I feel a little hungover today, and I didn't have ANYTHING to drink, not even the champagne that's been in my fridge since I signed with my agent ;) I was on the computer almost all afternoon, hoping to see other names show up on the list, but they never did.

That's one of the hardest parts about finalling, knowing there are deserving writers out there who don't final. My friend Elizabeth finished her first historical this year, and it was wonderful, but it didn't final, apparently, and she'd email me now and again to ask if I'd heard anything.

Then on the Wet Noodle Posse loop, there were several people who hoped to final but didn't.

So I've got a touch of guilt (I know, surprise). BUT I'm so happy that ALL the mss my agent has are GH finalists.

Yesterday was weird, though. The loops were so slow in bringing the news, maybe because it was Sunday. Maybe I'm on the wrong loops ;) When Trish called to tell me I'd finalled, we'd JUST gotten back from Lowe's. I told the dh I needed a project to keep me busy, so I bought blue stain for my bench. I did eventually stain it, after Trish called to tell me she'd DOUBLE finalled!!!! (COVEN! COVEN! COVEN!) It looks nice.

I need to register for conference, but need to wait for, you know, PAYDAY. And since the hotel is sold out, we need to find another place to stay. Good thing is, we'll only be going 2 days, and we'll be driving. I already have my dress and shoes (though if I see some rhinestoney ones I'll buy them) and I have my picture (though if JoAnn's photog isn't too dear, I might get professional ones). The dh does need a new suit and shoes, though.

This was my first year to coordinate an electronic contest. I only had 12 entries in my category, should have been easy, right?

Uh.

Apparently I’m a kinesthetic person, and like the actual sorting of entries. Because sorting them electronically was a pain in the neck. You had to make copies of each entry, electronically (at least that was the only way I could think to do it) so I made folders for each judge.

Only when I sent the folders as attachments, no one could open them. Sigh.

Then you had people who didn’t save as .rtf and you had to reformat.

One person sent in her entry only it had comments from her critique partner in it! She would have seen it if she’d printed it out. I couldn’t get ahold of her to resend, so I cleaned it up myself.

I accidentally sent the same entries to 2 different people to judge. Never would have done that with paper entries ;)

The ONLY good thing is no trips to the post office.

Never again.

GOOD LUCK to everyone who entered the GH/Rita!!! Check in if you final!!!

Please help spread the word by passing this on to any relevant loops you're on:
Once again, Melynda Beth Skinner will be hosting her Unofficial List of Golden Heart® and RITA® Award Finalists at
http://www.melyndabethskinner.com/finalists.html on notification day, March 25th, 2007. She updates the list every few minutes throughout the day. There's also a bulletinboard/chat room, and great fun is had by all. If you'd like to help, send names of finalists, their entries' titles, & the category(ies) entered to melynda@melyndabethskinner.com .
Permission is hereby granted by Melynda Beth Skinner to forward this paragraph.