SQUEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My 1st Ever RITA Nomination! I've been writing since 1992/1993 and published since 1999 and I've been entering the Romance Writer's of American (first) Golden Heart Contest for unpublished writers and then the RITA – the gold standard contest for published authors. The RITA is contest is a contest for published authors judged by our peers. I've never finaled. I've sort of gotten used to the angst of the day, the disappointment, the joy for others and the longing and eventual acceptance. I figured I've had the ultimate lightning in a bottle moment and that's why this wasn't for me. But honestly, I always thought it would be great to be recognized by my fellow writers for my writing, at least once.

And then, on Monday, the unbelievable happened. I GOT THE CALL! Not just THE CALL but one that made this moment even more special. The RWA Board members are randomly assigned the task of calling finalists. My call came from JANELLE!!! How cool is that? She can pop on with her side of the story but this was such an amazing day. And one that wouldn't have happened without Janelle, Julie and Leslie – all three of them make it possible for me to do what I do and actually look good at it!

Which book? 2012 RITA FINALIST – Carly's "Compassion Can't Wait" in More Than Words, Vol. 7 – Romance Novella category and winners announced July 28 at the RITA and Ceremony to be held at the 2012 RWA Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm already a winner by finaling! Especially after all the wonderful emails from old writer friends, tweets from what felt like the entire world, Facebook congratulations, and Leslie's shout out here … it's been wonderful. Like floating on a cloud. Very little work got done this week but … shhh!

Another huge piece of good news came my way this week! KARMA will be featured in the June issue of COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE as a Hot Read! Can you believe this week?

And FINALLY – Publisher's Weekly reviewed KARMA and they said – "Phillips creates sympathetic and interesting characters who realistically grow and mature despite their unhappy past actions and experiences. Excellent writing, deft plotting, believable situations, and a satisfying romance add up to a winner."

You can PREORDER KARMA – For a list of online bookseller links click HERE!

And if you missed the short story in More Than Words, you can find a list of bookseller links by clicking HERE!

I'm off for vacation tomorrow for a week – my husband and I are taking my daughter and GULP 5 of her girl friends to FL with us for her 16th Birthday. Wish me luck!

Have you ever wanted anything so badly but you've just about given up? I'm here to tell you, IT STILL CAN HAPPEN!