As
Laurie mentioned on Wednesday, today is one of the biggest days in the romance
world calendar: Romance Writers of America’s® RITA® and Golden Heart® contest
finalist announcement day. It’s our equivalent of an Academy Award, the highest
honor we can receive as romance writers, for one of our books to be named a finalist in either the
RITA® contest (for published writers) or the Golden Heart® (for unpublished
writers).
The
competition is fierce for a spot on the final roster of no more than eight
titles per category, from Paranormal (where SFR competes) to Inspirational,
Romantic Suspense to Historical. (Entries are typically capped at 1200 for the
Golden Heart®, for example, and up to 2000 novels are entered in the RITA®.)
On
announcement day, those who have entered sit on tenterhooks, waiting for that
all-important phone call or email to tell them their books have been anointed. Believe
me, it’s a nerve-wracking process! By 2:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time, all the
finalists will have been notified and the list is published on the RWA® website
http://www.rwa.org. (If you want to follow the
craziness live, as Laurie mentioned, the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood is hosting
their party live here.
For
the finalists, the flurry of excitement is just beginning of course. After all,
in the end, there can be only one—winner per category, that is. Those winners
will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at the RWA® National Conference in San
Diego on Saturday, July 16.
In
the meantime, huge congratulations to all the finalists, for both Golden Heart®
and RITA® from all of us here at Spacefreighters! Do your happy dance! Enjoy the
joy and attention as you approach the National Conference in July. You deserve
every minute of it!
Cheers,
Donna
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