Public face, private face

A couple of days ago my web hosting company changed something on my website that means I can no longer access it to alter it.  Not very helpful, so I've reclaimed my domain name and am in the process of designing a new site with a new host.

Choosing a template for my new site got me thinking hard about the image I want to give to the world.  I want my website to reflect who I am on the inside, and that means a bit of modification of my chosen template.

The design I chose has a science fiction feel, with a grey frame that resembles a starship's control panels.  But the image across the top of the site was a no-no.  Men with big guns are exactly what I'm not about, and that had to go.  So I've found a lovely starscape to replace them, and when I've finished wrestling with the site builder this will appear at the top of each page.

It's important that we keep the really private things in our lives private, but it's also important that we let the world know who we are and what we believe in.  Hopefully those things are guiding our choice of writing subject and genre.  In the past I've had it suggested to me that I should write erotica, but that's something I'll never do, even if it does pay better than SF.  Personally I want to see less sexiness blighting our lives, not more.

I have a more hopeful view of the future.  I find it hard to imagine a future where some all-powerful dictator has control of everyone In a vast empire.  Huge interstellar distances, different cultures and different evolutionary paths will all act to keep us as varied as we are today.  I want my writing world - and my website - to reflect that survival of individuality.