I’ve known since March that I didn’t final in the Golden Heart, a contest for unpublished writers sponsored by the Romance Writers of America. It wasn’t a disappointment. I knew the book wasn’t ready. Entering was a ploy to trick myself into finishing the second draft. It worked. I finished and sent it off, knowing I could do better. Finishing the stupid thing felt like winning.

So, last week when I got my scores, I was very pleased. My dreck of a manuscript placed in the top quarter of the Single Title Contemporary division. It was better than I thought.

Here are the scores:

Judge 1    Judge 2    Judge 3    Judge 4    Judge 5     Final Score

7.5              7.6           6.8           8.3         8                38.20 

The highest any judge could give was 9. The highest possible final score was 45. The cut off for the top quarter was 36.50.