ABNA in Seattle

[To follow my ABNA journey from the very beginning, click the ABNA label at the bottom of this post]

I have so, so much to say about my trip to Seattle, that I'm just going to do it like I did the "week of the finals" post: day by day.

But first, here are some pictures!

Okay, go use the washroom, get a drink, and then make yourself comfy. Here we go:

Friday

My husband and I got up at the ungodly hour of 4:30am to get ready to leave. I'd packed the day before, made a huge, detailed list on which I'd been routinely checking things off for the last two days, so I knew I had everything. We were scheduled to fly out of Halifax at 8 something. We got there early, went through security, etc. Plane left on time.

Okay, right now, go look at Nova Scotia on a North American map. We're waaaaaay over there, along the Atlantic ocean. See how far we have to go to get to Washington? Yeah. It's far. We had a layover in Chicago. From Halifax to Chicago--about 3 hours. Time difference from Halifax--2 hours. Chicago to Seattle--about 4 hours. Time difference from Halifax--4 hours. We were completely bedraggled by then. The first thing we did at Sea-Tac was head for a Starbucks (you can't go three feet without tripping over a Starbucks in Seattle. It's like Tim Horton's in Nova Scotia). Let me tell you, Seattle, your coffee is stronger than ours. Felt better immediately.

We had a bit of a hard time finding our driver, but only because we are dumb and didn't go to the correct spot right away. He was standing there with a sign with my name on it. So cool. He was this nice young man who told us he was working as a driver to pay his way through school. We ended up getting the same driver on the way back, but anyway. He took us to our hotel and we checked in. Grand Hyatt Seattle is a really nice hotel. The bathroom is bigger than most hotel rooms. Tom Kephart from Amazon handled the driver, hotels, everything.

Speaking of Thom, I wasn't supposed to meet him until Saturday morning but I ended up meeting him about an hour after we arrived. Backtracking a little...after we checked in, Jason (my husband) and I headed straight out to the Wells-Fargo bank on Olive to cash the Amazon spending money check that I received the week before. The reason I hadn't cashed it at home in Canada was because they refused to. So I took it straight to the bank in Seattle, where, as it turned out, they also refused to cash it. (Side note: while we were in there, this crazy drunk guy came in and was ranting like a lunatic. I was sure we were all going to be shot and I could even picture the headline "Canadian writer shot in Seattle while trying to cash check. Missed the ABNA gala.") Anyway, I emailed Thom and explained the situation, and he came straight to the hotel, walked us back to the Wells-Fargo bank, and had it all fixed in about three minutes. Thom Kephart is a super hero.

By then, I was almost late for a 5:30 dinner with all the finalists and their guests. This was a plan the six of us concocted about two weeks prior via email (Alan's from Seattle and knows where to go). But we made it just in time. I knew from the second I walked into the hotel lobby who was who. They all looked exactly like their pictures. We walked to the Steelhead Diner for dinner. Jason and I were half-comatose by then, but damn it, we were going to do this.

Dinner was fun, aside from the fact that I almost fell asleep in the bread basket at one point. It was so nice to meet everyone and get to know each other a little before our big day on Saturday. We got comfortable with other, we laughed, we talked...it was great.

By nine, Jason and I were D-O-N-E. Back to the hotel to sleep.

Saturday

Still on Atlantic time, Jason and I woke up at 4:00am. We had plenty of time to get ready for breakfast at Lola with all the finalists, their guests, Thom, and Kent and Elissa from Penguin. Coffee. Yes! Breakfast was a casual affair and strangely enough, no one ordered the octopus.

After breakfast, we all split up. Jason and I caught the monorail to the Space Needle.Yes, we did go up to the top. Such a touristy thing. Then we went to Pike's Place Market, which was so crowded it almost made me cry. We walked around, bought some souvenirs, had lunch. Seattle is a nice city...it reminds me of a grown-up Halifax with the water and fish and all that.

