Wearing The Tiara...

I have many flaws, but the thing my husband says he wishes he could change most is that I tend to brush off successes in the overall push for perfection. And since perfection isn’t possible, I always feel like I’m failing. I have trouble appreciating my accomplishments, and usually say something silly like “Yes, but I still have to do X and Y before I can get to Z.” I never just enjoy the moment.

So, one of the things I’m working on is to celebrate little victories.

To that end, I will tell you about “The Tiara”. Early on in my critique group, we decided that we should do something to reward our milestones on the path to publication. We were all pretty new to the craft, so we decided we would celebrate all manner of things: first novel completion, contest finals, requests, first submissions, etc.,--all the way up first and subsequent sales.

So, off to Walgreen’s I went, and purchased the $3.98 plastic princess tiara with matching jewelry set and a bunch of big fat stuffed plush roses (it was around Valentines Day, so there were plenty of romance type things to choose from—a great time to buy things for promotions, btw).



Whenever a member hits a writing related achievement, she gets to wear The Tiara all through critique group. We make cards, take pictures…it’s great fun. We’ve celebrated some fabulous triumphs, most recently Fran Abram’s 2009 Emily final (with request for a full) and Katy Madison’s 2-book contract with Avon.

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that my manuscript, “Sweet Enemy”, is a finalist in the SpacecoasT Authors of Romance’s “Launching a Star” contest. I was very excited when I got the call, as I’d been beating myself up about my writing for a few weeks. Soon, however, my exhilaration wore off, and I started the “Yes, buts”. I won’t bore you with all of my negative self-talk, but I did subject my poor critique group to it and let me tell you, I got a lovely but firm e-mail butt-kicking from my friend (and fabulous author) Katy Madison. I’ll spare you that, too , but in a nutshell she told me to BE HAPPY. And she signed off with:

“And you are absolutely wearing The Tiara”.

So, here I am, wearing The Tiara.



Sunday night, I found out that “Sweet Enemy” is also a finalist in the Romance Writers Ink’s “Where the Magic Begins” contest. I am over the moon (cliché, I know!). It looks like I’ll be wearing The Tiara again on Wednesday. (Don’t worry...no more pics).

It is an honor to be among the incredibly talented finalists in the historical categories of “Launching a Star” and “Where the Magic Begins”. Therefore I am going to celebrate it and leave my “Yes, buts” behind.

So, let’s use this comment section as The Virtual Tiara…go ahead, toot your horns! I want to hear any and all tiara worthy things you’ve accomplished of late…