Tuesday 17 July 2012

THE EAGLE DIRECTORY


Regular readers of this blog will know that I have been blogging for just over a year, when I started I knew nothing about blogging and one of the blogs that gave me inspiration and support was The Eagle's Aerial Perspective (http://thegoldeneaglesblog.blogspot.co.uk/ ). Posting twice a week, the Golden Eagle is lucid, respectful, fun, informative, hardworking and writes eloquently on both the arts and science, a rare mix. If you have never looked at her site you are in for a treat. 


Recently she unveiled her new website, The Eagle Directory (http://www.eagledirectory.org/ ). It is a work of love and vision, well deserving of your attention. When I first visited the site I found an hour had passed without me realising. Yes it's that good.


I am really pleased that Golden Eagle was kind enough to let me interview her about her new website and her blog.



WHY EAGLES?

Their skill in the air and their overall elegance attracts me. I find them to be beautiful birds.

WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE AND WHY?

The Golden Eagle (Aquila Crysaetos) is my favourite eagle. I love the colour of golden eagles and the way they fly.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO PUT THE SITE TOGETHER AND HOW DID YOU GET THE IDEA?

It took me almost a year exactly from start to finish: I spent a couple of months working on the design and figuring out how I could best present the content (in addition to deciding which content to include): the next next nine or so consisted of actually writing the content; and the last month I spent trying to find a good web host.

I got the idea from thinking over subjects I liked and thought I could build a website out of. I wanted to learn HTML (the better to learn how to work my blog’s layout and design something that in the end, I ended up not changing at all) and thought that creating a site while learning the code would be a good way of cementing the information I had picked up.

IF YOU WERE DOING IT AGAIN, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?

I’d definitely be more organised. I had numerous lists of edits and changes I wanted to make during the process, such as spelling specific words (savanna or savannah for example), category names , page links, how to present image copyrights and soforth which I wouldn’t have needed if I’d known them before hand. Of course, most of these would have been impossible to foresee until I made an error.

ANY TIPS FOR PEOPLE THINKING OF BUILDING A WEBSITE?

Define what you want your website to focus on, come up with a consistent (an readable design), and focus on developing your content so that it is written well.

TURNING TO THE BLOG, TEASER TUESDAY IS A REALLY GOOD IDEA, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE CONCEPT?

I’m not the one who actually came up with the idea, I try to link her at the beginning  of each  of  my own  TT posts (sometimes I’ve forgotten to do so!) but the Miz B at http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/ started the event.

IF PUSH CAME TO SHOVE, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK?

The dictionary. Though if I had to choose fiction, it would be The Lord of The Rings.

WHAT HAVE YOU GOT PLANNED FOR THE FUTURE?

I’m not sure if I’ll be publishing any new websites for a while. The Eagle Directory seems to be relatively well at this point and I’d like to gather some more views before really digging into another project: also, I’m thinking about setting up a mobile version of ED because I’ve tested the site on mobile browser renders and it doesn’t look so good.

I have considered, though,  the idea of creating other raptor – orientated sites (The Hawk Directory, The Falcon Directory etc) sometime later on.

WHEN ARE WE GOING TO BE ABLE TO READ YOUR NOVEL?

Saying “someday” would be terribly non-specific, I guess. I’m hoping that something will be published, but I have yet to write more than three books and none of them have gone through an extensive edit or rewrite, which I’m sure they need.

LASTLY IF YOU WERE A COLOUR WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE AND WHY?

Green. I enjoy its sense of calm and how well it goes with blue, another colour I really like.

Thank you Golden Eagle. I for one can't wait to read that novel and I have suggestion for a future directory-Magpie Directory-sounds great to me.

40 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for the interview! :)

    The Magpie Directory--has a nice ring to it, and they're fascinating birds.

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  2. Great interview! I actually didn't know that The Golden Eagle had a new website up - it looks so cool! :)

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  3. It's fascinating to know a bit more about you GE. I too think TLOTR would have to be my favorite book. I didn't know about the new site (tsk, must keep up) - I'll check it out. Great interview!

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  4. Wonderful interview and great advice on building an audience and a website.

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    1. Thanks--most of it I learned through trial and error from my own blogging.

