The results are in for the preliminary round of the 2010 Linda Howard Award of Excellence Contest. I have an entry that is a finalist. Here is the title and category:
The Loving of Lord Loxley ~ Finalist, Romantic Sensual and Sizzling Category
An hour ago, I heard the telephone ring. DH said, "Alabama is calling." I thought, "Why would Lynn Raye Harris' state of Alabama be calling me on New Year's Eve?" You see, she is the only one I know who lives in Alabama, and so, whenever I hear "Alabama," I naturally think of her. Well, it was the Linda Howard contest coordinator, calling to let me know that my entry is a finalist. I've been a contest finalist and category coordinator, but before this call, neither had I ever received a call from a contest coordinator nor made one to a contest finalist.
With the heavy use of e-mail and snail mail in this industry, you forget that authors, editors, and agents have voices—wonderful voices with Southern drawls, Northern twangs, and foreign accents. Of course, I had to ask, "Is Lynn Raye Harris a member of your chapter?" The coordinator said, "Yes." So, instead of thanking her for calling me with good news (which I should have done, of course), all I could think to say was, "You must tell her that you called me in New York." And as I hung up, I wasn't thinking so much of my contest final, but rather of this wonderful, though too brief, connection to other people in my writing world.
Congratulations to all finalists!
