I Got Picked!!

Two amazing events this past week. 

One, a luck of the draw. The other, based on skill. I'll happily take them both.

A few weeks ago, or maybe months because time passes so darn fast, I wrote a post on not getting picked. I would reference it here, but haven't figured out that blog function yet. Anyway, the gist of the post was, I could use the disappointment of not getting picked to become bitter, or pick myself up and do whatever it took to make myself better. We're talking writing and trying to procure an agent for my novel. Since I love writing and want this novel to shine like the top of the Chrysler Building, I've been working hard to make my writing better.

So, the amazing events ...

The first is connected with #PitchWars (for more info, go here: http://www.brenda-drake.com/pitch-wars/  ) and an amazing group of folks who were mentored last year, better known as the 2016 mentees. Many of them took it upon themselves to mentee some of us participating in 2017's #PitchWars. We were chosen by random drawing to have our query letter and the first ten pages of our manuscript critiqued. Just so happens that I was picked. My mentee/mentor was Ian Barnes, who writes science fiction and fantasy.

The second amazing event was based on writing merit. Back in June, I submitted to another Twitter contest called #pg70pit. The contest is based on the premise that the true talent of an author will show up by page 69 or 70, rather than in the beginning, which can be a little shaky. The entry could be up to 257 words, no more. Several entries were disqualified because they went over. We submitted first, and under each category of Middle Grade, Young Adult, and Adult, seventy entries were randomly chosen.

In the Adult category, I got picked. 

Our two rescue dogs, Paco (left) and Lola. 

They were abandoned to shelters. Then we picked them.

Now came the hard part. 

Four editors read each entry and scored it. The top seven scores out of the seventy would be put through to the agent round. It turns out there were several ties, yielding fourteen entries in the top seven scores. Mine was number eight. Again, I was picked. The shock and disbelief shouldn't have been as great as they were. But when it's the first time someone in a judging position says, this writing has merit and you get to move on to the final round, it's time to celebrate.

I may or may not be picked again. 

I won't focus on that now. I'll focus on this accomplishment, this day, this week. Then move on to my next goal of getting picked for the next thing.

Always trying to improve.

I entered this watercolor in a juried art show three years ago.

It was picked for the show, but didn't win any awards.

However, it was picked to hang at the entrance to the show.