Finally, it was time to get ready for the gala. Back in the hotel room, it took me an hour to straighten my hair (it's naturally curly and annoying). My nerves were jumping by then. It's really hard to put in contact lenses and apply makeup with a shaking hand. Everyone met in the lobby at 6:00pm, all wearing that same OH MY GOD IT'S ALMOST TIME HELP ME face. Even Thom was nervous. A van brought us to the Sculpture Park where the gala was being held. We got nametags. There were drinks (I stuck to water). There was food (I couldn't eat). There were people from Amazon, Penguin, CreateSpace, and Publisher's Weekly there (intimidating).

Almost right way I met Amy Ackley, winner of the 2010 ABNA for YA. She hugged me. I gushed about her book, which I'd just read a few weeks ago. She was gorgeous and nice and funny. Next I met the one person I was kind of worried about meeting--Libby, the woman who called me on May 14 to give me the news. The first thing I said to her was "I'm so sorry". Read my previous blog post to see how I reacted when she called me. She was gracious and mentioned how much she enjoyed calling the finalists and hearing their reactions. I guess I wasn't the only one who cried and/or was speechless.

7pm--food service. I was so NOT hungry. I had three bites of salad, one bite of salmon, and a peanut butter cookie. Everyone seemed to love the mashed potato station, but I couldn't risk too much solid food. The speeches began. I sat next to a lady from PW, who kept cracking me up with her dry remarks.

Amy Ackley spoke, Libby, the PW lady, a Penguin person, a CreateSpace person. THEN, the finalists. *gulp* Cassandra was first. She did great. I was next. I was so nervous I was about two seconds away from toppling off my chair. I wrote everything down and pretty much read it verbatim. I screwed up at least five times. When I thanked my fellow finalists, I'm pretty sure I called Cassandra "Cassie" instead of Casey, which is what everyone calls her. I had Cassandra written down and tried to change it to Casey at the last second, I guess. Also, my cat's name is Cassie so I say it a lot. LOL I'm so sorry, Casey.

The rest of the finalists spoke (they all did so well) and then it was time. The announcement. Libby got to do it. I was nervous but not expecting to hear my name at all. I went in there mostly knowing who was going to win, and it wasn't going to be me. I was right. She called Regina's name. I felt a tiny stab of disappointment but it was quickly eclipsed by joy. I was so happy for her. Then Alan's name was called. I was thrilled for him as well.

That was it! I hugged and congratulated Regina, hugged and congratulated Alan, shook hands with several people, and off we went back to the van. Amy came with us and we talked about agents and stuff while we drove back to the hotel. Everyone said goodbye. Then I went on Facebook, posted the news, and went to bed.

Sunday

Airports and airplanes, part II. All day I was enveloped in this weird calm feeling. The thing I'd been obsessing about and preparing for all these weeks was now done. Over. The whole weekend was a whirlwind. I'd gotten 14 hours of sleep in the past three days, had barely eaten, and spent 99% of the time basically freaking out about what was happening. It felt like a dream.

In Chicago that day, our flight was delayed an hour because Air Force One was at O'Hare. So I can now say that one time, Obama got me home pretty late.

Flying back into Halifax, the sky was full of stars. Maybe it was the extreme fatigue or an after-effect from the Chicago hotdog I had at O'Hare, but when I looked down and saw my city and my ocean, I got a little teary-eyed. I was home.

Final Thoughts

I can't even put this experience into words. Looking back on it, I can't believe I actually did that. Flew to Seattle. Met all those people. Made it this far in the contest. But I'm so glad I did. I made a whole set of new friends, writers like me, amazing men and women who made this trip even better than I expected it to be.

Regina, you are so warm and sweet. Your win is well-deserved and I'm so happy for you.
Casey, I loved hearing about your cool job. Thank you so much for assuring me that I was pronouncing "subarachnoid" correctly.
Alan, you are hilarious and I love that I was able to recognize you just from your hair-do. Your win is also well-deserved and I'm also so happy for you.
Chuck, I loved hearing all your interesting stories. I'm still so impressed that you recited your passage with hardly a glance down at the words.
Brian, it was a pleasure sitting across from you and Rae at dinner and beside you at breakfast. Thanks for saying "no" when we said "We don't talk funny, do we?"

I have to mention all the swag we got from Amazon. A Kindle Touch, several books, a glass trophy with our names and book titles etched on it, and a printed paperback of our own books, the inside cover personally signed by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.

