one email away from stardom

So, I promised to tell the story of the too-big-for-his-britches dude who smashed my hopes of stardom. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration. But Mr. Britches was mean to me, kind of like those three bully girls in high school. Now I'll have four names to mention when accepting my Pulitzer. 

It's a short story, really. Sadly short. When I got my Father's Day Column published in June, this sorta famous local celebrity dude, meaning not as famous as, say Brad Pitt, but a name even I, who is often clueless about such things, recognized, emailed me with glowing and also specificly helpful comments on the article. I was thrilled to have an actual something-like-a-celebrity contact me. We went back and forth with a few emails, becoming almost-best friends. This dude also sometimes writes for the DMN.

So then, my daughter goes, you should invite him to meet you for coffee so you can see if he has other tips/advice to offer since you are just starting out and he knows a lot about the local writing scene. I cringed. "Are you kidding me? I would never be brave enough to do that."  

Then I worked up my courage. It took two months. I emailed him again to ask him to coffee, also mentioning a couple of his recent columns I liked, so as to schmooze a bit. I would have been fine with either a yes or no, the main thing, in my mind, was that I had taken a big scary bravery step just in asking.

The dude did not say yes. The dude did not say no. The dude maintained complete radio silence. Zilch. Nada. Zippo lighter. I had to re-read my email to make sure it was not creepy, as I tend to blame myself for the rudeness of others. But my email was fine. Low key, non threatening, casual-like. Oh well. 

For the record, I responded to each and every one of the emails I got on my columns. Granted, there were comfortably less than an overwhelming number, so it was easy to answer all of them, even without engaging a personal assistant. It's the principle of the thing. Am I right?

What surprised me about my minor-celebrity snubbing, though, was that I am totally fine with it. Really and truly. To be honest, I would have been a little nervous to meet him anyhow. Whew, dodged a bullet. I'm just glad that I found the courage to ask, and I'd do it again, gosh darn it. And next time, if the celeb or faux-celeb actually responds, and meets me for that free cup of coffee, I'll be ready. And we'll have fun.