Blue Ribbon – Shelf Unbound

So you were all on the collective edge of your seat this whole weekend, right?  Just waiting breathlessly for my big announcement, your imagination running wild with possibilities: is she going to come to my house and make me a pie?  Is she going to try another giveaway that no one is interested in?  Is she finally going into rehab to deal with her devastating Ben & Jerry’s addiction?

No.  You’re all wrong.  Suckers.  No pie for you.

It turns out that yours truly has won the grand prize in the Shelf Unbound competition for best self-published book.  The Last Death of Tev Chrisini will be featured in the December/January issue of the magazine. I also win a year of free ad space and some pretty serious bragging rights, considering there were almost 800 entries.

This is the first time I’ve won anything since a French language poetry contest in 11th grade, so I’m pretty psyched.  Like, seriously psyched.  Besides the fact that I might actually make a few bucks off the deal, this is my first taste of recognition from anyone in the established industry, and it’s hugely validating, motivating, and generally squee-inducing.

I won’t keep on gushing and gibbering for too long, but suffice to say I’m very honored and extremely excited.  Shelf Unbound is a beautifully presented digital publication, and the editor said some very nice things about my work when I spoke to her last week (she even bought a paperback), which I really appreciated.  This is definitely a Good Thing, and a leap forward for me in many ways.

So I’d like to thank the Academy, etc., etc., but I don’t have time because I need to finish the first draft of SZK so I can get it out there while I’m still making the tabloids.  But really.  You’re all awesome and I want to say thanks for your support thus far, and for your continued involvement which gives me the confidence to keep plugging away day after day.

This post is brought to you by the letter squee.