Critter Alley

Critter Alley

Monday, December 28, 2009

Oh What a Beautiful Day!




I went back to work after the long holiday weekend full of the blahs and wishing I could stay home just one more day. But instead I bravely marched through the front door along with my fellow reluctant warriors. Later in the morning I took a minute to check my blog and found a comment congratulating me on a contest win.

WHAT????

Immediately, I zipped over to the Saturday Writers website, and sure enough, I won second place out of 87 entries in a short story contest. Joy! Bliss! Nirvana!

This evening I planned to post the good news, but first took a look at a long list of emails. Uh-oh! A tantalizing Chicken Soup email nestled in the middle. I clicked on it first thing and read the opening sentences every writer wants to see:

"Your story "My Daddy's Name" has made it to the final selection round for Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad. Only five percent of the submitted stories have made it this far. The vast majority of stories in this "last round" will appear in the book, but we do not make the final decisions until about a month before the publication date."

WHAT A DAY!!! Pardon me for yelling, but I couldn't help myself! Now I'll keep fingers crossed that I make the final cut into the book, even while I bask in the warm afterglow of the contest win.

No more after holiday blahs for me...I'm smiling from ear to ear!

5 comments:

Linda O'Connell said...

Wow! That's amazing, Pat. Congratulations. I do the victory dance when I receive an acceptance too, and I don't care who's looking!

Ann Summerville said...

How exciting. Let me know if your short story is posted somewhere - I'd love to read it. A great way to end 2009.
Ann

Bandit's Pack said...

How incredibly exciting for you!! A double dose of happy news!! Congratulations!!

Donna Volkenannt said...

Hi Pat,
Congratulations on both of your exciting accomplishments.
Donna

Anonymous said...

WOW!!! Double congratulations, my friend! I wish you success in the Chicken Soup contest and it will be great if the story is published. The second place is terrific also You should be very proud, Pat!