There are some moments in life that are so deliciously fun, so exciting, you just want to capture it and put it in your pocket so you can relive it later just for the sheer joy of it. This is the story of one of those moments…

March 25th is always the date when Romance Writers of America® notifies finalists in the annual Golden Heart® and RITA® contests. It’s a big day in the RWA world, with lots of blog activity and online “parties” as the calls go out. I’m in a plotting group with Kris Kennedy and Presents authors Natasha Tate, and Jennie Lucas. We meet annually for a long weekend of chocolate, potato chips, wine, and to plot two books apiece. This year our annual retreat coincided with the Golden Heart and RITA finalist announcement day. Knowing I’d be out of town with two manuscripts entered in the Golden Heart, I’d checked my membership with RWA and saw that they had my cell phone number (you know, just in case).

We’d rented a vacation house, which didn’t include Internet, but we were occasionally able to “borrow” WIFI from neighbors.

On the morning of the 25th (our first morning), my cell phone was silent. Kris and I had planned to continue our three-year tradition of drinking champagne after we were certain I hadn’t finaled. We popped the cork and each shared one writing goal we’d accomplished in the last year to honor our ongoing perseverance. We drank the champagne and then got to work. We plotted a book for me first, then we moved on and started plotting Jennie’s book.

At various points throughout the morning, I was able reload the RWA website to see which finalists had been notified. Seeing friends' names, we all cheered. Just before noon we took a break from plotting Jennie's book. I picked up my computer, saw I had a rare moment of Internet service and it occurred to me I hadn’t checked email all morning. I went to my inbox, expecting to see…well not anything really. Perhaps an email from my son’s baseball coach, or confirmation that a CP had received the manuscript I’d sent the day before. But what I saw was a bunch of emails from RWA board members.

At this point in the story I need pause and say, unbeknownst to all of us, when we took the break from plotting Jennie’s book, Natasha thought she’d turned off her digital recorder but hadn’t. The moment of discovery had been captured for posterity. You can listen to it here. It is only a minute and twenty seconds long.

WARNING, you might want to turn down the volume on your computer and don’t listen to this if you are at work and the office is quiet. There’s, um, a little bit of excitement. :)
Don't see an audio player? Listen here instead.

Lucky for Lori Handeland she didn’t get me on the phone, I don’t know if her ears could have taken the noise. And I love the fact that when I read aloud from Jeanne Adams’s email I had no clue what I’d just said. Natasha and Kris each ask, “Both?” Before Jennie and I chime in with, “What?”

Fortunately, we had a second bottle of champagne in the fridge because I had a new accomplishment to toast. And I do owe it all to perseverance. And to some awesome critique partners. Oh, and to some wonderful judges.

There is no way to write this without sounding like an American Express ad, so I’ll just give in and say it. To final in the Golden Heart is great. To double final is amazing. To share the moment with three fantastic friends was priceless.

And Natasha, thank you for failing to turn off the recorder, so I can keep this in my pocket and relive it whenever I want.