The Ghosts We Carry - Landing Page

A minimal, sleek website for promoting and distributing "The Ghosts We Carry" manuscript. This landing page allows visitors to access a draft of the manuscript by submitting their email address.

Features

• Clean, responsive design with blue and yellow accent colors
• Email collection form with validation
• Netlify form integration with spam protection
• Mobile-friendly layout
• Detailed changelog page for tracking manuscript updates
• Last update notification on homepage
• New excerpt page with audio reading option
• Archive/Earlier Updates button on changelog

Technologies Used

• HTML5
• CSS3 (with custom styling)
• Vanilla JavaScript
• Google Fonts (Playfair Display, Merriweather, Montserrat)

Deployment

This site is designed to be deployed on Netlify for easy form handling. Follow these steps to deploy:

1. Create a Netlify account if you don't have one (https://app.netlify.com/signup)
2. Push this repository to GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket
3. Log in to Netlify and click "New site from Git"
4. Connect your repository and deploy
5. Forms will automatically be set up based on the HTML markup

Netlify Form Settings & Auto-Response

This site includes automatic email responses to form submissions. Here's how it works:

1. When someone submits the form, they'll be redirected to the success page
2. A Netlify Function will automatically send them an email with the download link
3. You'll also receive a notification about the submission

Setting Up the Auto-Response Email

To configure the email sending:

1. In your Netlify dashboard, go to Site settings → Environment variables
2. Add the following environment variables:
   • EMAIL_HOST (e.g., smtp.gmail.com)
   • EMAIL_PORT (e.g., 587)
   • EMAIL_SECURE (true or false)
   • EMAIL_USER (your email address)
   • EMAIL_PASS (your email app password)
   • SITE_URL (your Netlify site URL)

For Gmail Users:

You'll need to create an "App Password":

1. Go to your Google Account → Security
2. Enable 2-Step Verification if not already enabled
3. Go to App passwords
4. Create a new app password for "Netlify"
5. Use that password for the EMAIL_PASS environment variable

Testing the Auto-Response

After setting up:

1. Submit the form with your own email address
2. Check that you receive both the notification and the auto-response
3. Verify the download link in the email works correctly

Handling Form Submissions

Form submissions will automatically appear in your Netlify dashboard under the "Forms" section. You can:

• View all submissions
• Export them as CSV
• Set up additional email notifications
• Connect to Zapier or other services for additional integrations

Customization

• Update the book title, subtitle, and excerpt with your content
• Replace placeholder text and links in the navigation
• Add your manuscript file for download
• Update the author information in the footer
• Modify the changelog.html to document your manuscript's evolution
• Update the last revision date and description on the homepage
• New excerpt page added with audio reading option

Local Development

To run this site locally:

1. Clone the repository
2. Open index.html in your web browser or use one of these methods:
   • Python 3: python -m http.server
   • Python 2: python -m SimpleHTTPServer
   • Node.js: Install http-server with npm install -g http-server and run http-server
   • VS Code: Use the "Live Server" extension
3. For form testing, use Netlify CLI:

   npm install netlify-cli -g
   netlify dev
   

File Structure

• index.html - Main HTML file containing the page structure
• success.html - Thank you page displayed after form submission
• changelog.html - Detailed page showing manuscript revisions and updates
• excerpt.html - New page with book excerpt and audio reading
• styles.css - CSS styles for the site
• script.js - JavaScript for form validation and interaction
• favicon.svg - Vector favicon (book icon)
• favicon.png - Fallback PNG favicon for older browsers
• netlify.toml - Netlify configuration for form handling and redirects
• README.md - Documentation (this file)
• .gitignore - Git ignore file
• sitemap.xml - XML sitemap for improved SEO

Recent Updates

• Updated last revision date to January 11, 2026
• Added new Part XV: Breaking Point - full account of 2017 mental health crisis and VA hospitalization
• Renumbered Parts XV and XVI to become Parts XVI and XVII respectively
• Major content enhancements across multiple sections:
  • Part I: Expanded Melissa introduction and isolation themes
  • Part III: Developed "Rescuer archetype" concept
  • Part VI: Enhanced Latulippe as teacher of protection
  • Part VIII: Added sexual performance anxiety with Dania
  • Part XI: New parental observation sections and Thursday dinner scenes
  • Part XIV: Substantially expanded Melissa relationship development
  • Part XVI: Enhanced "Pattern of Surrender" as named enemy
  • Part XVII: Strengthened love story and refusal to quit themes
• Five major thematic developments: Rescuer Archetype, Pattern of Surrender as Named Force, Foreshadowing of Parenthood, Melissa as Central Figure, Sexual Dysfunction Context
• Consistency updates: age correction (forty-one to forty-two), dog references (added Mama and Chonk), timeline clarifications (2017 crisis)
• Approximately 10,700 words added across all sections
• Archived previous changelog entry (December 20, 2025)
• Updated all date references across the site

License

MIT

Credits

• Fonts: Google Fonts (Playfair Display, Merriweather, Montserrat)
• Developer: Steve Bogucki