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!