I Won Book of the Year for Short Romantic Suspense!

Pamela Tracy here. Yeah, the one in the middle holding the plaque. (I'm standing between my roommates Lynn Rush and Avily) Ya know, it's hard to toot your own horn. It really is. But, if you can't say, "Hey, I did won this award for romantic suspense!" on the romantic suspense blog, where can you say it?" Here's the story. Last year, Broken Lullaby came out. It's the third in the what I call the "Broken Bones" trilogy. At the end of the year, I entered it in a few contests. The two contests I'm most excited about are the RITA, and the BOTY. This last weekend, I went to Denver to the conference hosted by the American Christian Fiction Writers. They are a fabulous group; I've belonged for quite awhile. Anyhoo, my book was a finalist. Man, was I up against some most excellent (line taken from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure) authors. I was up against Margaret Daley, Dana Mantink, Robin Caroll, and Debby Giusti. Sitting in the audience, looking at my plate, I knew, without a doubt, I would not win (I'd read all of the other books, you see). During the ceremony, as other winners gave their thanks, I did have enough forethought to jot names on the back of my dinner ticket (The size of a bus pass). I wrote Harlequin, Tina James, Steve Laube, God. Then, Ronie K. got behind the mic. Our pictures flashed on a big screen, and she read the first line. That's how ACFW announces the winner. They read the first line. So, here's the line. "I did not kill my wife." I'm sitting there, thinking, "Hmmm, I wrote a line exactly like that. For the book out now, but not for Broken Lullaby." Then, they read my name. OH WOW, I sent the wrong first line! OH WOW, I won!!! I tripped to the stage. Brandilyn Collins tried to give me the award. I'm pretty sure she finally pried open my hands and inserted plaque. I went behind the mic. Hmmm, my glasses are still on the table so the little piece of paper I'm holding means nothing. I can't see a word. I squeak (literally squeak... there was definitely a squeaking sound warbling through my acceptance speech - I was helpless to make it go away) out a thanks (forgot husband - don't tell) and then I went down the stairs where a woman waited to take my picture. I'm pretty sure she gave some directions, but finally she walked over and physically turned me so I was facing the camera and not the wall, and snap... the winner is photographed. Once that was done, I walked right out of the auditorium ((Okay, I'm pretty sure I looked like Forrest Gump as he headed off the football field and to the locker room.) In the atrium, Rhonda Gibson handed me her phone (she'd been calling home yelling She'd WON) so I could call my husband and squeak (I can't yell; only squeak) that I won. Then I went to the bathroom and cried. You know, besides thanking my husband, I needed to thank all the Love Inspired Suspense Writers. The only reason I was able to win such an award is because of the books all the LIS writers put out. They've built the line, built the readership. The imprints of all the LIS writers surround me. So, there's the tale of this years BOYT winner for short romanctic suspense. Oh WOW.