The big announcement has been made on the Jane Austen Made Me Do It website.  The anthology releases on October 11, 2011, just after my birthday.  What a fabulous present, to have my story published in a book!!

The whole thing came about as a result of a tweet I saw on New Year’s day regarding the contest.  I was so intrigued by the possibilities: the title alone cried out for a story to be written around it.  So, as I was drafting up my New Year’s resolutions, I decided to add this to the list.

I squeaked in just in time, turning the story in on the last day before the contest started.  After two weeks of nailbiting and wondering if anyone was actually enjoying the story, I was thrilled to see that my story had made the top ten finalists.  I am in good company.  All of those stories were very entertaining.  Some of the writers are now published or soon-to-be published.

I have to say that by the time I finally heard that my story had won, I had lost hope.  So when Laurel Ann of Austenprose, called me in May, I was flabbergasted… and incoherent. I got over it and I wanted to talk.  And TALK and SHOUT and SING.  But alas, the nature of the contest was such that I would not be revealed as the winner until this fall.

The time has come and I’m so proud and excited to be included in this exciting collection.  If you happen to read my story, please feel free to drop me a line and let me know how you liked it.

If you are a fellow contestant, I’d love to connect with you, also!  We’ve shared an amazing and unique experience and I don’t see why that could form the basis of Internet friendships.

More to come in October, but I’m pleased to say that the reviews coming in already are positive!