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  5. Lovely Golden Eagle!! Thank you for hosting her, Paul Tobin! She is one of my fave bloggers cos she's super talented and loves these beautiful majestic birds!! I hope the raptor site takes, ahem, flight asap!! May it soar high and spread its wings! Yay!

    Take care
    x

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  6. The dictionary! Me too, come to think of it.

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  7. I've seen your website and I think it's fabulous. I didn't know there were so many different eagles.

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    1. I didn't, either, until I actually began looking for a full list of species!

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  8. Awesome interview. Since moving west, I've seen some eagles in the wild. They are impressive birds. Very majestic.

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    1. There are some wild bald eagles in this area, too. Not many, but you see them occasionally. They definitely make an impression. :)

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  9. We see bald eagles here on rare occasions but we do have a hawk that lives in our backyard. Sometimes she sits on our pool fence. She's big and beautiful.

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  10. Excellent interview. I love eagles myself, there is something very majestic about them as they soar above all the problems down here.

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  11. Great interview. The website is fantastic and I know how much work goes into creating one while teaching yourself how to. Fantastic job!

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  12. Golden Eagle: Thank you-I agree Magpie Directory sounds really cool.
    Bethany: You should it's excellent.
    Susan: It is worth checking out. GE is an excellent interviewee.
    Michael: I agree, the voice of experience.
    Old Kitty: I agree, her blog is always excellent. thank you.
    Charles: If you took the dictionary you would always be able to describe your predicament. Not sure though what book i would take-probably poetry.
    Clarissa: Nor did I until I looked at the website.
    M Pax: I don't think I've ever seen one, I am sure they are beautiful though, most birds are.
    Susan: A hawk in your garden! How wonderful, we see lots of hawks in Somerset, but never that close.
    Melissa: Thank you. I agree they are majestic.
    Michael: Yes, she did a fantastic job. I learned a great deal from interviewing her.

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  13. I'm an eagle fan--both the blogging kind and those elegant birds that sweep through the air. I live in Red Tailed Hawk territory, so while eagles don't visit here, I do see their cousins all the time.

    I admire how carefully Golden Eagle planned her approach to blogging. It certainly paid off because the site is wonderful to visit. Glad she sent me here. I'll be back, Paul.

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    1. There are hawks in this area, too. I'm not good at identifying them, but I believe there are Red-Tailed Hawks.

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  14. Paul, as always good job. Many of us scifi fans are naturalists and love this kind of stuff. Eagles are magnificent creatures. I have a huge red-tailed hawk living in my backyard in one of my tall trees. He keesp the neighborhood squirrel and rabbit population in check.

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    1. True--and I know I'm an SF fan. ;)

      It must be nice to see him around the neighborhood!

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    2. Thank you. I am jealous, a red-tail hawk-you are lucky. Perhaps there are beliefs around having hawks about a house as there are about cranes.

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  15. Great interview. I'm glad I stopped by to learn more about Golden Eagle.

    It was a process getting my website together. Eagle did a good job on hers and she's a wonderful blogger.

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  16. good stuff, ge :)

    i like the idea of your going with more raptors, though i can't say they're exclusively faves [i like most birds], but there is a major heart tug from birds of prey...

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    1. Thanks. :)

      Raptors are my favorite birds--obviously--but I agree, there are many other interesting species.

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  17. Great interview, Eagle! Always a pleasure getting to know more about you.
    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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  18. Thanks Paul for the steer, I'll be putting this site on my list. As for birds of prey, the red kites are beginning to move in to Hampshire.

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    1. Thanks for coming by to the interview. :)

      Wonderful about the red kites.

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    2. I have a pair of magpies around my house, the red kites sound wonderful.

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  19. The dictionary is an interesting answer! I just saw a preview of The Hobbit when I saw Brave with my daughter yesterday.

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    1. I'm really excited for it!

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    2. I think it could go either way after TLOTR films expectation is so huge that it may be unrealistic to expect it to be better. So says a "wet blanket"!

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  20. It's great to get to know you a little better, Golden. LotR is my favourite works of fiction as well.

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  21. I've always wanted to read, LotR. Maybe after I'm finished with Game of Thrones. It was great to read about your planning and execution of the blog. I now see why the content is so amazing.

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    1. I read the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire and that seemed long enough--getting through all of the published books would be a lot of reading!

      Aw, thank you.

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