RED is a DABWAHA Finalist! (And #ROW80 Update Stuff)

Every morning I start my day stumbling out of bed and straight to my computer to check email.  Usually it’s a sweep to get rid of any bulk mail, newsletters, and such I don’t care about and to check to see if there’s anything particularly important I need to deal with before starting my workout.  It’s also an opportunity to rapidly evolve into something resembling homo erectus instead of an oozing, oh my God, it’s morning already amoeba.  I am not anything close to what you might call coherent or coordinated.

So it was with much incoherent delight I absolutely fell off my sofa this morning when I read the email informing me that my YA debut Red has been nominated as one of the finalists for 2012s DABWAHA.  I was not actually awake enough to SQUEE and mostly only managed a HOLY CRAP! as I picked myself up off the floor.

For those of you not in the know, DABWAHA is the Dear Author Bitchery Writing Award for Hellagood Authors.  Every March Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and Dear Author team up to present a Final Four Style Tourney for books.  Same kind of concept as basketball but with votes instead of an actual game.  From the DABWAHA website:

We’ll put out a slate of 64 picks.  8 categories and 8 books in each category.  In each category, the books are seeded 1-8.  The books then face off against one another with book 8 going up against book 1, book 7 going up against book 2, book 6 going up against book 3.  And so on and so forth.

The books compete against each other through the use of a poll and readers pick which book is going to win.

More details on how to play are listed here.

I cannot begin to express how much of a thrill and honor this is.  And as far as I can tell, I think I’m the ONLY self published author on the list.  Certainly in my category.  And let’s look at who ELSE is in my category.

Yes, that’s right.  I’m up against freaking VERONICA ROTH and RAE CARSON!  Meaning there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell I’ll get out of this without being squashed like a bug, simply because I’m not as well known (and because they are AMAZING).  But DUDE!  Just being nominated makes my year!

More deets on voting and when it begins I’ll post later.  But keep your eyes peeled and if you liked Red (and even if you just like me–I’m not ashamed to ask for votes), I hope you’ll vote for me when the time comes!

And in way less exciting ROW80 news, the writing has been going really well this week.  I’ve been doing a lot of word sprints with Claire Legrand.  Sunday: 777, Monday: 1174, Tuesday: 1572.

22 thoughts on “RED is a DABWAHA Finalist! (And #ROW80 Update Stuff)

  1. So cool! Congratulations on the nomination! That’s crazy exciting; best of luck! And, hey, Red‘s the only book in your category (heck, no, the whole list!) I’ve even read, though I have a friend who’s a big fan of Anna Dressed in Blood. Either I need to read more, or you’re just kind of awesome, and considering that I read an awful lot….must be the latter. : ) Great job, Kait. Again, so cool.

  2. Oh, I’m doing the happy dance (in my mind because I don’t want to scare the guys here). This is the most awesome news I’ve heard in a long time. You must be SO proud! I will definitely vote for you. 🙂

  3. Congratulations, Kait! You totally deserve it. RED is an awesome book. You bring credit to the indie world and show readers that indie can equal spectacular. You go, girl!

  4. Nice word count from the sprints! Congratulations on the nomination, Kait. I recently bought RED, and it’s maybe third in my queue right now. I should get to it very soon! Keep us posted.

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