Part #2 of our chat with author @Laurie Beach LUV: Your novel THE FIREFLY JAR was the 2024 Maggie Recipient in the ‘Women’s Fiction with Central Romance’ category. Can you tell us about this experience? Laurie: Winning the Maggie award for my debut novel was one of the biggest thrills of my life. The first two books in my Crickley Creek series, THE FIRELY JAR and BLINK TWICE IF YOU LOVE ME, were two of the five finalists. I figured I’d never have better odds of winning, so I invited my Alabama and Tennessee family to come to Atlanta for the ceremony. I was prepared to lose with the consolation that at least I got to spend time with my loved ones. I live in Colorado, so I don’t see them as often as I’d like. When they announced THE FIRELY JAR as the recipient the experience was even sweeter because I got to share it with some of the most important people in my life. My mother has been gone over twenty years, but my dad was there. So was my husband, daughter, sister, brother-in-law, and step-mother. Between them and the beautifully inclusive, supportive friends I made at the Georgia Romance Writer’s conference, I had a hearty cheering section. For any writers on the fence about contests, I recommend going for it. Like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t enter. If you lose, you’re no worse off than you were before. And if you win, you won’t be able to sleep for a week. I mean, if you win, you’ll be able to call yourself an award-winning author, and that is utterly surreal.

Posted by LUV Team at 2024-11-19 15:00:01 UTC