Okay, not THE Call . . . i.e., that blessed moment of finding out an editor wishes to acquire one of your manuscripts. But, I did receive news via telephone this morning that LIBERTY has finaled in the Historical category of the 2007 HOLT Medallion contest, sponsored by the Virginia Romance Writers!
The HOLT Medallion, as I understand it, is one of the most prestigious romance writing awards for published novels after the RITA . . . and shortlisting this year with LIBERTY is particularly rewarding for me, for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, according to the contest coordinator, it's the first year the committee decided to combine Long Historicals and Short Historicals into a single entry category, so the competition, including international entrants, was twice as stiff--and LIBERTY had to overcome the additional hurdle of my unwittingly having sent in printer-flawed copies (whew!).
And second, as I shared with the coordinator, when DAWNFLIGHT was published in late 1999, and I was busily entering it into as many contests as existed in those days, somehow I missed hearing about the HOLT Medallion contest until after the submission deadline -- and since I was residing in northern Virginia at the time (VRW is based in Richmond), I really had no excuse! She & I shared a good laugh over that rather sheepish admission of mine. :) The other nice thing is that Richmond is only about a 4-hour drive from my farm, and there is a high likelihood that I will be able to attend the award announcement, which will be held in conjunction with VRW's June meeting.
All of this, while literally in the midst of packing for a quick jaunt from my farm in southwestern Virginia to Knoxville for the Smoky Mountain Romance Writers' 10th annual Mountain Laurel conference, where I will be rooming tonight with our very own Deborah Brent!
And, omygosh, it's time to sign off & hit the road...Happy Easter to everyone and I'll catch up with y'all next week!
The HOLT Medallion, as I understand it, is one of the most prestigious romance writing awards for published novels after the RITA . . . and shortlisting this year with LIBERTY is particularly rewarding for me, for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, according to the contest coordinator, it's the first year the committee decided to combine Long Historicals and Short Historicals into a single entry category, so the competition, including international entrants, was twice as stiff--and LIBERTY had to overcome the additional hurdle of my unwittingly having sent in printer-flawed copies (whew!).
And second, as I shared with the coordinator, when DAWNFLIGHT was published in late 1999, and I was busily entering it into as many contests as existed in those days, somehow I missed hearing about the HOLT Medallion contest until after the submission deadline -- and since I was residing in northern Virginia at the time (VRW is based in Richmond), I really had no excuse! She & I shared a good laugh over that rather sheepish admission of mine. :) The other nice thing is that Richmond is only about a 4-hour drive from my farm, and there is a high likelihood that I will be able to attend the award announcement, which will be held in conjunction with VRW's June meeting.
All of this, while literally in the midst of packing for a quick jaunt from my farm in southwestern Virginia to Knoxville for the Smoky Mountain Romance Writers' 10th annual Mountain Laurel conference, where I will be rooming tonight with our very own Deborah Brent!
And, omygosh, it's time to sign off & hit the road...Happy Easter to everyone and I'll catch up with y'all next week!
