Golden Heart scores were sent to entrants this week.

All of my writing loops are full of posts lamenting the inconsistency in Golden Heart scores. That doesn’t surprise me because judging writing is so subjective. Some judges don’t appreciate a strong voice or an inventive storyline. Some cannot stomach first person or don’t like POV shifts, etc… And to be perfectly frank, some judges feel the pinch of jealousy when reading work that might be stronger than their own. Several writers are licking their wounds and grumbling about the nature of judging in the contest. I suppose I could gripe as well. After all, I didn’t final. But I choose to take another tack.

Let me preface this by saying the only scores I have received are for Murphy’s Law, and I might well still be entirely peeved by the scores I get for The Reluctant Amazon. But for now, I am taking the glass half full mind set. It’s better for my blood pressure.

Murphy’s Law fared much better than I expected, considering the beginning is highlighting a hero much in need of salvation. While he’s not a villain by any stretch, he is a bit of a spoiled and conceited ass. In contests, the story has done very well, hitting the finals most of the times I entered it. The times it didn’t final were almost always because the judge didn’t like Seth. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, the story starts with a quote about redemption so the reader/judge knows the story arc will include “saving” Seth Remington.

Needless to say, I expected the same sort of judging in Golden Heart. I was surprised. I received a perfect score from one judge and most of the rest were very high. I was well above the cut-off for the top quarter, and I imagine the number put me much closer to finaling than I had anticipated. So I am content. And at this point, I don’t intend to enter the Golden Heart again.

Hopefully because I will be eligible for the Rita instead.

I had a rude awakening this morning.

Actually, most of the midwest had the same rude awakening. I was lying in bed, postponing getting up as long as I possibly could. The hubby was yelling — for the third time, I think — for me to get my sorry behind out of bed. Typical morning in the James household.

My Schnauzer, Dr. Carter, was quite content to sleep next to me. I was out sick yesterday, and he probably assumed we could both sleep in again. He suddenly started shaking. My first thought was that he would get sick. Dr. Carter has a sensitive tummy, and I’d snuck him a chicken nugget at dinner the night before. So I figured I was going to reap what I’d sown. But then the cockatiel, Peanut, started going nuts in his cage. The hubby was trying to settle Peanut down when… whammo!

The bed started moving, and I could literally hear the walls shaking and shifting. In my sleep-hazed mind, I shouted something brilliant at the hubby like, “What the hell?!?” The tremors lasted a good ten seconds.

The irony is that I have been a bit paranoid about going to San Francisco for RWA nationals in July because I was afraid of an earthquake.

But I didn’t even have to leave Indiana to get one.

I finally won a contest — two actually.

My local RWA chapter (IRWA) decided to have a contest just for us. It was actually one of my Critters (Thanks, Judith!) who made the suggestion. We are one of the few chapters who do not allow our own members to enter our national contest. The reasoning behind it is sound. Even if everything is on the up-and-up, as I’m sure it is with most contests, I think it smacks of a “fix” when a chapter member finals in her own chapter’s contest. Even if there are no names on the entries, you cannot convince me that chapter members aren’t aware of what their sisters are writing. To prevent that kind of favoritism, we do not allow IRWA members to enter the Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest.

That doesn’t prevent us, however, from wondering how we would do in the IGO. It also doesn’t allow us to get comments that might help us improve our stories. Judith suggested we have an in-house switching of manuscripts and that we use our fantastic score sheet criteria to help each other. She brought it up again at retreat, and by the time we were all done discussing it, we had decided to turn it into a contest called the WEGO. Entries were submitted in February, and at yesterday’s chapter meeting, placings were announced.

I was so shocked and very, very pleased. I won two categories. Murphy’s Law won Single Title and The Reluctant Amazon won Paranormal. The reason I’m so pleased is because I think my competition was steeper here than I’ve faced in other contests. I was up against published authors whom I respect and admire. To turn out on top was so surprising.

