Breaking News...

We interrupt these scheduled blog posts to bring you a special announcement....

OK, let's be real. I'm posting this because I just have to share my wonderful news.

I WON THE FAITHWRITERS 2009 PAGE TURNER CONTEST!

'scuse me, a sec....

YAY! YIPPEE! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! YEE-HAW!!!!!!!!!! WOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! HIP-HIP-HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

K, I'm back now.

Anyway, as I was saying, I WON! Of course, as anyone who enters a contest, I was hopeful. In 2007 I received a highly commended award for the first chapter of Mind over Madi. This year, with Dead Weight, I thought if I walked away with another highly commended, I'd be thrilled. But when I heard I won, it was the ultimate thrill of thrills. My prize package consists of free editing of the complete novel, free publicity and press releases if and when the book is released and $800 cash (just in time for Christmas!).

For those of you who may not know, the Page Turner contest is an annual contest exclusively created for FaithWriters 500 members. Each year, the focus switches from fiction to non-fiction. The winner of the 2007 fiction-focused Page Turner was soon-to-be-published, J.C. Lamont. Last year's non-fiction winner was Cori Smelker for her book about surrogacy. I am so honored to be among these awesome writers in the winners circle.

The two runners up this year are:

Shelley Ledfors for her entry, "Dominion" and Lisa Mikitarian for her entry, "Hundred Pocket Mirage." CONGRATS to Shelley and Lisa! Two years ago, I was one of those runners up. You may just see one of their names on top in 2011!

As for Dead Weight, my goal is to finish it by spring. I may share more about the plot of this book at a later time, but for now I'll just say it's a light mystery with a twenty-something protagonist who is a crime-show fanatic and food addict. I'm having a lot of fun with it.

I hope you don't mind that I posted on a non-blog day. As you can imagine, I am uber-excited and if I didn't share, I would probably combust or something.

All that said....

We now return to your regularly scheduled blog posts.

Link to FaithWriters Page Turner Contest Results

I am so thrilled to have won the highly commended award for the first ever FaithWriters Page Turner contest. Honored is such an understatement. My goal now is to press on and finish my manuscript. I am now at almost 60,000 words (should reach 60,000 today, in fact!). Only 15,000 more to go until the first draft is finished. I can't tell you how amazing it feels to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Okay, so "light at the end of the tunnel" is so cliche'...a novel no-no...but that's exactly how I see it - a light at the end of a looooooong road. So I've been putting through the tunnel at an extremely slow pace. All the more reason the end is more exciting for me!

I know that after I've emerged from the tunnel, I will have a massive amount of work still ahead of me. But just typing "The End" will be a major milestone for me.

In the meantime, here is the official announcement of the Page Turner winners:

FaithWriters Page Turner Winners 2007

Thanks to all for your congratulations and pats on the back. Chocolate is always welcome,too. LOL

FaithWriters Page Turner Winners Announced!

After several months of waiting, results were announced Friday for the FaithWriters first Page Turner Contest. Each year, the contest will alternate between fiction and non-fiction. This year, the focus was on fiction. FaithWriters 500 members were invited to submit the first page of their manuscript, along with a synopsis of the entire projected novel.

There was one winner (Yay, JC!) who received an $800 cash prize, free editing, publicity, the works!

In addition to the Grand Prize winner, two runners up were selected. And - WOO-HOO!!! - I was one of them! The first chapter of my WIP, Mind Over Madi, received a Highly Commended award. For me, this is yet another indication that I need to get that novel finished!

I will receive half-price editing from Finesse Editing Service, as well as a special award plaque.

I'll try to post the press release as soon as it becomes available.