AWARD WINNING!!

You are now reading the blog of an award winning writer!  Wow!  I didn't know how wonderful it would feel to be able to say that!  It has been almost 12 hours since I opened the email congratulating me on winning First Place in the 2010 Bess Streeter Aldrich Foundation contest for short stories.  The glow still hasn't worn off, and I can still barely sit still long enough to force myself to type anything coherent. 

"Curls of Gold," is one of the stories my grandmother, Elsie Kovanda Baucke, told me when I was growing up.  It was one of my absolute favorite bedtime stories.  I've been compiling her stories into a novel, entitled "Tales from Table Rock."  I can almost smell the lilacs outside the window to the big front room where I would sleep in the huge sleigh bed when I stayed all night at Grandma's, and feel the patches on the quilts as she tucked them in around me as she asked me what story I wanted to hear before I went to sleep.  Grandma was a master storyteller--and I think she'd be proud today. 

My Aunt Aladeen told me about having to write a story for school.  Of course, Grandma helped her come up with a tale.  Aladeen got up and read her story to the class, and when she was done, her teacher crossed his arms, and commented, "I so love to hear your Mother's stories."

I agree!  And today is another step in bringing her storytelling to a new audience. 

Of course, I need to calm down enough to focus on writing! 

Award Winning.... It makes me shiver!