Let's Talk with Lois Winston

No, I’m not talking about that infamous, cringe-worthy leg lamp from A Christmas Story.

Three weeks ago, I attended the Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference where A Crafty Collage of Crime, the twelfth book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, was a finalist in the Comedy category of the Silver Falchion Awards. Much to my surprise, I won!

Truthfully, I never expected to win. I’d previously been named a Silver Falchion finalist twice before and had fully expected to come up short, once again remaining a bridesmaid. I guess the third time really is the charm.

Who among us hasn’t watched an awards show and fantasized about winning an Oscar, Emmy, or Tony? As you sit in front of the TV, listening to all those acceptance speeches, haven’t you thought about who you’d thank for your success?

Cut to me being asked to say a few words. Not expecting to win, I hadn’t prepared anything. I got up to the mic, and my brain froze. You’d think I’d at least have the presence of mind to utter a sentence or two about my book. After all, I stood in front of a captive audience of about 400 mystery lovers. But no, I gave what one of my friends later proclaimed was the shortest acceptance speech in the history of awards. Think Sally Field’s “You like me; you really like me” without any lead-up.

In my defense, I’d awakened that morning at 3am and was never able to fall back to sleep. Saturday was an extremely busy day for me. I was on two back-to-back panels in the afternoon, immediately followed by a session where ten of us authors allowed attendees to pick our brains for four minutes each during a speed dating session on marketing. There were also three book signings spaced throughout the day. By the time I climbed the steps to the dais, I’d been awake for seventeen hours.

After I finished my extremely short acceptance, which by no stretch of the imagination could be called a “speech” and was heading down the stairs, I heard the MC comment to the audience that I was a woman of few words. He then added that he suspected many in the audience wished that he was more like me!

That night, as I fell asleep, thinking about all that I could have said, I consoled myself with the thought that at least I hadn’t bored anyone with a droning monologue where I thanked all the people in my life, going as far back as my kindergarten teacher!

If you had the chance to make an acceptance speech, who would you thank for your success? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook of any one of the first ten Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery.

Want to know more about author Lois Winston? Visit her WEBSITE.

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