I also have to mention Thom Kephart again. Not only is he a super hero, but he's also extremely nice. His enthusiasm and love for this contest is evident. He did such a great job organizing everything, answering our questions, and just generally being there for us and supporting us.

Lastly, thank you to Amazon, Penguin, Publisher's Weekly, and CreateSpace. There are a lot of people involved in this contest and it's getting more popular each year. If you're reading this and wondering if you should enter? DO IT. You never know, right?

Sixteen days

[To follow my ABNA journey from the very beginning, click the ABNA label at the bottom of this post]

Voting is officially over and only a few people know the winners. The public (and the six finalists) will find out on June 16.

I'm relieved now that it's over. Asking people for anything is so out of my comfort zone. I've done all I can do to get votes. Now I can forget about that part and focus on freaking out about Seattle.

Thank you to everyone who voted for me. If I win, I'll be happy. If I don't win, I won't be sad. This contest has already opened doors for me. I'll be okay either way.

Author page

Please "like" my AUTHOR PAGE on Facebook!

Tomorrow is the last day to vote for Out of Nowhere, so expect another onslaught.

"Grateful" doesn't even begin to describe it.

[To follow my ABNA journey from the very beginning, click the ABNA label at the bottom of this post]

I'm completely overwhelmed and touched by the support I've received from my family, friends, and perfect strangers these past two days. Everyone I know went above and beyond in getting the word out, asking for votes, sharing the voting link, and just generally being awesome. I owe you all a huge THANK YOU. Seriously, you all rock.

Also, I read the other finalists' excerpts and I have to say, they are amazing. So much talent in this group. It's intimidating to be sitting next to them.

Special thanks to Cara Bertrand, one of last year's finalists, for being my mentor of sorts on Tuesday! You helped to reduce my anxiety and that's not an easy feat.

Voting is open until May 30 so there's still time to VOTE if you haven't already.

Stay tuned for more excited ramblings about my ABNA journey.

Big ABNA news!

[To follow my ABNA journey from the very beginning, click the ABNA label at the bottom of this post]

(I've been writing this blog post all week, so it would be fresh in my mind.)

Finally, after a long and torturous week of sitting on the biggest and most exciting news of my life, I'm allowed to sing it from the rooftops.

I am a finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a taste of how last week unfolded:

Monday morning

Did some laundry, swept and mopped the kitchen floors, surfed the net, etc. Typical Monday. Not nervous, not anxious, not expecting a call from Seattle in any way, shape, or form. While I was putting a load of laundry away, I started thinking about the 2010 ABNA finalists' books and how one of them (the winner) dealt with the aftermath of losing a parent, just like my book does (though my book is nothing like hers in any other way). I thought "There you have it...there's no way they'll have another "death of father aftermath" book in the finals." I was 100% convinced then. It wouldn't be me.

12:53pm AST (8:53am PST) -- I was sitting at my desk in the kitchen, laptop open, right next to the phone. It rang. I looked at the call display. It said "Long Distance" and there was a phone number. A previous finalist on the ABNA boards had mentioned that when she was called, it said "Amazon" on the call display. I did not know the area code for Seattle, so I thought it was a survey or something. I picked it up, and the following occurred: 

Amazon Lady: May I please speak to Rebecca Phillips?

Me: This is Rebecca.

Amazon Lady: This is _________(I forget her name) calling from Amazon. I'm excited to tell you that you're a finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest.

Me: ................................

Amazon Lady: .................................??

Me: ........................ (some articulate sound like "gahhhblurgugh")............Are you serious?

Amazon Lady: (probably thinking, "No, I have nothing better to do that call random people and trick them into thinking they're finalists.") Yes, I'm very serious. We're going to fly you to Seattle for the awards ceremony on June 16.

Me: ..................................

Amazon Lady (probably wondering about what kind of freak she was dealing with): I hope you're sitting down?

Me: ......................tears..............wow...................oh my God............blubber babble babble snerg blargh.

There was more but I honestly don't remember it in detail. She told me to keep the news to immediate family only until public announcement on May 22, mentioned something about Penguin loving Out of Nowhere, gave me the phone number for Thom Kephart (ABNA admin), I babbled some more, she said congratulations and we hung up. I then proceeded to have a nervous breakdown.

