Ever since attending my first RWA national conference in 1997 and watching the awesome award ceremony in Orlando, I’ve dreamed of being a Rita finalist. A year later, I had an opportunity to touch a Rita statuette. As I did so, I wondered what it would be like to win one of my own.

Last year, the book of my heart, MULBERRY PARK, was a Rita Finalist, and I walked several inches above ground for months. I couldn’t help wondering if it was a fluke, though. Had I somehow lucked out when I’d gotten the nod?

When the winner’s name was called in Washington D.C., I wasn’t the least bit disappointed that it wasn’t mine. Well, maybe just a wee bit. But from the end of March until the last Saturday night in July, I felt honored beyond belief.

This year, when I got the call that ENTERTAINING ANGELS also finaled in the Rita, I was thrilled. And I began to realize that it might not be a fluke. That maybe I really could create stories that touched both readers and my peers.

Being a Rita finalist is one of the best things that ever happened to me as a writer. And I have no doubt that, no matter who gets to take the statuette home on July 31, I’ll still feel like a winner. Judy Duarte
http://www.judyduarte.com/