Monday, September 28, 2009

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.

25 comments:

Margaret Daley said...

Congratulations again. You did great!!
Margaret

Pamela Tracy said...

You mean I squeaked great LOL. Thanks, Margaret. I'm humbled by who I was up against.

Bonnie Engstrom said...

Pam ~ I'm thrilled for you. You've set the bar for us Arizona writers. Congratulations and blessings. Bonnie E.

Pamela Tracy said...

Bonnie,
Thanks for stopping by. The Arizona writers are going strong. I'm amazed by the talent in our CWOW group.

Debby Giusti said...

Pam,
You were wonderful on stage!!! So poised. I marvelled at how you remembered to thank everyone. And I was thrilled you won!!! Couldn't have gone to a better gal or writer!!!

I'm still excited for you.

BTW, I finally got my camera to download last night and sent the pics to you. Sorry that were so late. I'm digital-camera challenged. One of many problems I have! :)

BOOK OF THE YEAR!!!! Fantastic!!!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations and Blessings. AprilR

tarenn98[at]yahoo[dot]com

Pamela Tracy said...

Debby,
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I sure didn't feel poised. I've stood on many a stage (I wind up chairing more committees that I can count or remember) and I don't remember ever feeling as nervous as I was up there. I'm heading for the pictures now (I'm at work, so they'll load faster)

Pamela Tracy said...

April,
thanks for dropping by. This is a fun place to be.

Carol Cox said...

Congratulations, my friend! You've done Arizona and CWOW proud. : )

Anonymous said...

Pamela---it was so great watching you accept that award. I'm so proud of you!

Pamela Tracy said...

Carol,
Do you realize we've been together a decade, thanks to our beginnings at Barbour. What fun.

Pamela Tracy said...

Lynn,
And isn't the photo with you a treasure. I was lucky to have two such supportive roommates.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Pam. I'm so happy for you and ready to slap you at the same time for underestimating your awesom ability to write:) Your book is terrific!

Jenny said...

You really came off better than you think--didn't hear any squeeks from where I was sitting. Congratulations, my friend.

Lenora said...

Pamela, we're all so proud of you. You were so cute! Congratulations!

Lenora ;)

Project Journal said...

CONGRATULATIONS PAMELA!!!!!!! By the way that was a yell not a squeak : )

I am so happy for you! I have not read your book, but it looks terrific and I'm sure it deserved to win. You are a such a nice, deserving lady : ) I love to read your posts....they're always very entertaining!

Don't we always feel like we did terrible on stage? I was not on stage, but I did have a presentation with a group in AP English today and man did I think it went bad! I have n idea what we got for a grade, but I was not confident in it at all! My cheeks MUST have been bright red by the end : /

Anyway, congrats again! I was SOOOOO excited to see that you won. You're a celebrity now! Lol....
Talk to you soon!
Hannah

Terri Reed said...

Pam, I wish I'd bee there to see that. You had me laughing in my chair reading about your win!!! Congratulations!

Edgy Inspirational Author said...

Pam,

Loved that squeak. It was so suspenseful sounding. :)

Pamela Tracy said...

You know what's even better than winning an award... feeling loved from so many friends. My, my. Kimmi, you can't slap me. You need me to read your next book. I hope you'll read mine.

Pamela Tracy said...

Jenny,
You're used to my squeaks. You hear them every CWOW meeting.

Pamela Tracy said...

Lenora,
When you look up cute in the dictionary, my picture is not there. Now, yours is... most definitely.

Pamela Tracy said...

Terri,
We missed you! I remember thinking when we took the picture, that we needed a tall, drink of water.

Pamela Tracy said...

Hannah,
I'm thinking your AP English presentation went fine. If you're as poised in school as you are here, you're a shoe in.

Pamela Tracy said...

Ah, Michelle, you are such a cheerleader. And only you could come up with a suspenseful and EDGY squeak.

Project Journal said...

Awwww! Thanks Pamela! I have to agree with Terri about your story...you had me laughing so hard in my chair! I'm sure it was great, though : )
Hannah