Been thinking about it all day, and I can't quite decide if I'm flattered or mortified that someone compared the
spicy bits of my book to 50 Shades of Grey.  Honestly, though, a person can't help but be flattered to be compared to any bestselling work, but considering my own opinion of said work, I can't help but be pretty embarrassed, too. 
I mean, sure. I know I have a freaky side, but is the work really that raunchy?  Oh my goodness.
Hmmm.  I was actually going for a little more substance and a little less sauce, but the truth is that it all makes the soup. So, either way...Soup's on!
I'm just thankful as all get out to be read.  That's the point.  Readers are always the point.
But more than just read, I want to be respected. I want to be credible, memorable, substantial.  I don't want to just be fluff and filler.  Empty or guilty calories.  Mindless entertainment only.  Meh.  Although...mindless entertainment is not necessarily a bad thing.
But who says I can't have little bit of both, saucy and substantial?  I would like to have  achieved that balance for The Other Side of 30, but maybe the best stuff is leftover for The Other Side of 40.  Who really knows?  I sure don't.
As for the one minute or less elevator pitch, there may or may not be progress.  I keep re-pitching and re-thinking and re-pitching and re-thinking all of this stuff in my head, and I think I'm getting it just about down to roux level, but it's hard to tell without pitching it out loud to someone.  I guess I'll have to mix up a few words and pitch them at work tomorrow, just to get an idea of whether or not I'm headed in the right direction.

Every time someone asks me what my book, The Other Side of 30, is about, I find myself scrambling to fine tune my elevator pitch.  I was at my cousin's wedding reception this weekend, and when the subject came up, and I was asked for the "one minute of less" summary, I completely botched it.  So today, I worked on it a little more, and here's the latest one that rolled off my fingertips:

A young woman turns 30 and basically loses her mind, trying to hold on to her "last chance" at love before going "over the hill." The problem is that she sets her sights on an old boyfriend who is newly married, and his wife
is a friend of hers.  From one decision to the next, her biological clock and better judgment are constantly embattled.
Regardless of knowing better, she finds herself willing to do, on the other side of 30, whatever she thinks it takes to get what she thinks she wants:  A ring, a husband, a family, and such things that are suddenly so appealing about the "normal life" that she once rejected, but now she believes is passing her by.

I think I can rattle off that bit in a minute or less.  I think.

As for substance, I also tried to toss in a few messages about how easily some people, even those who seem the strong, smart types, can become completely unfocused and lose sight of their own self worth to social pressures, real and perceived. I mean, let's face it.  Perception is reality.  Mix that in with a little bit of the "grass is not always greener" angle, and the "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" philosophy, and that just about does it.  I just hope the delivery isn't too heavy-handed, but we'll see.

And of course, there are a few sex scenes sprinkled in for good measure, to help move the story along.
What I need is a good tag line.  "Trying to make a future out of her past will make a mess of her present," is fitting, but it doesn't pop!  And it doesn't speak to the whole biological clock/social pressures thing.  And I repeat the word, "make," so it still needs work.  Hmmm.