The Genesis award was announced last. And my category was second-to-last. Which means I didn't eat much of the steak dinner or cheesecake dessert.
About halfway through, maybe somewhere along the BOTY awards, I thought of the perfect thank-you line. I wanted to win so I could use that line.
Nononononono! I jinxed myself by thinking of that line. Go away, line. Get out of my head.
Finally, finally, when I thought my stomach had been reconstructed into a jungle gym for five-year-olds, they got to the Contemporary Women's Fiction award.
They announced third place. Not me. Then second place. Not me.
(Side note: attending an award's ceremony when you're a finalist [or nominee] is great cardio work-out. My heart out-paced and out-pounded Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.)
Not hearing my name in third or second place must've meant I didn't place. Third place, I thought, was possible. Even less did I think second place. So when they said my name for first place, I convinced myself I misunderstood. I'd heard my own name out of desire. Gina turned to me and said, "You won!"
Then I believed it.
I shimmied to the front, climbed the stage, and delivered my perfect line:
"I'd like to thank the voices in my head and my imaginary friends." Come one, it's a perfect line for a writer's conference, isn't it? Give me some props. "And especially my husband, who besides being the sexiest man in the world, told me I should do this."
Then I walked off. First the wrong direction. They had to point me in the correct direction.
So I'm a Genesis winner. For five minutes I was a celebrity. Of course, the next morning at breakfast, I was invinsible again.
What else from ACFW?
I met Gina (pronounced Jenna) Hernandez. This girl is smart, funny and sassy. We talked writing, books, theology, life for hours on end. I found someone I could be catty with.
Not that I'm catty. No. Never.
I got to know D'Ann Mateer better. This woman is smart, encouraging and amazing. (I met a lot of smart people.)
Gina, D'Ann, and I should have a theme song: "Good
morning, good morning. We've talked the whole night through. Good morning, good morning to you." Time? That became meaningless in our conversation.
(Do not judge us by this picture. It was the last morning of the conference. We probably had a combined eight hours of sleep. When I say combined, I mean adding together all nights for all of us.)
Friday night, after we sat in Friday's for oh, seven hours, we thought it might be time to leave. We'd been sitting next to large windows that faced their veranda. As we walked out, some guy who apparently had been on the veranda asked us not to go. They'd been window watching, no, window shopping.
Ah, yes.
I also met J. Mark Bertrand, who is not nearly as scary as I thought he'd be. We conversed about postmodernism, philosophy, and, of course, writing. A lot about writing. The man is incredibly well-read and well-thought about what he's well-read.
So that was the conference.
Ecstatic for you!
Warmest congratulations!
You shine girl, shine Him, shine Him, shine Him!
Can's stop smiling,
All's grace,
Ann
I know I'm a little late to the party . . . but I wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!! So awesome!
So I'm a little late to the party...However, that in no way dulls my excitement for you. Just wish I could have seen you win it in person.
Awesome job, Girlfriend!
Jen
congratulations heather. i have a feeling one of these days i'm going to be saying, "hey, she actually used to leave comments on my blog. can you believe that?" wow again!
THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!! I feel so bad for being behind in my blog reading. :) And, yes, it's a perfect line for a writers conference. Way to go, girl!
Besides the fact that you mentioned the award before mentioning how AWESOME it was to meet me, that post summed up the weekend perfectly! Of course, I'm worried that sounds a little catty.
I think your post can be best illustrated using an egg analogy . . .
YAY!!!!!!!!!! You Go Girl! I just saw a note from Robin bragging on how awesome you are (which we already knew) and wanted to come over and celebrate for a minute with you. You Go Girl!!!
xoxo,
Melissa in Mel's World
PS - I have voices and imaginary people in my head too, that's why I like living in Mel's World. Hee Hee!
Maybe someday my imaginary friends could meet yours.
On second thought, that could be catastrophic.
Congrats from one Heather to another!
Congrats!! So proud of you!!
Hey Heather, I just popped over here because Robin was bragging on you on Twitter. And turns out Mark is a friend of ours from Houston! Small world! And no, he is not scary at all :) His wife Laurie is even less not scary!
How fun that you know them! I think he intimidated me b/c he's so brilliant. I don't think him any less brilliant after speaking with him (in fact, the opposite), but realized how down-to-earth and human he is all the same.
And Robin was bragging about me? That makes me feel special! I haven't had much Twitter time today, so I didn't realize that!
Congrats again, Heather. I am very proud of you. It was fun rooming together.
D
Woohoo! I am so, so proud, and can't wait to take my picture with the Genesis award winner on Wednesday!!
Wow! What did you win beside the plaque? I hope you get lots of attention from editors and agents. Way to go!
That's so funny you said that about J. Mark Bertrand. He always has such an intense look about him when I see his picture at Master's Artist blog. I'd be totally intimidated by him in real life. (Which you know due to my post earlier today. *sigh*)
that is awesome.
Picture me taking a humble bow. With coattails. You gotta have coattails.
Wonderful news! So happy to hear you had such a fabulous trip!
That is fantabulous news! You rock, girl!! We always knew you were destined for stardom! :)
I'm sure it's well-deserved, and we'll only be seeing more.
Congrats!!
I'm not surprised...just really, really happy for you. Great job and congrats again!
Mike
I was wondering what that cheering in my head was all about. Guess we're on the same wavelength, Heather. Kudos and handclaps from the land of many voices.
Heaaaaaaattttttthhhhhhheeeeeeerrrrrrrrr~~~~~~~
I'M SO STINKIN' PROUD OF YOU!!! CONGRATULATIONS!
What a wonderful stroke of encouragement for your years of effort! It sounds like you were twinkling in your element, and by the smile on your face, there's little room for doubt.
So pleased your journey include this spot of confirmation; it's a small reminder that you do indeed "have what it takes".
Love you!
:)
Love your big smile in that picture! :)
Also, my best to the voices and friends (both real and imaginary) and your future-People-magazine-cover-candy husband.
Love,
Jeanne
Wow! Way to go, Heather!!! Um....what IS a Genesis award?
Sorry. In my excitement I forgot to explain it. Genesis is sponsored by ACFW. It's for unpublished writers. You submit in your category the first 15 pages of your novel and a one page synopsis. It goes through 2 rounds of judging. The finalists are judged by agents and editors.
And you get to be on stage.
I love being on stage. It's the Broadway star in me. ;)
Too cool, Heather. Congrats!
Congratulations!! :)
Congratulations on your Genesis win. I enjoyed reading your entertaining story about the awards ceremony.
I LOVED your winning speech! Great job, and soooo excited for you. We needed so much more time at ACFW to really connect with everyone we wanted to, but glad I got to see your smiling face and experience your moment!
that's amazing & exciting news, heather!! congratulations & i loved your speech. :o)
i learned about writer's conferences & the lack of sleep a few months ago. oy vey. you look rather fabulous for your share of that 8 hours over how many days??
woot woot!! :oD
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