Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Applauding Writers!

I won! Okay, now I need to back that statement up. My debut erotica novella, Love Me Wild won the 2007 Night Owl Romance Award for Best Shapeshifter story (http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/NORAwards.asp)

Now this might not seem like a lot upon first glance but second place went to one of my favorite authors, Christine Feehan, so I’m taking this award and running with it. After all if I can’t applaud myself who will. And that’s the state of being a writer.

We often write in our own fantasy world, head down to shield out the rest of the universe, or we’re pounding away on our laptops huddled away in a corner at a cafĂ©. Or we’re still wearing our pj’s determined to make our deadline as we type away at home, while ignoring the phone, the delivery person and the mess of our house.

If someone told me when I was going to undertake this career that the only person to congratulate me would be myself, I probably would have laughed at them. But it’s true. So true that after one year of writing, with only one good writing friend (and Karen Bagnell you know that’s you girl!) I decided I had to join a writer’s group or I’d go crazy. I joined not so much to gain recognition but to be with like-minded people who understood what I meant when I said, “I was a writer”.

What I discovered was my own local RWA chapter—the only one in Atlantic Canada. It’s a diverse group of people and the really weird thing is from day one I felt welcomed. I’m also now really proud of all of them. I never feel like I can’t tell someone in the group what I’m working on for fear they “might steal my idea,” because I’ve learned there are enough ideas out there for everyone. The talent in this group blows my mind. Recently the president in our group, Kelly Boyce, emailed everyone on the loop informing them her book, Desire and Brimstone won in the Windy City’s RWA contest for best historical and the double whammy was that her hero, Devlin made the cut for a new category “Hero-guaranteed to Blow You Away!” I wanted to take her out and celebrate with her. I just know this time next year she’ll be doing another happy dance to celebrate either the release of her book or a major publishing contract. Way to go, Kelly! Then there’s Judith who just signed on with Medallion Press for her book which I can’t wait to buy and I could go on about the others but I will save them each for a special occasion. But you get my meaning. They are all talented.

So back to my win! I won! I won! I won! I’m holding on to that for as long as my bubble allows and when it starts to deflate I’m going to write some more and then pat myself on the back.