While I don’t have any books published yet, I am hoping that when I do, people will have a yearning to come to my website. That they’ll be interesting in knowing more about the story or even about me. So I want to have a website where people can come and do that.
I recently read Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’. I have never read any of Stephen King’s books before (I don’t like horror.) but I had heard that this book (which is a memoir + how to write book in one) was good, so I got around to it fourteen years later. Despite his rather haughty attitude and opinions, by the end of the book I felt a kinship with Stephen. Not that I thought we would get along and be bestest friends if we got together in a room, but I understood and connected with him as a writer.
In fact I enjoyed the book enough that I wanted to write him a thank you note. It seemed, at the time, like a good idea. I figured as a super popular author he would never reply, but I felt (as a writer) I would appreciate receiving such a note. So I went to his website to see if there was an email where I could send my letter. I hit a wall of stone and steel. His website is nothing more than a professionally made cookie-cutter front.
Now that’s not to say I blame him. He has a ton of fans. Like tons, and it’s not like he can interact with them all. At the same time, I will never quite forget the way I pulled up his website to see if I could thank him for a wonderfully written book, and I literally (yes, I mean literally) felt the warmth and appreciation sucked out of my body by the soulless website that represents him online.
I never want my website to be that, even if I become popular, I want people to be able to come to my website and find some of me there. Occasional blog posts, cute little stories, or tidbits about characters or story creation. My goal is to have that connection be available for the people who want it because it’s what I want too.
