Hanging Up an e-Shingle

I just finished building my author website, or rather, just finished being in awe of watching Amanda Weisel, webmaster extraordinaire, build it, and it's got me nostalgic. And nervous. This bold step of hanging my shingle right out there, saying, "My author-self is open for business! Come on in!" feels pretty scary, crazy, and certainly too big.

I know folks who have author websites, Chris Baty, for example, and I do not look at Chris B. or his awesome dirigible-infested website through my crazy goggles. I don't think, "Chris B., simmer down now!" (Of course, Chris B. is bigger than me. Not only is he a very tall man, he has actually sold actual books, while all I've done is sold the promise of a book.) Famous or not though, it makes perfect sense to me when anyone else decides to hang their calling card in the e-universe for the rest of us to find, because quite obviously, writing is a calling (see what I did there?! Shazam, word play!), but between you and me, I'm not quite feeling like I'm ready yet.

"So how did you get here, then?" you might ask, "This supposed humility is the blusher's version of a fake tan!" (Clever you and your word play!)

The truth is that this whole Tupe-gets-a-website idea wasn't my own at first and that's where the nostalgia comes in. Flashback to when I was still getting my nib wet in graduate school and I made a great friend whose words I adore (so very much that I've asked him to perform my wedding ceremony), Thorn Kief Hillsbery. (Jaw drops in 4…) We were talking about author websites one day and that's (3…) when Thorn told me that (2…) he'd already purchased my domain name (1…): he bought it when he first read my work, he said, so it would be sure to be there when I was ready.

Right?! But what's hitting me is that the domain-name purchase was not the gift. The gift was Thorn's confidence in my work. He believed in me, and even though I'm still not ready, I'm scared as H-E-Quadruple-Hockey-Sticks, his belief has helped move me forward. What I realize is, domain names or not, we can all do this for each other. (All the time! For free!) Sometimes the only momentum you have is that friend who believes in you right out loud. So, right out loud: I believe in you. I'm buying your domain name with my heart and I'm holding it until you're ready to put your calling card out there.

I'd love to hear about who propels you and who you're propelling, who supports you, pushes you, perhaps even carries you a bit, on your writing journey, and who you support and push and carry right back. Who is your Thorn?

-Tupelo