The following conversation took place on Monday, March 26th at 9:50 a.m.:
The phone rings. I look at caller ID and see “Tucson, AZ.” Damn. It’s not from Houston (RWA headquarters), it must be a telemarketer.
“Hello?” I answer in my best I’m-not-going-to-buy-insurance-from-you voice.
“Hello, may I please speak to Megan?” asks a sweet southern-sounding lady. Not a typical telemarketer.
“Speaking.” I keep it surly. I’m still suspicious and the baby is waking up.
“Oh, hello Megan. I’m _____ (totally forgot her name) and I’m calling from RWA to tell you that The Silent Sister is a finalist in the 2012 Golden Heart® contest.”
It takes me a moment to switch gears and get what she’s telling me, because I really was expecting her to try to sell me insurance. But I do recover. “Are you freaking kidding me?”
By the grace of God, I substituted “freaking” for a different word. Hey, I’m from New Jersey. We use that word as frequently as “hello.”
The nice southern lady responds, “Why no, I am not, kidding you.”
I start to pace and squeal things like “Oh my God,” and “I don’t believe this,” and I fear there may have been a “holy shit,” in there somewhere. Eventually, though, the nice lady from RWA managed to convey the rest of her message. I was to expect a UPS delivery of some sort. I needed to provide an author photograph. What name did I want to use on the RWA website? Will I be attending the national conference in Anaheim? Oh, and a very big congratulations on the final. What an honor.
Yes. A very big honor, indeed.