Gold!

It's been a rather incredible year. About a year ago, I asked my publisher if we could submit BREEDER to an organization called Literary Classics International Book Awards. For years, people have asked me if I have won any awards on my books, and I've always had to answer no. It costs money to enter contests, and it's a risk, and I've been busy writing and marketing and promoting, and I'd never really gotten around to it. But finally, last year, I thought I might have a chance with BREEDER. So when I asked my publisher, they said okay, and we sent off the manuscript. Well, in September, we received notice that BREEDER had won the Seal of Approval, followed one month later by a Silver medal for YA Science Fiction. When I was in Los Angeles in March for the award ceremony, I decided on a whim that I might as well go ahead and submit The Gateway Chronicles to Literary Classics, as well. Considering when book 6 in the series, The Bone Whistle, was published, I could *just* squeak the series in under the qualifying time period for the 2016 contest. I submitted the series in the last week before the contest deadline without any real expectations of winning, but receiving the Silver award for BREEDER helped my career so much last year, that I thought I might as well try. At the same time, I submitted BREEDER to another organization called Readers' Favorite Book Awards. And now, in the last two months, I have received a five-star seal from Readers' Favorite for BREEDER, the Seal of Approval for The Gateway Chronicles from Literary Classics, and today I found out that The Gateway Chronicles has won Gold for best YA Series of 2016 from Literary Classics! I am just gobsmacked. What an amazing, amazing year. I am encouraged in ways I can't even express as I move forward with my writing endeavors, especially as I continue my agent search. Thank you so much to all of you who have been so loyal to me and my books over the years, and welcome to my new readers! I'm looking forward to seeing what's next!