Best Suspense Finalist!
I’m so super excited to announce that I made it to the finals for the Claymore Awards. My novel Foul Play hit the finalist list for “Best Suspense” category 2022. Let me back up for a second here and explain why this is so incredibly immense for me. In 2016, I attended my first Killer Nashville conference. (In fact, it was my first ever writer’s conference). It was exhilarating! I met so many wonderful people, to include Clay Stafford himself! And I had the amazing experience of meeting a fantastic agent during a round tables pitch who requested my manuscript. I was stoked. For the first time, I finally felt like my writing was good enough to catch an agent’s eye. Though she ultimately declined representation, she provided me with the profound feedback I needed to make it better. Fast forward six years to 2022: after countless hours dedicated to studying the craft of writing and improving my work, completing a new manuscript and editing the old one (not to mention the juggling act of caring for a family and working two demanding jobs), I felt it was time to submit the novel to the Claymore contest.
After all, why not? I’d put in the time and effort, might as well see if I had what it takes. Full disclosure: I was terrified. What if I didn’t make it as a finalist? Would that mean my story-telling power had dried up? Or worse, had I convinced myself that I was better than I actually was? Yikes.
The reality I came to terms with, was this: I love writing. I’ve loved this since childhood and I couldn’t stop if I tried. Losing one contest doesn’t define me or my skill. I was okay with whatever happened. That doesn’t mean I didn’t obsessively refresh the screen on Killer Nashville’s website daily, but I knew I’d be okay with the results either way. So, when the moment came that the Suspense Finalists had been announced, I felt a tinge of disappointment. As I scrolled, I didn’t see my name at first. Assuming I hadn’t made it, I read through the names and titles of those who did, hoping they’d make it to publishing, trying to be happy for them. Then, I spotted the words Foul Play. I screamed. My poor kid can attest to that. “Mommy, will you calm down? I’m trying to read.” A child after my own heart.
The point I want to make is this: no matter where you are in your writing journey, if this is what you want, then for heaven’s sake don’t stop! You never know when your day will come, but I’m confident that for those who work hard to make their dream a reality that moment is almost always closer than you think.
