Nicola Vincent-Abnett

Nicola Vincent-Abnett
"Savant" for Solaris, Wild's End, Further Associates of Sherlock Holms, more Wild's End

Wednesday 15 February 2012

The Results are in...

The winner has been announced.

When I entered the Mslexia novel competition, I did it without a thought to the outcome. When I heard “Naming Names” had been long-listed, I was pretty excited, and there was a good deal of trepidation leading up to the announcement of the short-list.
I was prepared for the worst. I did not expect to be short-listed. I think my book is pretty good, but this was my first competition, and the subject matter is difficult stuff. So, when I was short-listed, I was more than a little bit pleased with myself.
If you’ve been reading this blog for the last couple of weeks, you will have followed me through the ups and downs of waiting for the final outcome of the competition. I did not expect to win. For the reasons that I stated, because of the content of the book, I thought it would be a tough pick for a competition. I didn’t think it would be representative of the sort of thing that other women might have written.
I thought that, today, I’d be happy to have got on the short-list, and even happier that it gave me an opportunity to raise my profile with agents. I could, at the very least, say that I’d been short-listed for the prize.
I also thought, and think, that it’d be nice to get to know the other eleven women on the short-list. I know what they’ve been going through over the past fortnight; I feel we are sisters-in-arms.
I thought this would be a win/lose situation, but it turns out that it is rather more complicated than that.
I did not win this competition. I’m really looking forward to finding out who the winner is, and, I hope, meeting her and reading her work. I do know that she’s an experienced writer, albeit unpublished. I also know that she has had work rejected in the past. She is where I hope to be in a few years time. This is her time, and I wish her nothing but the best of luck. I hope to see her book in print.
I did not win this competition. 
Nor did I lose.
I was informed, in a lovely e-mail, which I’ve saved and will probably never delete from my file, that “Naming Names” was one of the last three novels on the table. I was also told that an agent is sufficiently impressed with it to want to discuss representation with me.
I did not win this competition, but I cannot help thinking that I might prove one of the big winners in the long run.
So, in a few days or weeks, I shall be asking you all to wish me luck, again. Next time, you’ll be keeping your fingers crossed that the prospective agent and I like each other enough to want to work together.
Huzzah!

11 comments:

  1. Oh Nik, I am smiling so much right now. I am so proud - you've been a constant inspiration. Good luck with speaking to the agent(s) and I look forward to seeing what happens with you and Naming Names.

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  2. This is so wonderful, Nik! What a brilliant result!
    Kaaron

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  3. That's fantastic news that an Agent is interested :)

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  4. Fantastic news! What an honor to be one of the last three books up for discussion on the table in the competition! You are definitely a winner since you caught the eye of a publisher, you met the challenge only a few of us are capable of doing & you should feel a marvelous sense of accomplishment & joy! WOW! Margo

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  5. That is such a great achievement and having agent interest already is FANTASTIC! :) Am sure the publisher will love you!! I can't wait to read it - hopefully very soon ;) Congratulations again, hope you are having a nice celebration :)

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  6. Well done, being in the top 3 is amazing! (Coincidentally enough, the only other writer I 'know' that was in the competition was also in the top 3 [http://witchwayblogspotcom.blogspot.com/], maybe I'll 'know' the winner!)

    Well done again, you must be thrilled.

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  7. Huzzah indeed!

    I've got my fingers and toes crossed for that all important meeting.

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  8. Huzzah and hurrah! That's so wonderful. *HUG*

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