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Some time between 3am and 6am my time, far far away in Santa Barbara USA, at a Gala Awards Celebration, someone announced that 'Song at Dawn' had won the Dan Poynter Global Ebooks Award for Historical Literature Fiction (medieval) category. I'll certainly take a look at the other winners to choose books to read myself, as I judged another category and was very impressed by some of them.
Of course I wasn't physically there. Some of you will remember my previous misses at attending Awards Ceremonies. At least this time I knew it was too far away, too expensive a trip, and too costly in family time to even think about going. My writer friends tell me how wonderful - and useful - it is to attend such events. If I were rich and alone, maybe I would swan round international literary events, dispensing wisdom. And hitching up my new dress which would forever be slipping, wiping my runny mascara (from all those tearful acceptance speeches) and feeling vaguely out of place and foolish. Waiting for the wisdom to arrive so I could dispense it. Maybe I'm just not an Award Ceremony person.
Instead, I'll probably watch the slideshow of the Global Ebooks Awards, when it comes online, and imagine how I'd have swept up to the stage looking all glamorous. I can always sit and gloat over my 'winner' sticker. It's cute but the jacket really wasn't designed to take a sticker. Do big publishers always leave space in the cover design for the prizes? For the killer review quotes? Every time I see white space on a jacket now, I think 'Hah! S/he didn't win anything, did s/he!'
I didn't make it to the USA but the Internet is a wonderful thing and the USA is coming to me, in the form of author and Editor J.T. Hinds. Yes, the Impeccable Editor herself is visiting me, my writing group and my little French village. It won't be a big event but we've planned a joint workshop to give feedback on work to local people of all nationalities who write in English. There won't be many there but already I'm getting such enthusiasm about the event. 'The Impeccable Editor's Guide to Writing' is en route to publication and I'll let you know when it comes out. You can get a preview, with free advice from a professional writing coach and editor, here
Otherwise, the heat here is brain-frying and I'm cutting myself some slack from writing and photography to cater for summer visitors and chill out with the dog. With regard to the new novel, I'm starting to sound like Bon Jovi 'Half-way there and living on a prayer' but the more I hear from readers that they love 'Song at Dawn', the more determined I am to get on with 'Bladesong', the follow-up.