News Archive
Now that I've re-designed this web site to use ASP .NET, I've changed the way that
I enter news items. Therefore, all news items from the previous incarnation of the
web site have been archived here. If you like history, this is the place to look.
September 6, 2007
The biggest news in my life right now has very little to do with this web site. The news is that Warren and I contracted to buy a new home last April. After the usual delays and minor problems, we finally moved in on July 20th and as of today, we're about half unpacked. If that sounds remarkable I have to confess that about 80% of the things we had to unpack were books. The good thing about unpacking books is that I found another article credit to add to the list. I know there are still missing items, but I'm gradually finding them as I go though all the magazines I had packed away.
The other news is that I am finally getting around to another re-design of this site. The current design has been here for a couple of years now and as much as I liked it, I'm getting bored. This is probably going to be the most major re-design in recent time because I'm converting the HTML/PHP files in this site to use Microsoft's ASP .NET so if you have bookmarks for this site, they may break. I would appreciate it if you would change any bookmarks you have so that they point to the main page of the site rather than to any specific page. In other words, if you link to my site, use http://www.irenesmith.com/ and don't include a page name. That will cause the least problems for all of us.
February 14, 2007
I can't believe how long it has been since I updated. The main reason for the long silence is that life took a sudden turn (for the better this time) at the beginning of September. I got a new job in New York City and the five-hour daily commute leaves little time for anything else in my life. I thought things would go on pretty much the same but I was wrong. I haven't even had time to keep up on e-mail. All the plans I made for my various web sites (including the web design classes I was going to give) had to take a back seat to the job.
August 30, 2006
Updated my links page and some of the other pages in minor ways. I have been spending a lot of time lately on my "other" web site, IS Web Designs, where you can find articles on web and graphic design as well as a large collection of linkware graphics and information about the web design and editing services I offer.
August 11, 2006
Been working on a number of projects that won't show up here right away. This morning, however, I took a little time to make a few minor changes, such as organizing my publications list. I also added my computer games to the list. They may not be available any more, but you might actually have seen them in K-Mart or Electronics Boutique.
July 1, 2006
You won't find much going on during the month of July because I'm working on a new web site elsewhere which I will unveil on August 31st.
June 19, 2006
Don't you hate it when a program helps you out too much? The addresses in the entry below were wrong. Despite the fact that I typed the explicit addresses, the program I used to edit this page decided that I didn't mean a place on the Internet but somewhere on my own computer (as though I would open up my personal computer to visitation from the Internet!) and changed the values for me. Now they are correct. I edited them by hand so I could be sure.
June 15 , 2006
Not too much to report except that I've started updating my blog more regularly. If you are interested, check out http://www.irenesmith.com/blog/ and see what I have to say.
Also, check out the mini website I created for my son Mark's wedding. Go to wedding.designingwriters.com to see pictures from the shower, the rehearsal and the wedding itself.
May 28, 2006
Phase one of the redesign is finally complete. Although these files have been on my computer for a while now, I kept putting off actually uploading the files to the web. Anyway, they're here now, and I'm getting ready for phase two, the new photo album. I've been digging through CDs to pull up interesting pictures that haven't been posted before.
By the way, if you contacted me on the webmaster e-mail address and haven't received a reply, please send again. I had a small problem with that account and lost several weeks worth of messages. If you wrote to me and didn't get an answer that's probably the answer. Please try again.
May 18, 2006
If you have been here before, you will see that I finally got around to redesigning this website. There was nothing wrong with the old design, but I needed a change. I created it by following a tutorial at Pegaweb, a website that has a lot of really good PhotoShop and web design tutorials. I am working on redesigning the photo album and adding some new pictures.
April 18, 2006
I just finished an online web design course. The course did exactly what I wanted it to do, too. I learned some things and was forced to create a bunch of web pages using techniques that I don't have much occasion to use (like JavaScript and Java applets) and it made me kick my creativity back into gear. Want to see my portfolio?
It also made me think seriously about re-inventing this site so stay tuned.
February 22, 2006
Life has gotten in the way for a while now. Much as I enjoyed writing full-time, the lure of a regular pay check has dragged me back into technical writing. As far as crative writing is concerned, I've been running on empty for a long time. I tried NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year and failed miserably, despite the fact that I made it the first two times I tried. Now that spring is just around the corner, it's time to get back to work. I've made a few minor updates to the website, including my resume, and have removed some items from the news page that contained links to things that are no longer valid.
February 11, 2005
I have finally gotten around to joining the Amazon Associate Program. If you would like to buy a copy of Romancing the Soul, the anthology containing the story of how I met my husband, go to my writing page and follow the link. You'll find it in the non-fiction section of the page.
January 31, 2005
I have a really exciting announcement to make. I have decided to start my own webzine. The domain is: http:www.nimuesgrotto.com. The first issue of Nimue's Grotto will be published on April 1, 2005. We welcome submissions of Speculative Fiction as well as articles, book reviews, and movie reviews. For complete details, visit the Nimue's Grotto web site and read our guidelines.
January 21, 2005
(This was originally posted as January 21, 2004! I forgot to change the year.) I can't believe I never posted the news. I made it! I completed my NaNoWriMo novel, titled, A.P.E.S. in Space. See the winner's graphic?
November 1, 2004
It's here! This is the time of year when foolish writers make a vow to write an entire novel in 30 days. Am I one of those idiots? What do you think? Last year I successfully completed the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge. I'm doing it again this year. How am I doing? Check out my NaNoWriMo page to see.
