"Snapdragon" Has Been Named a Finalist in the New England Readers' Choice Awards!
Believe it or not, this story starts with me waking up to an e-mail messsage in Bolivia. For those of you who have never been to La Paz, the elevation is around 12,000 feet and my altitude sickness medicine made it so that I was getting only about four hours per night of sleep. So, for one, I was cranky. Add to that the fact that I hadn't seen my family for going on a week. Unable to sleep at the early hour of 5AM (2AM, my local time) I was figuring this wouldn't be my best day.
Until it was. My friend-who-happens-to-be-a-writing-coach, Beth Barany, had forwarded me an e-mail because she tends to know a lot more authors than I do, and is more tapped into the writing world in general. In addition to previewing what she sent with amazingly kind words of encouragement and congratulations, she pointed me to a blog article written by Jackie Horne about my debut novel, "Snapdragon"--more specifically, a piece about what a great example of feminist romance it was. Let me stop here by saying that I've read some great reviews of my book and cherished every single one of them--but Jackie's commentary (so generous! and written with so much care and thoughtfulness!) was a complete vindication of every single goal I was trying to achieve with this book.
It's one thing for people to like your book. It's another thing for people to get it. Even if not a single other person ever read, reviewed, or praised "Snapdragon", Jackie's blog posting alone could have sustained me for the rest of my life. Yes, I know. I am sometimes prone to hyperbole. But, this review really, really got me.
Fast forward. I get back from Bolivia and write Jackie a gushing Thank You, to which she writes a very kind reply. Not wanting to scare the woman with my appreciation for her appreciation, I let it go and decide that I'll just keep reading her awesome blog.
Fast forward again. Like, a week later, I get an e-mail saying that "Snapdragon" has finaled in the awards sponsored by the New England Chapter of RWA. I had entered it in the 2018 contest for Erotic Romance some weeks before. As if that weren't thrilling enough, guess who the e-mail was from? Alright, I'll tell you: Jackie Horne!!
Long story short, she's the president of NECRWA and she didn't even judge the category. But other people who judged the category read my book, and recommended it. That's how she came to read, then blog about my book.
So, yes, I could have just written an announcement about how, a few days ago, I received notice that I finaled in the awards. But the story's much better, don't you think? Apart from thanking Beth for being such a supportive friend and to Jackie for taking from her own free time to write such a glowing review, I want to thank NECRWA and all of those who judged and voted in the awards.
