I started my new year in much the same condition as many people. I didn't have a hangover as I hadn't overindulged, but I'd had a very late night and been on too much of a high to get to sleep until gone 4, so I woke up - sort of - in a somewhat slow fashion.
I had one thing I wanted to know before I got on with the day, so I sat at the top of the stairs in my cosy dressing gown, hollering to my husband, who was in the kitchen (there is no hiding place in our house).
"I'll just check," I warbled, when I had his attention, "but we know I won't be there, so then we can just forget it, can't we?"
I turned on my iPad and scrolled down the list. "Nah, just as we thought - I'm not there," I hollered. "I'll just read it through once more, I wasn't really concentrating." And then, I gave a piercing scream that had my husband worried the police might be called; the sort of shriek that would, at the very least, rattle your chandeliers. For, I WAS THERE! I had made the cut to the Awesome Nine! The short list for the 2016 Historical Novel Society Indie Award!
And then I threw myself upon his chest and sobbed all over him.
This is beyond my wildest dreams, beyond my most fevered imaginings. If you see a rainbow-hued bubble bouncing along a few feet above the ground attended by unicorns and making a strange squeaking noise, that will be me. And the finalists won't be announced until May, so I can continue to bounce happily along in my bubble until then.
Wish me luck, everyone. Here's my shiny new logo - isn't it lovely?
And here is the short list itself - for which I can't add a link for as my techy skills are not what I should like them to be; you'll have to copy and paste it, sorry. https://historicalnovelsociety.org/hns-awards/2016-hns-indie-award-shortlisted-titles/
