W.I.N. contest

[Sam Hranac]

Oh good! I get the entire weekend to pretend that I won!

[anom3]

Monday, huh!
Brenda you'll be flyying...I'll be working...
don't know if I can take a peak at all...hang me now!
Mona          :EmoticonHelp2:

[chasing my tail]

My family and I spent 3 hours in the car (trying to do a 1-hour drive) to a wedding this afternoon. (Of course, we ended up missing it entirely!) We had no idea that going anywhere near Rotterdam was a no-no no matter what day or time. Silly us.

Luckily, the wedding was right by the beach! (and I mean right by it!) We spent a couple of hours with the girls playing in the sand. Heck we were the best dressed people there!

And then we get home (just a rather normal 1-1/2 hour drive) to find out that we have to wait until Monday for W.I.N. results! AHHHHH!

Oh well, the beach was good. Really good.

[Bill]

Wow, has this thread grown.  I just checked the stats and it's climbed to the fifth longest thread on the boards!

I hope you all have a peaceful weekend and are able to keep preoccupied:)

Cheers,
Bill

[KGray]

  Good luck to the blue boarders!  I didn't enter this year, but I have my fingers crossed for you all! Kristin

[jadedmetaphor]

I didn't enter this year, either, but I wish you all the best of luck! Can't wait to see some familiar names come Monday!

[susandawn]

Just chiming in to say I love me some  pickle-eating-pirate-penguin.

He's not my tiny blue penguin (Emporer I believe...) I'm sure because 'tiny blues'  aka: 'blue fairies' can't eat pickles. It gives them gas.

Thanks for the giggles and snorts since last night; and Verla Kay, I'm THIS close to bribing you with some fantastic  cookies that I make...except it's too hot to heat up the kitchen. Ah well, patience is a virtue.  And Monday will be here before we know it...I won't have internet access until late in the day; hopefully we'll have an answer by then...

Till then, I'm off to pick paint off my fingernails!

[DanetteFromOrlando]

Come on, Monday!

[TamraW]

Hmmmm .. . I wonder what my husband would say, if I tried to bring my laptop on our first day off (from our business) in two months?

[Debs]

I haven't read all these posts on this thread, but I wanted to wish each of you that have entered this contest GOOD LUCK!

Blessings,
Debbie
(DebS)

[Donna]

Hmmmm .. . I wonder what my husband would say, if I tried to bring my laptop on our first day off (from our business) in two months?

I bet he wouldn't say a thing. He'd just jump into action. . .  :

 

Joy,
Donna

[lynnek]

Do you all know how HARD it is for me to keep my mouth shut and not scream out the names of the winners of the picture book category?  :x Do you have any idea how difficult it is for me to read all these angst-filled posts and not be able to say anything when I know who the winners of the picture book category are?   :green:

Hmmm, maybe if VerlaKay had a few margaritas in her...

Les, start the blender!

[Donna]

It's strange, not having to obsess and recheck the website every minute. I'm glad we know that tomorrow should bring news. Even if it is another delay, I'm just happy knowing the end is in sight!!

[write2inspire]

The wait....it's killing me..... : 

[ahsitan]

I'm not obsessing with checking for the results too. Which is a good thing, since our trip to Darien Lake has been rained and thundered out. We did need the rain, but the kids were exited about riding some rides. Oh well.

[chickennoodle]

Yay! Your waiting is almost over, Blue Boarders. This is sooooooo EXCITING! I can't wait to congratulate the new winners!

Memorieeees...lad di dah di dah di dah... :  Ahem...sorry...forgot myself there.

And lynnek: A brilliant plan. My blender and I have our ways. Heh heh heh.  :evil:

[Frauheather]

I'll have to wait even longer. Tomorrow we fly to NY and I won't possibly get a chance to check until Tuesday morning.

Good luck to everyone and congrats (in advance) to all the W.I.NNERS. :

H

[kellymilnerh]

Hey, W.I.N. curious folks!   :

Looks like you need an update.  Roxy has not been abducted by aliens, she asked me to tell you.  But chocolate is always welcome.  : )  So she's okay..  But let me try to bring you up to date.

As you know, I helped with the W.I.N contest again this year.  And things were MOSTLY on schedule...except we forgot about ALA falling in the latter days of June.  Our YA judge, Terry Trueman, was presenting at ALA as a Printz Honor recipient, and he had speaking events up until July 3.  So he couldn't finish his assessments of the manuscripts until July 5, when he hand delivered them to my front doorstep.  To make up for the delay, he will personally critique each of his five top selections by telephone, which I thought was a very generous offer. 

That said, you're still wondering, "When will we discover who won each top prize?"  The answer?  Tomorrow, Monday, July 9, the final results will be posted.  So you have VERY few hours left to wait. 

