This is it. My last post of 2017. And a chance to say thank you.

A big thanks to everyone who stopped by kerrydougherty.com daily during December. The traffic on this new website - the first started by an unemployed newspaper columnist, as best I can tell - has been astonishing.

Better than I dared hope for when I decided to leave The Virginian-Pilot on Dec. 1 and “pivot to digital.”

I want to apologize for technical problems with posting comments. The knob turners who host the website assure me - through a form letter - that they’re working on the problem. Infuriating. Through trial and error, I’ve found if you just type your first name and comment as “guest” it will post.

Sometimes.

I will badger the geniuses who host the site until they correct it.

As you can tell, this website is a work in progress. I value your input and criticism. Tell me what you think. What you like. What you don’t. 

I’m here to please. After all, what’s a writer without readers?

Despite its moniker, kerrydougherty.com is not the work of just one person.

A big shout out to my talented daughter and assistant Bryn, who says she now understands why the Pilot’s copy desk hated me. I keep rewriting up until the moment we publish. This former art major is a genius at graphics and catching echoes, and does all this while chasing a 2-year-old. Amazing.

Also want to thank Carlie, my web-designing niece, who carefully picked my brain and designed exactly what I wanted - but didn’t know I wanted - in a hurry and long distance, from New Orleans.

Millennials. What would I do without them?

Then there’s Krys. My unpaid copy editor and friend who sits by her computer at night, drumming her fingers and waiting to get her hands on my rough drafts. At first, she seemed surprised that someone who’s made a living as a writer for as long as I have could possibly misuse commas as much as I do.

Now she’s used to it.

Together we’re heading into 2018 with a lot of excitement and some good ideas. 

Continue to stop by every weekday and see what we’re up to.

As long as you keep reading, I’ll keep writing.