Writing is a difficult, although wonderful career. Ideas are the easy part, putting the story down in a way that will connect with the readers is the hard part.
Honestly, sometimes I have no idea why one book is better received than another. I always put my heart and soul into any story I write, but sometimes the readers just don’t respond the same way. It’s a mysterious thing why one book resonates, and another doesn’t.
Yesterday my story Crashing Upwards won the Lambda for Gay Romance. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. It’s not that I don’t think I can write, although I have those days, it’s more that I was flabbergasted that my story must have stood out from the other wonderful nominees to the judges. Somehow my little creation won. That is mind boggling to me. But absolutely amazing and humbling.
I wasn’t able to attend the award ceremony, so I watched the live tweets on Twitter. I was messaging with two of my closest pals about the show, while also writing in between reading tweets. When my cover came onto Twitter with the announcement I’d won? I almost fainted. lol I was trying to type to my pals, who were congratulating me, but I seemed incapable of hitting the right buttons. It didn’t help any that my dog was excited because I was excited, and he was jumping all over me. It was quite a scene.
I can’t tell you how grateful I am that the judges saw merit in my work. I cringe when I think of the audience watching my video acceptance speech. It was pretty horrible, lol, but I didn’t think anyone would ever see it!
Maybe authors should need this sort of validation, but we do. Winning a wonderful award like this just make me want to do so much better. I want to be sure I’m always improving my craft, and telling stories that touch people. I truly feel we can continue to spread acceptance for our LGBTQ community through our stories. I’m honored to be a part of that fight.
Again, thank you to the Lambdas, judges, and all the nominees in every category. I’m humbled to be in your company.
S.C.