My web guy (and now dear friend), Scott Doughty, has created my new author website and, so far, I love it almost as much as I adore him. I’ve spent the last hour reviewing the pages with my editor hat on, and remain impressed with how he captured who I am and the excitement I feel about my debut memoir, You’ll Never Find Us.
When I reviewed the “Blog” section, I scrolled through and took a deep dive into my old posts to see what I’ve said over the years. Well, wouldn’t you know, I’m sitting here with damp eyes, getting all verklempt. But that’s my nature. I’m kind of like a one-person band: I talk to myself (you get better answers that way), laugh at my own jokes and, yes, get verklempt a lot. Depending on the voices in my head, I can be my own worst critic but much more enjoy being my own best pal. My writing colleague, Carolyn Scarborough recently said, “I love the way you can be by your side.”
Reading the blogs I’d written from 2010 through 2018, I realized how glad I am that I was vulnerable enough to write what I wrote. And I feel compelled to tell you in big bold letters: I AM A WRITER. I am officially claiming the title of author/writer, and it feels wonderful.
Though I’m not great at promoting my work and have lots to learn, I will take credit for getting myself to this point. How did I do that? Certainly not by myself. I may be a one-person band in some respects, but I live in community and rely heavily on others. I’ve sought help at every turn for the last fifteen years while working on You’ll Never Find Us. Thankfully, I connected with Story Circle Network to guide me, chose to listen to mentors like Christina Baldwin, joined critique groups to push me, attended Writers’ League of Texas conferences to teach me, attended The Writer’s Hotel Conference to empower me, was taken into the fold by the amazing She Writes Press to publish my book, sought out Wildbound PR to promote my work, and happily hired Scott Doughty to create my website.
And all along the way, friends and family (especially my phenomenal husband) have supported me. Now I’m getting all verklempt again. Sheesh.
You can’t go it alone. Big lesson. Learn it. Practice it. Love it. Express gratitude for it.
Oh, and you can pre– order my book: Amazon or Bookshop. See, I’m learning!
Beautifully written, Jeanne, and your website is gorgeous! Congratulations, my friend. Nice job all round!
Your support has made a big difference in both my personal life and my writing life. Thanks for everything, Len.
I think maybe you DO have magical powers! I look forward to connecting with you about this whole publicity/coming out experience. My memoir will be published by She Writes late next year. I’m subscribing to follow you on your beautiful website! Gretchen
Ha, Gretchen! Nice to meet you. Thanks for your kind words about the great work Scott Doughty has done on my website. I hope your experience with SWP has been as wonderful as mine. The learning curve can be pretty steep!