Yesterday was one of those rare days when everything went right. I sent off edits to my Carina Press editor in the morning, and got an e-mail just over an hour later saying that not only had she read and approved all my changes, but she was going to send it straight to copy editing. In the publishing world, that’s light speed fast. I’m kind of proud that we didn’t need to do a second round of edits.

Later on I came home after running errands to find two more e-mails from my editors, both asking for new stories from me. That tickled me immensely. I even received the preliminary cover for Deadly Descent yesterday. It’s very hot, and I’ll show it to you as soon as it’s approved.

Last but certainly not least, I found a message on my answering machine from the coordinator of the Kiss of Death RWA chapter’s Daphne du Maurier Award contest. This is pretty cool, because she was actually my cabin mate last year at the Wild Rose Press’s retreat in Texas.

Anyway, she’d personally called me to say that Cover of Darkness was a finalist! The winner will be announced at RWA Nationals in NYC later this month, just like the National Readers Choice Award winner will be. Had I known I would final in these prestigious contests, I would for sure have attended Nationals! I’m so bummed. To think I could have sat with Roxanne St. Claire and Brenda Novak–twice–and schmoozed with NY Times bestselling authors.

I’m thrilled by this, and sales have been going very well for my little series this past month (truly, ever since Osama bin Laden was killed), especially Cover of Darkness. I assume it’s because my hero is a SEAL, but maybe word of mouth has spread from readers who judged my entries for the Daphne? Not really sure, but I’m loving it!