Had to find out for myself

that the Fred Bonnie prize for best first novel has apparently been awarded to a lady in West Virginia. From the synopsis on her website, it sounds like a good book, somewhat like my Big Baby but coming down harder on racism, homophobia and other current issues in the news. River City Publishing is releasing her book in August 2012. The judge who selected the winner was a male author.

I think for the $40 entry fee, they could have afforded to notify the losers when the winner was chosen.

It's okay, I guess, from my point of view. I've been itching to rewrite Big Baby. I'm debating whether to ask River City if the competition is officially over, so I can submit the book somewhere else. The sites I found didn't actually say Ms. Manilla won the contest I entered in 2011.

http://www.mariemanilla.com/

5:45 p.m. I'm having a migraine aura. It looks like a spot on a peacock feather, magenta and silver, with all the edges sparkly.