I'm such a klutz

[DavidDvorkin]

I got an e-mail today from someone asking if I'd read his mystery novel and possibly blurb it. I was at work, so I decided to wait till I got home before replying and telling that I'd be happy to read the novel.

When I got home, the e-mail no longer existed. I apparently managed to delete it. Work has been stressful, and I've been stressed for other reasons, but I still should have been more careful.

Now the guy will think I'm a stuckup twit who doesn't even bother to reply to polite e-mails.

Crap.

I did post about it on my blog, in case he reads that, but not many people do read it. I have no idea where he got my name. Of course, if I could remember his, that would be a big step, but I was skimming my personal e-mail pretty quickly and didn't register his name.

Aargh!

[Orrex]

1. Did he mention the novel's name?

Could you search for him that way? Or does he maybe have some other work through which you could track him down?

What kind of email server are you on? If you're using Outlook, might you attempt to recover your deleted items? Could it still be in your cache or Temporary Internet Files?
Or might you contact the server (hotmail, excite, etc.) to see if they offer an "undelete" feature? Never tried that, and I don't know if they do it, but it's worth a shot.

Posting on your blog is a great idea--if he contacted you for a blurb, he probably reads it (or will read it), and he might even find the situation funny, since you clearly didn't delete his email on purpose.

Let us know how it turns out!

[DavidDvorkin]

2. Nope, no title

Or if he did mention it, I don't remember it. As I said, I've been under stress.

If I could remember his name . . . ! But I don't.

I'm using Eudora, set to leave mail on my ISP's server unless I delete it in Eudora. That way, I can clean up spam but still get the stuff I want when I get home and run Eudora on my home PC. Eudora is set to empty the Deleted folder when I exit it, so it got deleted real good at work, and on my ISP's server.

Eudora does store some stuff in backup folders, but I don't think deleted mail is included. I'll check again tomorrow, but I'm pessimistic.

I'm not sure if I've ever been asked to blurb a book before, so I was pleased and flattered to be asked. Sigh.

[DavidDvorkin]

3. Success!

Ah hah! I found it! In one of Eudora's backup files.

I'm just a stressed-out klutz, not a stuckup twit.