Oscars/RITA

I watched the Oscars and remembered the RITA ceremony at Romance Writers of America's National convention, here in Denver in July 2002. Winning the RITA award was a shining moment for me and my writing buddies and I was VERY proud of all the hard work BY ALL OF US that got me to that stage. I also wanted to prove to my editor and everyone else at Berkley that they were RIGHT in taking a chance with me and HeartMate -- a new direction for them. They could trust me to work for myself and them.

So I'd written a very short speech (about 4 paragraphs), something different than thanks-to-everybody-and-my-cats which had begun to get boring. I'd scrawled my notes on a small ripped out notebook page approximately the day after I was told I finaled. I knew I wouldn't write anything otherwise. At points I thought the beginning was silly and had I qualms, but I decided to go with it anyway.

I started by saying: "Life is good," which is a catch-phrase in HeartMate, so those who'd read it felt in on the joke. I thanked the judges, my editor and Berkley for taking a chance on me, and my Mother. I said now I'd won the RITA, my mother would let me write the biography of her cat: Wilbur the Wonder Cat, Or Eighteen Days Caught in a Garage (PAUSE) a Thrilling Adventure.

Then I said that everyone I needed to thank was on my acknowledgments page (try and remember everyone in the audience --- not me!) and all my friends here could rub the RITA for good luck.

I used the dedication of HeartMate as the end. As I lifted the RITA, I said and I meant it: To All Struggling Writers, Never Quit.

May you have shining moments in your career.
Robin