So much is going on in my life right now I’ve had to cut down on the frequency I post on my blog. Someday, perhaps, God will grant me enough of an income to hire an assistant, but until that day, I must become better at prioritizing and time management. Meanwhile, it looks like Wednesday will be my posting day for a while. The jury is still out on whether I keep this blog at all, because I intend to revamp my newsletter and work it better–something I told you about back in January. (Hard to believe it’s already March! Next thing you know, we’ll be counting down to Christmas!!!) The primary thing it has going for it is that it’s connected to my Amazon and Goodreads pages and to LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Once I get better at SEO (and content), maybe the blog will finally take off. Or maybe I’ll dump it. Who knows?

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about today. Today, I wanted to share with you my latest excitement—

BLOW THE TRUMPETS! ROLL THE DRUMS!

Ice Melts in Spring is a finalist for the 2019 Selah Award!

The Selah Award Contest occurs annually and is conducted by the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference (BRMCWC). Winners are chosen from several categories, and Ice Melts in Spring is among the list of novellas, since it’s part of the collection A Southern Season.

I’m not up on all the contests for Christian fiction, but I know of a few of them, one I won’t even mention because it’s more like a popularity contest. Your readers—or just people you know, whether they’ve read your work or not—go to the site and vote for your book. I was disappointed to find out that about this particular site and not at all surprised when my submission at the time didn’t even place. I simply do not know that many people.

But the most prestigious awards, along with the Selah, include ACFW’s Carol Award and the grande dame of them all, the Christy Award. (I just recently discovered that the Grace Award, which Give the Lady a Ride won in 2011, is no longer offered. The site is now doing spotlights on novels they love.)

I’ve entered the novella in all of these, and I’m anxious to find out what happens. Ice Melts in Spring is special to me because it’s the first truly Christian fiction piece I’ve ever written (see how I define Christian Fiction here, and for more info, see Writing in Obedience, which I cowrote with former literary agent, Terry Burns). The entire writing experience was different with this one from any of the others, and it may never happen that way again. But I can promise you this—I’ll never forget it. It was as if God gave me my quota of words for the day, every one golden, then I had to quit. If I didn’t, the next day I’d end up deleting whatever extra I’d written. The entire concept of “pushing through” didn’t apply. It was something.

SHAMELESS PLOY:

As I hinted at the top of this post, there is a lot going on in my life right now, much of it I’ll be writing about in my newsletter, along with book reviews and such. Be sure to sign up for Coffee with Linda!

(Yes, I’m shamelessly trying to increase my circulation. 😀 )