See? Was that so hard?

I took a bold step yesterday. I sent an e-mail to the "Alumni Notes" editor of The Alcalde, the alumni magazine for the University of Texas.

Text of the e-mail: Erin K. Rice, BA '91, has published her first novel. What Happened on Smith Street is an Enron-inspired, intriguing story that offers an inside look at the myriad of factors that may contribute to a company's downfall. Financial, moral and ethical scandals fill the pages and make for a quick and entertaining read. Additional information available at www.erinkrice.com.

Crazy, right? I mean, what was I thinking? Well, mostly I was thinking I would have to wait for about six  months to see if anything showed up. I had visions of myself, camping out at the communal mailboxes each day as I awaited the arrival of the next issue, since I had not appeared in the previous one.

And then, I received a response. That was nice of them--to let me know they had received my submission. But, wait a minute. This was more than an acknowledgment of receipt. This was an offer to run a blurb in the "New to the Nightstand" feature in the November/December or January/February issue.

"New to the Nightstand"? That was on my wish list! I thought I would have to ask (maybe even beg) for inclusion in that feature. And they just offered it to me, as if...as if...well, as if I'm a legitimate author or something.

So now I guess I am!

Nope. Not hard at all.

[By the way, today is it. Wednesday, August 12. Three weeks exactly. And...also not so hard, I'm proud to say.]