There's some truth to the idea that things happen when you least expect them. For me, that means things could be happening all the time because I'm pretty oblivous. I did not know that today was the day Romance Writers of America was announcing finalists for the 2007 RITA Awards.
I can't tell you how excited I was when I got the call. My parents were here for a brief visit. We were logged on to my Skype, chatting with my baby sister in Sweden when the phone rang. I answered it, expecting it to be one of my sons. Instead, it was RWA calling to say that I was a finalist for Surrender. I almost fainted. My mother thought something was terribly wrong — doubly so when I burst into tears. Then I got off the phone, screamed and jumped up and down. I told my parents (my dad had no clue what that meant), and my mom and I were hugging, when we heard a little voice coming from my computer. "WHAT'S GOING ON?"
My sister lives in Stockholm and is unnaturally, even preternaturally beautiful. Strangely, she does not think so. To punish her for being an idiot on that score, I'll post here baby picture here:
Here she looks a bit like a shrunken-head version of my dad. But trust me. She grew up to be gorgeous. But enough about her...
So, my historical Surrender is a RITA Finalist in the Long Historical category, and I'll be going to Dallas to the RWA convention there. I'm blown away and so excited! I'm in with some very serious historical authors, which is a little intimidating. But I love Iain MacKinnon and his Rangers. So keep your fingers crossed!
The RWA conferences is where I got together with the RBL Party Crew last year. This year, I hope to spend quality wine, er, quality time with Bonnie Vanak, CJ Barry/Samantha Graves, and Gennita Low. I hope that author Norah Wilson will be able to come down from the Great White North and join us! And, as always, I hope to see as many friends and readers as I can during the big literacy signing on Wednesday night.
In the meantime, all this excitement means I haven't written a word today! I finished Chapter 21 last night and was pretty pleased with it. Eight chapters and seven days to go!