April 2015: Exciting news! As an unpublished author, I entered the ‘Finish the Damn Book’ writing contest hosted by the Chesapeake Romance Writers last August. In March of this year (2015), I was thrilled to learn I had won not one, but two awards. You see I entered both of my completed novels, each one in a separate category. I entered “Alabama Angel” in the Mainstream Category and “Trying for Par” in the Contemporary Category. In both instances, I received a third place award. Pretty cool, huh?

It all goes to prove if you’re willing to put your ‘babies’ out there for others to look at, sometimes they come back winners. And what a rush that is!

As a postscript to the above, based on several solicited critiques I revised sections of “Trying for Par”, and resubmitted this novel to another contest in April. Awardees are to be notified in August.

Wish me luck…

July 2014: I had the good fortune of being able to work with one of my favorite authors recently. I attended the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) SleuthFest conference in Orlando in March 2014 and won a review and critique of the first thirty pages of Alabama Angel by Lee Child. What a great opportunity it was for me, and I was thrilled to discover that Lee Child is gracious and very supportive of unpublished authors. For those of you who don’t know, Lee writes the very popular Jack Reacher novels.

Lee has given me a lot of encouragement in regards to my work, and I hope that I can repay his kindness by acquiring a contract in the near future. Thanks Lee!