My brilliant entrepreneurial cousin, Chris Baggott, is the one who convinced me to e-publish my books. “It’s the way things are heading,” he explained. “The publishing industry is changing, and you need to be ahead of the curve. Own your own works, market them wisely, and reap the rewards. And ultimately, if you do everything right, you’ll get picked up by a big publisher — if that’s what you want.”

And because he co-founded the most successful tech-company in Indianapolis, I tend to listen to him. After all, I can still vividly remember sitting at Mozzi’s Pizza over a decade ago while he described his vision for customer engagement. At that time, he owned a dry cleaning business, and I penned his newsletter, “The Pressing News.” (Cute, huh?)

“There’s a better way to communicate with our customers,” he mused. “I think it’s email.” And we all smiled and nodded and continued eating breadsticks and swilling beer and tending to our brood of children while he mapped out his vision on some unused napkins.

And ten years later? Yeah, you’ve probably heard of ExactTarget.

So when Chris told me to forgo the traditional publishing route and focus on the e-world, I listened. He’s kind of like E.F. Hutton that way.

And I’ll be damned if it’s not working.

There’s a certain freedom to owning your own success in a floundering publishing industry. I mean, Borders just declared bankruptcy for God’s sake.

I’m still crying in my coffee.

I just wanted to give a big shout-out to all who have supported my journey thus far. It’s been a wild ride, and I’ve loved every minute of it. (Okay, I’ve loved every minute that I haven’t been buried in my own angst and self-doubt and techno-paralysis.)

Thanks for loving me, for loving “Table for Six,” for loving words. Even the dirty ones.

And Christo, thanks for pushing me to take the next step. You’re a rock star. Maybe even bigger than O.A.R. in my book. (But I still love them, too.)