See? I told you.

It's been, what, a week since I updated this journal? I've started lots of entries. And that's as far as it has gone. This is partially due to the fact that I've been processing orders for my book, What Happened on Smith Street (nice plug, no?).

And it's partially due to the fact that I've never been one for journals. I believe I may have mentioned that.

Regardless, since my last post, I have been pretty busy. That's the truth. Response to the book has been most gratifying. I've even managed to have a few face-to-face conversations with people who want to know about it--and I didn't throw up. Not even once; not even just a little bit, in my mouth. That's a major milestone for me, because I'm terrible at talking about my book.

Here is how a book conversation typically proceeds:

Inquisitive Person (IP): What's your book about?

Erin (E): Well, it's about the recent financial meltdown, with a nod to Enron--you know, how when Enron fell apart in 2001--

IP: Enron. Those guys were a bunch of crooks! My brother-in-law/aunt/neighbor/former customer worked there and told me about all the illegal stuff that went on.

E: So...did they leave before the place fell apart? I mean, once they knew about all the 'illegal' stuff?

IP: Well, no. And then they lost everything when the stock collapsed and the place went bankrupt. Those guys were a bunch of crooks!

E: [Sensing this is going nowhere] Well, anyway, the book isn't actually about Enron; Enron is more the context, really. It's a reference to how people never thought something like that could happen again. And then it did, only worse.

IP: Bunch of lousy crooks.

I tell you, it's exhausting. If I were smarter, I would stay away from the whole Enron thing, at least in conversation. Right? I created a three-sentence description of the book--an elevator pitch. It's what I'm supposed to use when someone says, "So, what's your book about?"

Ask me how many times I've used my elevator pitch. Go on; ask. You know you want to....

[Erin, how many times have you used your elevator pitch?]

What? Oh. Thanks for asking. Er, that would be zero. Exactly zero times. Oh, dear. Now I'm wondering if it's correct to use the plural with zero. [gears grinding in my brain] Yes. It's okay.

Some news to share. (If your eyes have glazed over, you'll want to shake your head a bit and wake yourself up.) If you are planning to order a copy of What Happened on Smith Street and haven't done so yet, make haste! The $12.95 price available on this site is strictly limited-time-only. Once the book hits retailers (online only, by the way), the actual, retail price goes up to $14.95. The online retailers may offer a discount, but then again, they may not. I don't have much input into that part of it.

Ah, it reminds me of the old days at Enron Energy Services, when we never could quite figure out how to price our deals....