Thanks for your patience.  Once the winners are announced, we'll be mailing the prize money and winning, marked manuscripts almost immediately.  The hardware -- yes, this year there will be Smartwriter W.I.N. awards for 1st place winners to hold and display in a highly visible place in their homes or offices -- will take a wee bit longer, due to engraving issues.  But they'll be worth waiting for.   

Those of you who requested written critiques will get them later this summer.  Roxy is doing half, I'm doing the other half.  I'll be bringing mine to Chautauqua to work on in the evenings when I'm not presenting or working with the writers I've been assigned for the week.  Roxy will let you know her schedule for getting those crits to you soon.   :

Hope this helps make the wait a little easier.  VERY soon, all will be revealed.  : )

Best always,
 
Kelly Milner Halls
www.kellymilnerhalls.com

[lindsay]

Thanks so much for the update, Kelly! Hope the aliens treated Roxy well, and thanks to all the judges for giving of their time to help further the careers of all of us writers and illustrators!

Linds, anxiously waiting for tomorrow!

[Mindy Alyse]

Thanks for the update, Kelly.  I'm looking forward to meeting you in Chautauqua.

[lynnek]

That is fabulous news, that the wait will be over soon (although we have had a little fun here on the boards this past week), and I agree that is a generous offer from Terry Trueman.  How exciting that will be for those top 5 YA people!

Luckily I'm not working tomorrow, but I do have a critique meeting in the afternoon-- I wonder if they'll understand if I obsessively check my laptop in between critiques?   :

Glad to know Roxyanne is fine.  But I'm still working on that judge-abducted-by-aliens story.  :

Perhaps that will be next year's submission.

[kellymilnerh]

My pleasure, Lindsay.  I would have commented sooner, but i was wrapping my new book for Darby Creek, WILD HORSES.  It's been a carzy summer.  The W.I.N. contest, my new book deadline and my workshops on nonfiction in Chautauqua next week.  Then just days after I get back from NY, I head to LA for a meeting with the folks at the Getty Museum.  I'll be writing about the rescue of Nefertari's tomb and they're flying me out to go through the museum archives.  Talk about FUN!  Plus I wrote an article on the first mummy ever found in South Africa I hope will be in Dig Magazine and worked on revisions for DINOSAUR PARADE (Lark). 

Busy summer, but we never neglected you guys who entered W.I.N.  You actually came first.  So thanks again for being patient.

Oh, and Lynn?  I'm researching an alien/UFO book as we speak.  Maybe we'll put Roxy's abduction in chapter one.  : )  Sounds good to me.

More soon.

Kelly 
www.kellymilnerhalls.com

[kellymilnerh]

Mindy, where are you staying at Chautauqua?  Roxy has me so excited about going.  I was honored and humbled when they asked me to teach the workshops.  I'll do my best to share a little of what I've learned about nonfiction.  Is anyone else going?  Maybe we could all meet for dinner one night.  THAT would be great fun. 

Kelly
www.kellymilnerhalls.com

[lindsay]

Gosh! It made me tired just reading all the stuff that you've been doing and that you have coming up! Sounds like a bunch of amazing opportunities...Congrats on the new book, too!

Linds

[kellymilnerh]

File that under, "Be careful what you wish for," Lindsay.     But you won't hear me complaining.  Well, not today, anyway. 

Kelly
 :cuccoan:

[Mindy Alyse]

I'm staying at the Athenaeum Hotel, which is where I believe you said you were staying on the Highlights message board.  There are several Blueboarders attending Chautauqua this year, and I'd love to meet for dinner.  I'll try to outline my nametag in blue highlighter, so it will be easier to find me. 

I signed up to take your How to Be a Successful Freelancer workshop, and can't wait until I'm at Chautauqua on Saturday. 

[ixtumea]

Kelly, thanks so much for the update!  Also tell Roxyanne thanks!!!

[ahsitan]

Kelly, thank you for the update. I'll be glued to the computer tomorrow.

[kellymilnerh]

Again, my pleasure you guys.  Mindy, I am at the Athenaeum Hotel, right.  I'll be that plump little writer with the knee brace and the curly hair.  I swear, half the reason I moved to Spokane is low humidity.  But Roxy says Chautauqua will bring out the Shirley Temple in me, pronto.  We'll see. 

Can't wait to see the reaction to the winners tomorrow.  I just saw the test page, HIDDEN so no one can accidentally find it.  So tomorrow it really will be.  Lots of talented people entered.  To me, they were all winners.

Kelly
www.kellymilnerhalls.com
 

[aca]

Thank you for the update . . . makes it much easier to have a firm date. Any chance of posting it early out of sympathy for those waiting?

Abigail