Fun Stuff and Thank-you

A couple of really fun things that I have to tell you about:

First, the Goodreads M/M Romance group announced the winners in their Member Choice Awards last night. My stories had been nominated a mind-boggling 15 times (out of 41 categories) and I am truly grateful to everyone who put one of my books on those lists. There were so many great books out this year, it was fun to be placed among them.

And then I actually won some awards:

First Place in Short Story 25 pages or 15K words or less (book) for Like the Taste of Summer !

Third Place in Best Debut Book for Life Lessons behind Hot Head by Damon Suede and Bear Otter and the Kid by TJ Klune

Third Place in Mystery/Whodunit (genre) for Breaking Cover behind Come Unto These Yellow Sands by the amazing Josh Lanyon and All She Wrote also by Josh Lanyon

Third Place in Coming Out (theme) also for Breaking Cover behind Bear Otter and the Kid by TJ Klune and The Locker Room by Amy Lane

I am stunned by the company I am keeping and grateful for all the votes and recognition. But the other great part was I realized that I could cheer for most of the winners knowing that I had chatted with them, or shared commentary on Goodreads. These were people I actually knew, some even GR friends, getting recognized for their work. It was very cool, and made me appreciate the community that Goodreads, for all our ups and downs, has fostered between authors and readers. The announcement chat was a blast (and I actually followed it – not having ten conversations going at once helped. I don’t usually type fast enough for chat, especially since I have to look at the keys *blushes* – yes even after a million words plus in all those books I’ve written.) It was a great evening.

Enormous congratulations to all the other winners, and to the nominees. Being selected for recognition by our readers is the best feeling there is.

The other fun thing is that I’ve agreed to do a blog-radio interview. In my Kira Harp persona, I’m going to be on Dellani’s Tea Time, with author Jo Ramsey and editor Ralph Gallagher, promoting the Helping Hands line of Young Adult GLBTQ books from Featherweight Press. It will be live at 4 PM (East.) Monday Jan 9th, but available for playback anytime after that. So if you’re curious whether I use as many big words in person, or sound Minnesotan despite my Canadian roots, check it out. Proceeds from the Helping Hands stories go to great LGBT Charities, and the stories themselves will add to the GLBTQ literature available to young adults. I’m excited to be part of this project, and grateful to Dellani for giving us this promotional opportunity.