oh my god, more coherently

Okay, here’s the more coherent version of oh-my-god. *laugh*

So as many people know, I’ve been working insanely the last several weeks on a site launch. It launched last night at about 6pm. I was still fixing bugs. I was exhausted. And the phone rang, and somebody said, “May I speak with Catherine?”

Now, look. Two sorts of people ask for me by my full name. One sort is bill collectors. I didn’t think it was a bill collector, because none of those have called in a long time. The other sort is solicitors. I was tired, grouchy, burned out and unhappy with life in general. I really. Really. *Really*. Did not want to be hit up for money.

So I almost started to say, just right there at the very beginning, “You know, this isn’t a good time,” and then the woman said, “I’m calling from the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers…”

And my brain turned to goo. Because, you see, they don’t call you unless you’ve made it into the finals. So I KNEW. RIGHT THEN. That my manuscript — Manifest Destiny — had made it to the finals. And that meant an editor or agent was actually going to look at it.

I said something clever like, “Oh my God,” and then repeated that a lot through the course of the conversation. *laugh*

She — Anne — said that my manuscript had *barely* made it to Colorado in time to be entered in the contest, which didn’t surprise me, because of the stupid way the post office runs mail, and also because I didn’t get the damned package together in time to send it out before the Last Possible Moment. So I wouldn’t have been entirely surprised if I hadn’t made it in time for the submissions at all, but evidently I did.

And it was good enough to make the finals.

*falls right over*

The really really *important* thing about this contest, from my POV, was making the finals. Winning would be *great*, but making it to the finals meant making it to an editor or agent’s desk, and that’s the thing you can’t *buy*.

Anne said, “Are you coming to the conference?” I was like, “I am now!” Not only do they announce the winners there, but they also have one-on-one workshops you can have with editors and agents. They (highly) recommend arriving with a complete manuscript — I really need to get writing. O.O Anne also said that many people who don’t actually *win* end up with book contracts anyway, just because their stuff’s been seen, and AAAAAAAAAAH!

Must write. Must write a LOT. :)