I offer my thanks to my judges. I went through their comments and scoresheets last night, and they all offered me such insightful and helpful comments. I am never content with my work, and I am always on the lookout on how to improve. All of my judges gave me things that will make the stories stronger. I hope I was able to help the entries I judged half as much.

So I’m content today. I have my two little red dress pins that were given as the “prize,” and I am happy to know my other contest finals weren’t flukes. I’m also horribly proud of my beloved Critters. We won four of the five categories. I’m truly blessed to be a part of such a talented group of women.

And I finally won!

All week, I’ve pretended I’m a full-time writer.

I’ve spent most of Spring Break working hard on Faith of the Heart, and I’ve also been watching a bunch of my oldies-but-goodies DVDs. I’m sure it’s not a huge surprise to anyone who looks over the titles on my shelves that most of them involve romance. Not all are traditional romances, although I have to admit I have more than my share — Pride and Prejudice being my absolute positive favorite. This week I’ve watched Cinderella (the 1957 musical version with Julie Andrews in all its glorious black and white), Guys and Dolls, and Shakespeare in Love. But I also watched several shows I consider to be romances. They just happen to have other things happening as well. The Music Man. Bridget Jones’s Diary. The Scarlet Pimpernel (the 1982 Anthony Andrews miniseries).

The one that has drawn so much of my attention is Enchanted. I drool at the notion of ever writing anything that witty, that charming, and that romantic. Such a simple premise too. Fantasy becomes reality. It just goes to show a good story doesn’t require an overblown plot to succeed. It needs to be plausible — even when a fantasy. It needs to include realistic and loveable characters. And it needs to call to the heart. In my typically low self-esteem way, I usually assume none of my stories have all three elements. But prepare yourselves! For once, I’m going to brag on my own work.

After my brilliant on-line partner helped me give Murphy’s Law a thorough polish, I hadn’t looked at it even once. This week, I read it. I didn’t critique it, I read it. I wasn’t looking for errors. I wasn’t trying to improve it. I just wanted to experience it like any other reader. And I was thrilled! For the first time in my “career,” I felt like a real writer. Someday, I promise this story will be behind a gorgeous cover, sitting on a shelf, waiting for someone to discover the romance inside.

Ah, but Spring Break has come to an end. It’s time for me to go back to being a teacher and put the laptop aside. I’ll still sneak away for clandestine meetings with it on the weekends, hoping my husband doesn’t get jealous. He’ll be conducting his own love affair because the horses start racing in Indiana again tonight.

But I’ll miss this week of being a full-time writer.

I have been blessed.

Sometimes it’s important to sit back and look at what you’ve got instead of dwelling on what you think is missing. Now that I have some time to myself (Spring Break — a true blessing in and of itself), I’ve been thinking about my writing, which also means I’ve been thinking about my life. It’s not like I can separate the two anymore. What my self-examination showed me was just how lucky I really am.

I have met so many wonderful people! My beloved Critters. My friends at IRWA. My online critique partner. (Who, by the way, I finally saw face to face for the first time today!) Each and every one of these people have enriched my life. I’ve also been able to share my stories with my mother and my sister, and I think we’ve all grown closer as a result.

I am keeping my brain sharp. I had always worried about empty nest, figuring once my kids were gone, I’d just sit and veg out in front of the television. Nope. Not me! I’m constantly turning plots around in my head like some literary version of a Rubick’s cube. As I always tell my psych students, the brain is a use it or lose it sort of thing. Gotta keep those neurons up and running, and writing does that for me.

I have discovered I’m more than what I thought I could be. With the exception of my favorite English teacher (Love you, Mrs. Dewey!), who would have ever known Sandy James could write a book? Well, seven books actually. So far.

So whenever people ask me why I write, how I could possibly “waste” so much time working on something that might never have a payoff, I have a good answer now.

Because I’ve already had a payoff.