A New Site for a Novelist

I am excited to be working on a new website for Kristin Bair whose new novel is coming out in November. Last week, I sent her a test site to review and she tweeted:

My new website for my new novel (out in November!) is being designed by the ever-brilliant @visualgui. He sent me 1st test with questions. I want to look but I’m afraid to look. I am so weird. Not the only weirdo out there, right?

In 2009, Kristin approached me in several months leading up to the release of her debut novel, Thirsty. I don’t know for sure how she found me, but I suspect it had to do with the slideshow “Bonjour Vietnam.” Before I even designed the site for Thirsty, I asked Kristin if I could read the manuscript and she sent it to me. It was a dark yet beautiful and hopeful novel. After reading the entire book via PDF, I knew the site for the book had to take on a life of its own. Even though the site is aged now—it was before responsive design—I still love it.

In 2014, she followed up with The Art of Floating and I designed a simple, responsive landing page to promote it. I also read the second novel and loved her dreamlike writing and erotic storytelling.

For her third novel, Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything, I am redesigning her website to promote the new book as well as to bring everything together. It will be a simple, elegant website for a wonderful writer. I pre-ordered the new novel and can’t wait to read it.

The first draft for the new site went well. Her feedback was positive. We’re on the right direction. It feels great that she trusts me to bring her visions to life. I love working on a small-scale website like this. It gives me a break from my regualr work. I can’t wait to share it when we launch it.