The Wait

The calls go out to the Golden Heart finalists this Friday. I had managed not to think about this looming deadline until early last week. Even now it keeps slipping my mind and then pops back in at the oddest of times, followed by a rush of butterflies.

I'm excited, but it's a strange kind of excitement. The kind that comes when you don't know how something will turn out. You have hopes it will go one way, but you are bracing yourself for the inevitability that it is probably more likely to go the other. There are only so many top spots available, and so many good writers all vying for them. You desperately want to grab one of them, but you're one among many and the whole thing is completely out of your hands. It's like your free falling and you're not sure if you're going to land in a net and soar back up, or hit the hard ground with a resounding splat. Either way, I'm glad I entered. If nothing else, the deadline allowed me to finish The Outlaw Bride once and for all.

By the weekend, I'll know one way or the other, and then go from there. Best of luck to the rest of you who have entered - here's hoping we all get the call we want.