The last few days have been so exciting. Lori arrived from Calgary on Thursday morning and it felt like I'd known her forever. Nancy, Lori and I went out for a birthday lunch, the first of a round of celebrations, and had a great time together.
I was so happy I didn't even think of checking my mailbox. Good thing since there was a rejection notice in it. Why do editors take seven months to say no?
But never mind that, it was a very minor downer in what turned out to be a great weekend. The conference was informative and fun. But the best thing was meeting other writers. Some of the folk from the Kelley Armstrong board were there and putting faces to the names was great fun. In a lot of ways, the whole event was a case of so many people I wanted to talk to and not quite enough time to do everything.
I don't think I've stayed up until 1 a.m. two nights in a row, for a long long time and I'm still very tired, but I'm so glad I did. Lori and I were treated to birthday drinks and then of course the banquet was held in our honour, or so we chose to think.
We "ate out" the whole time, and since my apartment had already been put in a pristine state there was nothing to do but enjoy ourselves and we did, oh we certainly did.
Lori left Sunday afternoon and I came home still to revved up to relax, or even to make food. I ate out again, but this time it was Tim Hortons in honour of budget retraint.
Monday mornng I got a phone call from Sandi Plewis of the Niagara branch of the CAA. Well, actually I was on the internet and found a message when I disconnected. I had to call back long distance. At this point I started to get that thumping in the chest. Would she be calling ne if there wasn't good news? Probably not, but I couldn't be sure because all the message said was - would I call back. I did, and she told me I'd won second prize in the Ten Stories High contest.
I coudn't tell you what I said to her - it's just a blank but it must have been somewhat coherent. She gave me instructions on how to send the text to her for the printer (msword doc attachment) and requested a bio (5o words or less). She also told me the presentation and author (hey - that's me!) readings will be held September 24th in the afternoon.
After the phone call, I screamed. It's a wonder someone didn't come knocking on my door to see if everything was all right. Euphoria is the word, but even that word seems understated for how I felt. Yes, yes yes! I kept saying that out loud and I danced around the living room.
The bottle of red wine that Lori and I didn't get around to opening got opened and I toasted myself, and Lori, and every other writer who has experienced that unique feeling. Then I contacted everyone who would care enough to congratulate me, starting with Nancy and Lori. The congratulations came pouring in and I soaked them up, even revelled in them.
This morning I still have a quiet glow. Reality has taken me down from the ceiling, but gently.
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