Thursday, January 17, 2008

Celebrating the Whitney Way

I fully meant to write about the book club I attended recently, posting a question or two that they posed and giving answers to them.

But then something fun happened, so I'm bumping those posts to next week.

On Tuesday, January 15, the finalists for the first annual Whitney Awards were announced.

And I'm one of them!

(Visit the complete list all the finalists here. Scroll all the way to the bottom to find the Historical novel finalists . . . and Spires of Stone!)

For a full explanation on the Whitneys, visit the official website. But a nutshell version is that they're aimed at recognizing excellence in fiction written by LDS authors who strive to improve their work. The award can go to any writers who are LDS, regardless of what market they write for.

It's is named after Apostle Orson F. Whitney who had the vision of the Latter-day Saints some day creating literature that would "reach the heavens," that some day we'd have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own. (Not that we've reached that point, but it's a target to strive for.)

There are five genre categories, plus awards for best novel by a new author and novel of the year.

The great news is that I made the cut to the finals in my genre. The bad news is that three of the four books I'm up against in my category are also up for Novel of the Year. That is mighty intimidating company to keep! (But hey, I'll consider it a compliment!)

More good news: H. B. (Heather) Moore and Michele Paige Holmes nabbed two nominations each. (Congrats again, ladies!) Our little critique group did pretty well for itself!

The Whitney Awards Gala will be immediately following the 5th Annual LDStorymakers writing conference on March 22. The public can come, but tickets are going fast, so if you want to be there, buy yours soon. (The Whitney site has a link for ticket purchases.)

Next week I'll get back on track (really, I will!), but for now, chocolate is in order.

And since my parents are visiting from Finland right now (another HUGE cause for celebration!), I actually have some of my favorite chocolate bar in the world hiding in my night stand.

A huge thanks to all to those who read Spires of Stone and thought it worth nominating. I appreciate it more than you know!

8 comments:

Marcia Mickelson said...

Congratulations, Annette! Good luck.

Stephanie Humphreys said...

That's so exciting. Good luck.

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

So much to celebrate indeed! So happy for you! I loved Spires of Stone and you certainly deserve to be in the finals.

Luisa Perkins said...

Go-o-o-o-o, Annette! I'm so thrilled for you and for the other nominees!

Jenn said...

The great news is that I made the cut to the finals in my genre. The bad news is that three of the four books I'm up against in my category are also up for Novel of the Year. That is mighty intimidating company to keep! (But hey, I'll consider it a compliment!)

on the other hand, amazing work to be in that category! Fabu!!

Janette Rallison said...

congrats! You rock!

Unknown said...

I thought Spires of Stone was a great book. And I'm happy to be one up on the reading list for the next four weeks.

Julie Wright said...

Of course you are one of them! You are brilliant. Spires of Stone was a great read and so much fun! Congratulations!!!!!!!

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