This morning a Romance Writers of America board member called me to tell me that Thrown is a finalist in the Single Title Contemporary category of the Golden Heart contest. I yelled in the poor woman’s ear. I hope I didn’t burst her eardrum, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I did. And the dear was too polite to say anything. When I meet her at the RWA national conference in Anaheim in July and her hearing is iffy, I’ll know why.

I’ve been on cloud nine all day! I squee’d all the way to work, and then relentlessly badgered my wonderful boss whenever someone else emailed, tweeted, Facebooked or called to congratulate me. It’s surreal—I’ve entered a handful of contests, and I won one and finaled in another. In a few others, I didn’t do anything. Zip. Bupkis. And then, and THEN, I final in the Golden Hearts, the Oscars, the Tonys, the Rose Bowl, the Pulitzer of “pre-published” romance authors’ manuscripts! This morning was one of the best Mondays of my life, if not THE best.

I’m going to relish this time before the RWA national conference in July, this time when I’m a finalist. I’ve been writing to friends that I’m “over the moon,” and my friend Hilary at the horse barn said that very thing (“You must be over the moon.” Hilary is British and very cool.). I’m going to enjoy filling out all the forms. I’m going to love being a finalist, every single day. And I’m going to buy a bottle of actual, real live Champagne to celebrate.

While I’m at it, congratulations to all my fellow Golden Heart finalists. I know people say this all the time, but I’m truly honored to be in such company. I look forward to getting to know the other six finalists in my category. We are going to rock Anaheim, ladies!

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