Nerves

Today I have a lot of nervous energy. It isn't exactly butterflies in my stomach, because that lifts you up and makes you feel light and bubbly. No, this energy is more like a weight, heavy and rock-like, pulling me down, grounding me. Last month, I entered my first writing competition. We could only submit up to 750 words and that little bit is being judged by about 30 currently published romance authors. I think the final count of entries was somewhere around 347, and starting Thursday, they will announce the 20 finalists two by two over the next ten weeks. I guess on one hand, 20 sounds like a lot of finalists. On the other hand, that means that 327 people will not make the finals of the competition, which sounds like a lot of non-finalists.

I would say that "all I can do is wait" but that would not be truth. See, the prize for making it into the 20 finalists is that Kate Duffy, the editor at Brava, will read your 750 words. If she likes what she reads, she will be asking for your full novella manuscript. They aren't guaranteeing to publish anyone's novella, but I am sure they have the intention of publishing a few of them. For one thing, it's good publicity for next year's contest to be able to say, "The contest that launched the career of Brava Best-Selling Author {Name Here}"! Last year, Kate published 3 novellas from the competition in one anthology. I have a feeling they will do the same thing this year, since they asked us to write on a theme (Reunited Lovers). I am not sure when the editor will start asking people to send in their manuscripts, but mine is not totally finished yet! I am not expecting to get "the call" from the editor, but I want to be prepared just in case. So, that means I better get to writing and revising!! I envy the two people who will find out this week that they made the finals. Wish me luck!