TheDarkTower.net
In 1997 I created TheDarkTower.net - a website which focused on a series of seven books by Stephen King. During the eight years I ran the site it grew to become the largest Stephen King website on the internet. At its peak, it was the largest fan and information website of its kind across all authors. (Not counting the "crazies" of course, i.e. Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter.) In August 2004, TheDarkTower.net was a featured website on the Sci-Fi Channel. With nine-million visits each month and a mailing list of over fifteen thousand members, TheDarkTower.net grew larger than I ever would have imagined.
But it was more than just a website — TheDarkTower.net became my playground — a showcase for the two sides of my personality. As a web developer I managed my own server, did front-end design work, and wrote the back-end code to solve new problems and challenges as the site grew. I created a full-text search engine covering all of Stephen King's novels. Users could search for a character, location, or any phrase and TheDarkTower.net returned the book, page, and sentence that contained their query. The Booksearch predated both Amazon and Google's similar programs.
Even better, running this website gave me a place to share my own thoughts about the world of Stephen King. In 2005 I published articles in Gateway Magazine and Lighthouse Magazine. In late 2007 I have two short essays appearing in Lost's Buried Treasures.
In May 2005 I sold the website when Michaela Weiner (then president of Grant Books) made me an offer I couldn't refuse. After eight years, it was time to move on to new projects and new ideas.
