Scattered Jules

I am seriously beyond thrilled and excited, and humbled, and *relieved* to be a 2010 Whitney Awards finalist in the romance category for Cross My Heart!

There were so many great books this year who were nominees, and the list of finalists is inspiring. It’s nice to know I’ve already read well over half of them which means I won’t be as rushed as I read the rest of them. And how cool??? I am a finalist! I’m one of them! Woohoo!  In the world of writing where there are rejections at every level, it’s nice to get good news.

The Whitney committee is made up of some mighty fine people and I can’t even imagine how much work goes into running this thing, but I am incredibly grateful they take that time out of their lives and from their families to make this award possible. It’s a generous offering they give us, and they expect nothing in return. Three cheers for the committee. And for all those judges who worked so hard at getting all those books read. Thanks guys.

In other news, I am a third of the way finished with the second book to the Hazzardous Universe series. Woot! (Mr. Wright says you can’t say woot in public, but I’m sure it’s fine to do as long as you say, “excuse me” afterwards) 

The launch party for Hazzardous Universe is on March 9th–location to be announced. You definitely want to mark the date on the calendar, because  this book is out of this world amazing. I can’t even number how many shades of awesome this book is. Kevin Wasden’s art is fabulous and the writing in the book ain’t half bad either . There will be food and door prizes, and FUN. So come to the launch party–or feel incredibly lame and left out as you sit at home alone. Your choice.

And my daughter has decided on three universities to send applications to. Stanford, Harvard, and BYU Hawaii.

I checked into the tuition and living costs for her options and felt like one of those cartoons. You know . . . the ones where the eyes pop ten feet of their head and horns, sirens, and whistles sound all at once while the jaw drops to the floor. I am in the state of sticker-shock. I’m glad she’s smart and has a perfect 4.0 standing in school because she had BETTER be earning a scholarship or TEN scholarships to pay for this. It’s kind of ridiculously cool to think that a child of mine can consider applying to Harvard or Stanford, and knowing that wherever she applies–she will be accepted because she’s just that freaking amazing. I hope she chooses Harvard, because secretly (or not so secretly since this is a public blog and anyone can read this), I would love an excuse to visit Boston more often. BYU Hawaii is the cheapest of the three and would also be fun to visit. But the girl is majoring in math (seriously! where did this kid come from??) and Stanford and Harvard are better schools for that major. 

It was weird when the last semester grades came in for the Wright children and the lowest GPA was 3.6. For kicks, Mr. Wright and I went through our old journals and scrapbooks and found our own report cards. Yeah . . . we made a pact to never show these to the children until they are all grown and out of college. We’re a little mystified that these kids belong to us. If I didn’t have physical DNA evidence that they belonged to me, I’d swear they were adopted or something because they are so much *more* than I ever was.

Anyway, I am cutting into valuable writing time by blogging so I will end with the list of finalists for the Whitney Awards (please note how nice my name looks on the list ) Congratulations everyone!

Romance:

• Courting Miss Lancaster, by Sarah Eden
• Cross My Heart, by Julie Wright
• The Legend of Shannonderry, by Carol Warburton
• Luck of the Draw, by Rachael Renee Anderson
• Meg’s Melody, by Kaylee Baldwin

Mystery/Suspense:

• Cold As Ice, by Stephanie Black
• Crossfire, by Traci Hunter Abramson
• Murder by Design, by Betsy Brannon Green
• A Time To Die, by Jeffrey Savage
• Wrong Number, by Rachelle Christensen

Speculative:

• Imprints, by Rachel Ann Nunes
• Mr. Monster, by Dan Wells
• Pathfinder, by Orson Scott Card
• The Scorch Trials, by James Dashner
• The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

Youth Fiction—Speculative:

• Fablehaven 5, by Brandon Mull
• Matched, by Ally Condie
• Paranormalcy, by Kiersten White
• The Forbidden Sea, by Sheila Nielson
• The Fourth Nephite, Jeffrey Savage

Youth Fiction—General:

• Glimpse, by Carol Lynch Williams
• Missing in Action, by Dean Hughes
• My Double Life, by Janette Rallison
• The Healing Spell, by Kimberly Griffiths Little
• Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me, by Kristen Chandler

Historical:

• Alma The Younger, by H.B. Moore
• Oh Say Can You See?, by L.C. Lewis
• The Sheen on the Silk, by Anne Perry
• The Silence of God, by Gale Sears
• Trespass, by Sandra Grey

General Fiction:

• Band of Sisters, by Annette Lyon
• Blink of an Eye, by Gregg Luke
• The Cross Gardener, by Jason Wright
• Finding Mercie, by Blaine Yorgason
• Lucky Change, by Susan Law Corpany