Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I just wanted to take this moment to share our newest accomplishment here at the Sisterhood. We recently placed first -- for the second year in a row -- in the New Mexico Press Women's Awards. This isn't an award we take lightly because we are so grateful that the Press Women of New Mexico actually enjoyed our entries and felt we deserved a first place standing. Unfortunately, we did not go onto the national awards (it tends to get pretty pricey to enter if you want to compete on the national level), but hey, supposedly we have one of the best blogs in New Mexico, according to the New Mexico Press Women.

I wanted to share the judges comments, which I happened to find wonderfully encouraging:

❝Is it any surprise that a blog written by writers would win a blog writing award? The posts were entertaining and thought-provoking. Well-written, well-thought out posts leave readers clamoring for more.❞

To whomever was our judge, we wholeheartedly thank you for your lovely comments!

If you're interested in reading any of the award-winning posts we submitted for this year's contest then feel free:

• Fifty Shades of WTF? — written by Sister Stephanie
• The Story of a Navajo Code Talker: Interview with Nonfiction Author Judy Avila — written by Sister Mary Mary
• The Appeal of the Supernatural — written by Sister Lorena

Enjoy!

Since we're on the topic of writing contests, I also wanted to share a couple of other accomplishments with you, plus I want to get your thoughts -- check your pulse, in a sense -- when it comes to contests.

First, I wanted to share with our readers two other awards received by the sisters. Sister Lorena and I (Sister Mary Mary) both placed in the Soul-Making Keats Literary Awards earlier this year. I thought it was cool to be able to share a contest win with my fellow friend and writing companion! Back in March, I was also privileged and profoundly humbled to be asked back as a judge in a local youth fine arts literary contest. I judged all kinds of categories, from spoken word (which is a little like a poetry slam) to mini sagas and first chapters. I always enjoy reading other people's stories, especially young people, because it helps me see and understand what kind of work and ideas are influencing the young adult crowd.

When it comes to writing contests, I tend to be a bit biased since I would consider myself a bit of a contest addict. For a long time, contests felt more like something I was doing to pump up my own writing energy, but recently I've discovered that it pays to actually persevere and put yourself out there for these awards. Five years ago, if an agent or editor had asked me what my writing credentials were, including all contests, I would have stared blankly at him or her. Recently, I received that exact question. So, I sat down and methodically went through my list. I was incredibly shocked at what I'd accumulated over the years. Since my certificates tend to get filed away, I rarely look at the awards I've won, just creating a mental file of this one or that one when I feel the need to pull one out. But when I had to actually sift through my award's file, I kept coming across wins I hadn't thought about since I started this writing thing. And you know what? I discovered I had about a page and a half of writing credentials to list, some of those listed including the contests I've judged.

Moral to my story? It pays off to persist if you know what you're going after. Heck, you might even end up surprising yourself, much like I did!

Here's my question to you:  Are you actively pursuing a writing career through useful methods, such as contests? Or, are you being more passive than you probably should be, hoping the stars will align and everything will fall in your lap?