Well, that's a relief!

The first round results of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award were announced yesterday. This is the toughest round, the one where 8000 people get cut from the contest based on a 300 word pitch (sound like querying, anyone??). I was nervous when I got up and opened my computer, but my name was there.

Phewww!

Getting through the first round is kind of a lottery, but from there, it's your real writing that's judged. And this year, the people reading the excerpts seem to have the opportunity to state their preferred genres. Which is, in my opinion, a good thing. Even if they're trying to be objective, if the reader hates fantasy with a passion, they may not rate a well written fantasy excerpt as highly as a less well written piece in a genre they like.

So now I have another month of waiting to see if I make the next cut. Last year I didn't. The year before I did. Different book this time, so we shall see....

In the meantime, I have plenty to keep me busy. I got beta notes back on Boyfriend yesterday, and will need to do a little more revising before I'm ready to query. Plus, I need to write a query, something I've been putting off because I hate them. And I'm about 8K into my new book, Sour Plum. I'm not loving what I've written yet, but I'm sure once I get a little further in, I'll get my momentum happening.

So, the plan is to have Boyfriend query ready by the end of March (with a query and everything) and start sending it out. And to have the first draft of Plum finished by mid-May. And of course to win ABNA....

Do you have plans for your work?