Of Milestones and Manuscripts

Blogger is kind enough to inform me that this post is my 100th since I started this blog. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad one. It seems to me like I got to 100 rather quickly, which suggests I've been blogging rather too much and writing rather too little.

But either way, it's an exciting milestone and it got me thinking about a couple of other recently or soon-to-be-achieved milestones in my writing life.

• I started writing A Scandalous Liaison a little over a year ago. (The file's properties claim February 19, 2006 as the creation date.) I hope to finish the third (and I hope both final and agent/editor submittable) draft by the end of this month. I'll be taking Candy Havens' Revision Hell course, starting March 19, in hopes of achieving this goal.
  
• I found the Aspiring Romance Writers Yahoo! group and made my first post there on March 15, 2006. Through that loop, I met up with four of my critique partners, starting with Lacey and ultimately including Darcy, Erica, and Leigh. These ladies have all motivated and inspired me in countless ways. Without them, I'm sure I'd have given up on my first manuscript long ago.

All in all, it's been an amazing year. When I started writing Liaison, it was simply a compulsion. I had a story in my head and it had to get out. But then, about 40,000 words along, I started thinking, "Hey, this is pretty good. Maybe...just maybe...this could one day be a publishable book." And that led me to ARW, my critique partners, RWA, and contests. Contests I finaled in! Then, I actually finished the manuscript. (Oh, if you only knew how many quarter- and half-written books litter my past!) I was ballsy enough to query my manuscript to an agent. A little over a year after embarking on this journey, I'm eligible for RWA Pro status. In addition, I've submitted a manuscript to Ellora's Cave and, not to be beaten down by rejection, have already sent it on a wing and prayer to another publisher (Harlequin's Spice Briefs line is getting the next crack at it).

I know I still have a long, long way to go. But I feel I've already come an awfully long way.

So, on this 100th post day, I'm sponsoring a contest of my own. First, to be eligible for my prize, you must go over to Annie Dean's blog and comment on her 100th post. (She's offering either a $50 Amazon gift certificate or a box of Godiva chocolates--your choice--to the poster of the 100th comment, so there might even be something in it for you!) If you do that and post a comment here, I will enter your name in a drawing for my prize, which is to pay your entry fee for an RWA-chapter sponsored contest of your choice, not to exceed $35. We'll work out the details later!

Update: Lacey notes in her comment that I didn't specify a deadline for this little contest. Since Annie's already at 55 comments and counting, I don't think I can say it's closed when Annie gets her 100th comment. So, how about we close this next Wednesday?

UpUpdate: The winner of Annie's 100th comment contest was Carrie Lofty. I was number 99 and 101. How unfair is that? But you still gotta post on both Annie's blog and mine to be eligible for my prize.