Awesome News From Annette Lyon

Tonight as I was pondering what to write for my blog, I received some great news from my good friend, chocoholic extraordinaire, and wonderful author of LDS historical romances, Annette Lyon. Not only was the news great, but also the story behind it. I asked her if she would mind sharing the story, and she graciously agreed. If you want to see more about her books or sign up for her newsletter, you can read more at www.annettelyon.com.



by Annette Lyon

One morning mid-March I got an e-mail from my older sister Mel with the subject line:

SORTA URGENT: With all your FREE TIME . . .

I was on deadline with my book coming out this fall and had to turn in a set of rewrites to my editor in something like 48 hours and Mel knew it, hence the joke about all my free time.

Curious, I opened the email.

The first line of her message: "Okay, you are SO going to have mixed feelings!"

Turns out Mel had secretly been planning a surprise for me but had run into a snag. She wanted to nominate me under the Fiction category with the Best in State organization, but as she prepared the nomination, she felt that she didn't know enough about the ins and outs of my writing career to adequately describe it.

So on the final day before the nominating deadline, she was turning to me for help. She was right; I SO had mixed feelings. First off, what a rocking cool sister I have! Second, what a cool opportunity! Third, could I really put on a "bragging hat" for the day and try to win this thing? Fourth, did I have the time to brush off my editor for the day and make the midnight deadline?

Mel and I decided to go for it. We ping ponged emails for the rest of the day (Mel's a great writer in her own right, so while I provided her with a lot of information about what I've done over the years, she sure made me sound good!) She emailed off the bundle shortly before the midnight deadline, and then we sat back to wait. I mentally wrote the day off as a fun experiment, went back to my rewrites, and thought, wow, that was sure neat of my sister to do.

It's been over a month. I got generic e-mail today from the Best of State folks saying the results were posted, so I went to the site to see them.

By some quirk of fate--holy cow--I was chosen as the winner for the Fiction category! So on May 19, I get to attend the awards Gala and get a fancy medal. (I'll probably also get to buy some new shoes . . .)

Never would have happened without my sister, so thanks, Mel! I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this and figure out exactly what it means. In the meantime, I've celebrated with chocolate.

Annette Lyon