Okay, so I finally got my stuff back in the mail from the Great Expectations contest this week. I came in 5th. Not a surprise. Didn’t expect to final in the first place.

The thing is, my manuscript pgs were in front of and read by a Senior Editor at Harlequin Books. So natually, hers are the first comments I read. I got a perfect score on the Query letter. Yay! From her other comments and scores I deduced the following: Overall, she thought the descriptions were too much and slowed the pacing. She thought characterization was strong, but heroine’s motivations might not be strong enough to sustain an 80K book. The comment “very real writing ability” stuck with me, buoying me through the disappointment of hearing that FKoG wasn’t as “distinctive as it needs to be to sell in this competitive market.”

Well, pooh! How depressing.

Oddly enough, the other three judges thought the pacing was good, fast and an easy read.

Now what? Oh, yeah… the Laurie winners are being announced tonight. I’m not expecting a win, but there’s that tiny bit of me that wishes for even a 3rd placement which would get me over this sudden writing funk.