I feel as though I have won the lottery! Seriously, I never win anything and in the last 2 weeks I have won four — no, make that five–(NOTE: I just got an email saying I won another book!!) books! FIVE! Seriously!!! I feel like I have just been handed a four leaf clover, a lucky rabbit’s foot, and have had a truck load of salt dumped over my shoulder.

Here is the low down on what I have won….

1. Before The Season Ends by Linore Rose Burkard. I won it on Romance Writers on the Journey site. It has great interviews and book reviews.

2. Walk With Me by Becky Melby and Cathy Wienke. I won it on Margaret Daley’s blog , a great site for author interviews and reviews.

3. Love Finds You in Humble Texas by Anita Higman. I won it on A Christian Writer’s World, also a great place for author interviews and reviews.

4. I Do Again by Jeff and Cheryl Scruggs. I won it on Melanie Writes-Fiction and Book Reviews. Great blog.

5. The Proposal by Margaret Evans Porter. I won it on Word Wenches, a historical fiction lovers site.

And for the grand finale (and I know you will gasp, as I did, when I read the news):

I won a 15 page critique of my WIP by Kaye Darcus, author of Stand In Groom. Kaye Darcus has a great site that has many articles on writing that are just fabulous! She had a series on Becoming a Writer and if you commented on the articles, you were put in a drawing for a 15 page critique!

AND I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What is so amazing, is that I waited until the last day, until the end of the day, and wrote my comment and posted it fast so that I would not chicken out. It was a terrible post, fraught with typos and bad grammer, and I cringed and walked away from the computer with my hands hanging low in embarrassment. But somehow, I won. Luck of the draw.

She said I could send her a synopsis of my WIP…a one page synopsis. Well, I could not get it to one page. It was 1-1/2 pages. I just need to learn to chop, chop, chop, I suppose. I am nervous about sending someone my work, because I feel that I am being so presumptuous in attempting to write anything.

Who am I to try my hand at novel crafting. I am nothing but an avid reader, a lover of books. For some reason, though I want to pen stories that will bring someone else the joy that reading has brought me. To craft a great read would be the ultimate high for me.

So, I look at my WIP as my practice book, the book where I learn how to write. A stepping stone, if you will. I hope to learn alot from this critique, because I know it will be covered in red from all the mistakes I have made. But that is good, because I really do want to learn.

How excited am I?????? TOTALLY EXCITED!!!!!!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S TO ME!