I WON! (The Writing Excuses Scholarship)

I am still speechless. I have tried to compose this blog post all morning, and I am having difficulty finding the words to say.

I first heard of the Writing Excuses “Out of Excuses” writing retreat in the fall when they announced that they had held back a scholarship position. I had to send an essay and up to three pieces of fiction no more than 10,000 words. You have all read (or at least those of you who have followed my flash fiction this past year) two of the pieces I submitted. One was A Curse or a Blessing, and the other was Nudge. The last was an excerpt of my novel-in-progress. It was a scene nearer to the end (which was just way better writing and required way less editing to make readable...). 8,134 words of my novel actually. Choosing what to send was VERY difficult! With the help of my amazing husband and my wonderful friend, Rebekah Postupak, I narrowed it down. Even 15 minutes before I pushed send I was still deciding.

I had mostly managed to put it out of my mind until yesterday. When I looked at the date I freaked (a bit). I had the Writing Excuses website up all day and refreshed the screen periodically throughout the day. I turned the computer off before I received the email. :( (Of course, I might not have slept last night, had I known...)

Mary Robinette Kowal wrote to me at 9:36 last night. However, I got up early to run this morning and saw that she friended me on facebook!!! That was my first inkling that it could be true. I went for my run before turning on the computer (I know, what was up with that decision??? Well, I really needed to get that run in and I didn't know if I would if I was distracted by the computer. Proud of me? No? Yeah, it was pretty silly because I kept thinking about it during my entire run!) I would like to say I went straight to the computer when I got home, but my youngest wanted some snuggle time and I needed to drink water, so I sat in the chair with her for a bit. It wasn't until my hubby needed me to send him something that I got on the computer. As soon as I thought about getting on the computer, I almost smacked my forehead and ran to the computer. It still wasn't in the realm of believability yet (I'm not sure it is now).

I opened my email (No, I didn't get what my hubby needed first...I had to check this first!), and there was the email that said "Congratulations!..." OH. MY. WORD. I stared, dumbfounded, for a long time. Then I started saying something like, "Oh my gosh! Oh my. Is this real?" over and over again. Hubby looked concerned, then read over my shoulder as I gestured toward the screen. Needless to say, there has been a lot of rejoicing here today. I proceeded to get up and jump up and down and scream. For real. I think I may have been laughing hysterically too. Then I came back to read it again. And again. She asked if I would like to accept the scholarship and I replied, "YES! YES! YES!!!! I accept! THANK YOU! Thank you so much!" ...Yeah...professional. *sigh*

Anyway, I am now officially registered and everything! I'm still shaking (I don't remember when I've had this much adrenaline running though my system for this long...). Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers! I am so blessed and honored and amazed and thankful for this opportunity. My writing is going to get SO MUCH BETTER!!!! Yay! :)

Oh, and here's the official announcement!