My script, “Package Deal,” just won the Romancing the Script competition here at the RWA conference in Orlando, so I’m having my little taste of Hollywood. At the Oscars, the stars always say that it’s an honor just to be nominated. Whether they all mean it or not, for me, it is profoundly true.

Being a Golden Heart finalist is one of the greatest thrills of my writing career. Whatever happens at the awards tonight, I am honored that RWA has recognized me this way and honored to be among amazing people who make up the 2010 class.

Last month, I wrote my Golden Heart acceptance speech to remind myself not only to savor all the pride that I feel but to humbly thank those who have brought me this far.

Thank you, RWA, for guiding and supporting writers every step of the journey.

Thank you, Washington Romance Writers, for giving me my first and always writing home. You are dear to my heart.

Thank you, Austin Romance Writers, for being the oasis when I wandered in the desert.

Thank you, Clone Army, for trying to be quiet when it counts.

And thank you, my beloved husband Matt Rife, for always, ALWAYS saying, “I believe.”

Big week, I should say. This afternoon, I’m off to Orlando for the Romance Writers of America® (RWA) national conference. Not only is my manuscript Fortune’s Fool up for a Golden Heart®, but my script “Package Deal” (aka “The Blue Jay’s Egg”) is one of three finalists in the RWA Scriptscene Romancing the Script competition.

Wednesday afternoon at the Scriptcene annual meeting and workshop, I’ll find out how “Package Deal” fared. Meanwhile, check out the wonderful Five Scribes blog to see what they have to say about the contest.

Saturday night, the Golden Heart® and RITA® awards gala tells the tale for Fortune’s Fool. This year, RWA celebrates its 30th anniversary, so there’s a fancy dinner leading up to the awards. Of course, I’m thrilled to be a Golden Heart® finalist, but having it come this year, this special year for RWA, makes it mean even more.

Thank you, RWA!

So here it is, the photograph that will be splashed across the big screen at the Romance Writers of America® conference in July. I’m told it’s a good picture. See “Author photo? Ack!” below for how I feel about it.

The nose is really more Mr. Potato Head than Quasimodo, though.

Me

The Hero’s Journey has been the preferred story map ever since Christopher Vogler’s memo interpreting Joseph Campbell’s work for writers first made the rounds at Disney. I’ve never found it easy to fit my stories to that map. That left me feeling, well, dumb.

If you’ve struggled with the Hero’s Journey, there’s now an alternative,  The Virgin’s Promise, which Kim Hudson describes as a journey of self-fulfillment in movies as diverse as The Other Boleyn Girl, Brokeback Mountain, Billy Elliot, Tootsie, and Wedding Crashers.  In a nifty article from The Writer’s Store web site, Hudson compares the Virgin’s Promise to the Hero’s Journey and lays out the thirteen beats of the Virgin’s journey.

Now, I wonder if I can use it to rewrite my first book.

Kim Hudson

As the euphoria over being a Golden Heart® finalist settles into a quiet joy, reality intrudes. RWA® wants an author photograph. At the July 31st ceremony, they will project this photo on the biggest screen you have ever seen in your life. A screen so ginormous that it will make the one at the new $1.2 billion Cowboys stadium in Dallas look piddly.

Well, maybe not quite, but it will seem that way to all of us with our faces splashed up there.

Having my photograph taken is one of my least favorite things. Most of the time, I think pictures of me look more like Charles Laughton in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” So, when I get one I like, I hang on to it. Forever. For example, I’m very fond of the picture that I use on this website (see About Me). When the time comes, I figured it could go on book jackets, bookmarks, and whatever other authory things I need. But it’s black and white, and RWA® wants color. Drat!

Fortunately, my brilliant graphic designer husband is also a photographer. This afternoon, we’ll totter off to the botanic garden and another site or two so he can take a few thousand shots in hopes that one of them will be reasonably suitable for appearing a million times life size.

Jumbotron+Me=Nerves

Should you be in search of tips on avoiding the cheesy author portrait yourself, here’s advice from Author Tech Tips, a cool website with all kinds of, um, tips about using technology to promote your books and yourself.

Today is the day that RITA® and Golden Heart® hopefuls wait to hear if their books are finalists. You have it in the back of your mind all day that any minute your phone will ring, and someone from Romance Writers of America® will be on the line telling you that you’re one of the chosen.

Well, guess what? I am. I just got off the phone with an RWA® board member, and FORTUNE’S FOOL is a finalist in the Golden Heart® Romantic Elements category. Thank you, RWA®!