Whoot!

Well, all those queries to all those agents has finally paid off!

Don't get all excited and congratulatory though...I didn't score an agent.

I did, however, score a sparkly $50 Barnes & Noble gift card for my year-long quest for publication at my local RWA chapter's holiday party. I can do some seriously good shopping with $50. The reward-style Momentum Award is new to our chapter this year and still being tweaked. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time--and isn't that what publishing is all about?

Fifty dollars was the second place gift and awarded on a points system, with points being given for a variety of beneficial writing practices: attending a workshop, reading a book on writing craft, querying an editor or agent--each of those was worth five points. And I tallied--I've queried 35 agents this year--all but one of them via computer (read, no postage). So I had some points. I didn't quite dominate as I'd hoped, nor did I get the 1st prize $75 gift card. But the $50 is just fine with me.

And everyone liked my Spinach Queso too! We all decided it was a healthy vegetable alternative and could even be poured over turkey at Thanksgiving.

And I started a new manuscript! Yay!