with more to come when I get around to it) to preserve recipes that you can’t find in books and to share recipes I love (like Afton’s chocolate sauce. It is the best stuff ever.) I also accept contributions of other people’s recipes, because variety is fun.

Jenna Jones @ Livejournal doesn’t get updated as much as this blog does, because I am lazy. I mostly use it when I host the torquere_social community blog.

MissLucyJane.com is my fanfiction/free fiction. I’ve been writing fanfic since 1997 (longer offline–I’ve got a couple ST:TNG stories on paper somewhere) and I’ve put up most of my old favorites and all my newer stuff. If you’ve ever wondered how I learned to write, the answer is there: by writing a lot.

My del.icio.us is a bookmarks service. My interests and research at-a-glance.

Project Wiki is a personal wiki where I’m planning to collect all the background information for my stories, so I have a centralized location for them. There’s not a lot of information there currently. Most of it is open to editing by anyone, as with other wikis, though of course I reserve the right to reject irrelevant/erroneous information.

Shop @ CafePress, should you ever have a burning need for a Gallaghers bakery t-shirt or barbecue apron.

There you have it: the other stuff I do online.

I’ve added a new page: Upcoming, where I’ll link excerpts and information for works-in-progress as they happen. Once the stories are published I’ll move their pages to the Publications section.

(I try to be organized. Sometimes I even succeed.)

I’m also still on the hunt for the perfect theme. The site’s appearance may continue often changing for a while.

Today is CSS Naked Day.

Web design, when I first started getting interested (back in the early 90s and get off my lawn, ya damn kids), was about tables and ornate graphics and slices; and web standards was something that only concerned the W3. (Which is not to say it wasn’t a lot of fun. It was, and it was really beautiful, too.) But it wasn’t practical by any stretch; and I’ve enjoyed the move away from what web design was to what it has become: sleek, clean, and simple, with an emphasis on usability.

But no matter how obsessed I get with making things pretty (and I do get a little wiggy about it sometimes) the basis of the web is information. The prettiest site is completely useless if you can’t find the content you’re looking for—and this is where CSS Naked Day comes in. A well-designed site will still be useful even without the pictures and colors.

So today, the site will be naked.

This weekend I’m switching to a new webhost, so there may be some interruptions with site availability starting tonight.

Update: the change has been made, and I’m currently working on rebuilding and updating. It will be a few days before everything is back in place. Thanks for your patience.

If I can just leave the theme alone for a while . . .

Speaking of spring, I have a Birthstone Single Shot coming out next month. We’re editing. (Yay!) Here’s an excerpt, because I’m in a remarkably good mood today and feel expansive.

This one’s experimental. (Experimental like whoa. )

(more…)

This is one part test post and one part update. I crosspost to Livejournal both from this domain and another, and the crosspost plugin has been falling down on the job, so I’m trying to figure out if it’s a Livejournal problem or a plugin problem or a domain problem.

I suspect it’s a plugin problem.

And now for the update . . . well, not much to update, actually. I’ve been participating in a web project called 14 Valentines and that’s been keeping me occupied for the last week, but now I’m buckling back down on the birthstone story, which has been stubborn and ornery and needs to go back to being easy and fun.

(Such a good world. “Ornery.” Mm.)

Nothing of particular depth to say at the moment. Just hi, still here.

I’ve given jennajones.com a facelift . . . one of several lately, I admit, though I think this one will last a while as I’m very happy with how the site looks and behaves right now.

I’ve also done some reorganizing to prepare for future events, and put up a little news section so you can see what’s up with me and mine at a glance.

I think my geek drive has been satisfied for the day.