Shyness.

While it is very nice to be quoted in The New York Times (as a mystery author, no less), I need to qualify. I'm not that shy. What I was trying to tell the writer was that, given my druthers, I'd prefer to be home with my husband and cat than out at a conference. And I had in fact just experienced a major economic setback. So cancelling out was in part to save the airfare and hotel, but it also allowed me to follow my heart and stay home, rather than sit around a hotel bar and think about how much money I was spending. I guess that was too complicated and he needed to boil it down. Ah well, it's all press, right?