I can tell you, with 100% honesty, that I have never been so shocked in my entire life. I felt like I was going to pass out. I was shaking. I was crying. My tongue was numb. My first coherant thought was Holy crap I have to get a passport like NOW. I do not have a passport. I'm Canadian. I need one to get into the US.  So I started googling passport processing times. That was when my husband came upstairs (he works from home). I said to him, "Looks like I'll have to get a passport." He was like "Huh"? And I was like "We're going to Seattle." And then he put the pieces together and all of a sudden I was standing up and we were hugging. He had tears. I had tears. He was proud. I had more tears. I was still in shock. My tongue, however, had thankfully regained feeling.

Next I told my parents, then my friend Shannon (not immediate family but she was the first person to read Out of Nowhere and helped me make it the best it could be), then my kids when they got home from school, all of whom I swore to secrecy. Then, if you can believe it, I did more laundry. I do not recall folding and putting away said laundry, but I did. Laundry needs to be done, even when you feel like you've been pummeled with bowling balls.

I did not and could not eat dinner. Even though it was leftover BBQ ribs from Mother's Day.

That evening, I received some legal forms in my inbox. Now it was really real. I wasn't dreaming. I spent the rest of the evening getting my passport photo taken, filling out a passport application, and printing, signing, scanning, and sending all those Amazon forms back. At 11pm I collapsed into bed and watched a couple of episodes of Seinfeld until I finally dropped off to sleep. 

Tuesday

That morning I went to Passport Canada and provided the necessary papers. Passport should be in well before the middle of June. One thing down. 

In the evening I received a call from Thom Kephart, the ABNA administrator. He was very nice. He told me a little about what would happen next, ie. travel, PR, the awards in Seattle, etc. 

I did eat dinner, but not much.

Wednesday

Shock had completely worn off by then, but every once in a while it would hit me (I AM A FINALIST!!!!) and I'd feel very overwhelmed. NOW I was expecting a call from Amazon, but only to tell me that they'd made a huge mistake.

That evening I got another email from Thom, requesting travel information and detailing what would happen on June 16th: first a breakfast meeting with him and all six finalists, then a gala awards event at 6:30. During this gala, there would be dinner and several speakers, including the finalists, who are asked to read a passage from their book (!!!!!!). Then the winner would be announced. I was DYING to know who the other finalists were, but like everyone else I had to wait until May 22.

After American Idol (They were in the top 3 phase too! Funny, since ABNA is often considered the American Idol of writing contests), I emailed my info and went to bed.

Thursday

Got an email from Thom, thanking me for the travel info. Can't believe I'm going to Seattle! I've never been.

Friday


Morning - Got an email from the publicity person at Penguin (Penguin! Is emailing! Me!!!), telling me to expect a call later that afternoon (Penguin! Is calling! Me!!!) She also asked for a picture of me and a two-line bio for the contest announcement/press release. I sent the picture that my husband took of me about three or four years ago, for an article I had published in Today's Parent magazine. Not the best picture of me, but when you're as unphotogenic as I am, you learn not to be too picky. I still look basically the same now, only I have a few extra pounds residing in my rear somewhere.

Penguin called in the afternoon and I spoke to three extremely nice people who asked me a few questions about myself and my book. I was nervous, of course. I mean, this in the 2nd largest publishing house IN THE WORLD. Talking to ME. At one point in the conversation, I was asked which YA authors inspired me. Of course, right away I mentioned Sarah Dessen, who has been a huge inspiration to me and is basically the main reason why I decided to seriously write YA. Penguin was excited to hear this because Sarah is a Penguin author! So is John Green, who I also adore (I mentioned him too). Then, after I got off the phone, I realized I was just talking to people who probably talk to Sarah Dessen and John Green on a regular basis. I may have hyperventilated a little.

Today!


Amazon put the finalist list up really early. I'm just over the moon about my experts' reviews. Two of them picked me to be the winner! Again, this is extremely surreal.  Big thanks to my family, friends, Amazon, CreateSpace, and Penguin. What an amazing experience this has been, from beginning to end.


Vote for Out of Nowhere!