October 28, 2004
We've moved to a new web host. This is the same host that I use with my web design site. They are called: Sectorlink, and I've had my other account with them for a few months now and I'm very happy. If you are looking for web hosting yourself, go to: http://www.designingwriters.com/services.asp and click on the banner that is about halfway down the page. Right now they're running a special. Every month you pre-pay when you sign up gets you an additional month for free.
August 15, 2004
I went to the New York Renaissance Faire yesterday and I have added some of the pictures I took to my Photo Album. I've also updated my publications list.
July 3, 2004
It's official. As of Friday, July 2nd, I am officially a full-time writer. It's hard to convey how excited I am that I will no longer need to divide my attention between writing and trying to find a "real" job. I'm also pleased to announce that, as of yesterday, I have been promoted. Instead of acting as Assistant Editor for the Writing Department at RITRO, I have been appointed Editor in charge of the New Age Department.
June 28, 2004
The latest updates are for maintenance purposes mostly. I've added a few new links on the links page and added links to a couple of stories that were published at RITRO last week.
June 17, 2004
Added another article to my publications list. Romancing the Soul is now in final edit so I should be able to provide a link soon so you can order your very own copy. In the meantime, don't forget to visit the Designing Writers Shop where you can buy a poster of the picture you see at the left.
June 14, 2004
I've created a shop with CafePress.com and created a couple of posters with photographs I've taken. The best, of course, is a 35" x 23" poster of the photograph you see on the main page of this site. So, visit the Designing Writers Shop. I'll be adding more items as time goes by. You'll always be able to find a link to the shop from my Miscellaneous page.
June 12, 2004
There's really not much going on right now. I'm working on some new pictures for you and I had another short-short piece published today at RITRO. See the Writing page for a link to the story.
May 24, 2004
It looks like I made the final cut. My story, "Blind Date" will be in the new anthology Romancing the Soul, True Soul Mate Stories from Around the World and Beyond. The book will be out soon from Zumaya Publications and, as soon as it is available, I'll provide a link where you can buy your very own copy. If it sounds like I'm excited, you're right, I am.
April 29, 2004
April was not a particularly good month. I've been extremely busy working on other people's web sites and haven't done much with my own. I've added a new listing for my first print publication. My short story, "Blackout" was in the April issue of Luscious Desert Female Literary 'Zine. Also, Jeff Duntemann was kind enough to send me a list of the articles I wrote for him and I found out that I missed a couple when I made my publications list. Those missing articles have been added.
March 28, 2004
I took the day off yesterday and sometime during the afternoon, I received another award, actually two awards, for this site. I received the Creative Design Award and the White Dove award from René of Renelf's Realm. Go to my Awards page to see them. René has a lovely site herself, by the way, stop over and visit her when you get the chance.
I also added a small piece that was written as an exercise for one of the writing groups I belong to. It's not really a complete story, more of a vignette, but I hope you'll enjoy it just the same.
March 22, 2004
I'm really excited. This site has just won its first award, the Magical Site Award, from Val Kelly.
March 18, 2004
Made a minor change today to make it easier for visitors to track what's new. The latest page will go here, on the home page from now on. This paragraph will be retired to the News page when the next item is added. Please tell me what you think. Send e-mail to webmaster@irenesmith.com. I added a couple of short fiction pieces and will be adding more in the future. I also spent a little bit of time today refining the navigation. Nothing exciting now, but there's some really good news that I should be able to report soon. Stay tuned.
February 24, 2004
Added a bunch of pictures to my photo album. These are all scenery shots taken around the area.
February 22, 2004
Not much new. I just added a couple of little bits of clip art here and there. Also added a couple new publications to the publications page.
February 8, 2004
Wow! I did a whole bunch of updating to my links page and I forgot to mention it! I added a bunch of links for authors web sites that you are sure to find interesting. I'm also in the process of adding links for sites that provide good resources for writers.
January 26, 2004
Added a link to The Tangled Web, my web site at FortuneCity that includes linkware graphics, web design tutorials and graphics tutorials. I also added a counter to my front page. I figured it might not hurt to know how many visitors I've had. I also tried something new. My counter doesn't count my own visits and only counts visits, not page views. No matter how many times you reload the index page during a visit, the number will only be incremented once. In other words, the number is going to stay small for now.
January 17, 2004
Cold, cold, cold! I can't believe it's about 14° outside and, compared to yesterday, that's really warm. Last night it was -15° and about -30° with the wind chill.
As you can see, the updates are coming a little bit closer together. Now that the holidays are over, I'm getting back into the swing of things. I updated my links page a bit. In other words, now there's more than one link there.
January 12, 2004
It's a new year. Hard to believe I've been back in New York State for over two months now. When I look out my window at the snow and shiver in the cold we've been having I sometimes question the decision move back. During the four years I lived in Washington, I never even wore my winter coat. Now I'm thinking of buying thermal underwear.
Among my New Year's Resolutions was a promise to update and expand the content on my web site. I added a missing publication link to the publications page. I also added listings for some of the articles I wrote way back before I was married, and (finally!) added some content to the home page. Not much, but it's a start.
October 19, 2003
I've added a couple of publications to my list. Things are likely to be slow around here for the next couple of weeks, since I'm in the midst of a cross-country move and will be off-line. Please stay tuned. Starting November 1st, things are going to get interesting. I've signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and I'll be making regular updates then.
September 20, 2003
Just getting things set up.
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