James Jones First Novel Fellowship

alias octavia said:

I wish I just knew if they had contacted people yet, that way I can stop thinking about it

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Yeah. I have plenty to think about. I'm sure you do, too.

stevewed said:

The book I submitted to the contest bears very little resemblance to what I have now. I suppose that's a concern with such a long lead time.

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Same here. I've left those first 50 pages untouched in a separate Word document, since we aren't supposed to make any changes. Pages 51-100 are far edgier and have a different tone, since I've had all this time to reflect and obsess on perfecting the details.

I'm certain that the mailman thinks I'm completely insane, or that I want to f--k him, the way I'm staring at him every time he reaches a hand into that blue mailbag. So far, he hasn't pulled out what I'm looking for.

JulieHowe said:

........ So far, he hasn't pulled out what I'm looking for.

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I almost spit on my monitor reading this. Shame on me <hanging head, scuffing feet in dirt>....I have such a nassy mind.

EgyptianGoddess said:

I almost spit on my monitor reading this. Shame on me <hanging head, scuffing feet in dirt>....I have such a nassy mind.

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Me too LOL.

alias octavia said:

I know what you mean. I saved a copy of the version I sent, but it is so many revisions ago.

Still no word for me yet, either.

I wish I just knew if they had contacted people yet, that way I can stop thinking about it

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Any updates?

I just heard a song for the first time - John Prine's 'Crazy as a Loon.' I liked the words so much I ended up downloading the whole album from Itunes. "That town will make you crazy/ Just give it a little time/ You'll be walking 'round in circles/ Down at Hollywood and Vine/ You'll be waitin' on a phone call/At the wrong end of a broom/ Yes, that town'll make you crazy/ Crazy as a loon"

Sounds like we are all doing the same monitoring for updates. My guess is that selection hasn't been announced yet because, as you mentioned, someone would have blogged about it.

I am going to call/email them on July 1st if we still haven't heard anything. The only good thing about the silence is that it keeps hope alive. Fingers crossed!!

I'm sure someone will post here, since the winner will certainly be from the Absolute Write community.

I hope everyone is working on their next books.

harmonyleo said:

Sounds like we are all doing the same monitoring for updates. My guess is that selection hasn't been announced yet because, as you mentioned, someone would have blogged about it.

I am going to call/email them on July 1st if we still haven't heard anything. The only good thing about the silence is that it keeps hope alive. Fingers crossed!!

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Fingers crossed. Knocking on wood. (Ouch.) The postmaster general served me with a restraining order this morning, telling me to stay at least 100 feet away from all mail trucks and the men who drive them. I tried to explain about the whole James Jones contest experience, and how the waiting makes otherwise sane people lose their minds.

I promised (through my attorney) to stop chasing after mail trucks, accosting mailmen and demanding to see their blue canvas mail sacks. What I heard was that the mailman wasn't complaining - it was my nosy and prudish neighbors.

JulieHowe said:

Fingers crossed. Knocking on wood. (Ouch.) The postmaster general served me with a restraining order this morning, telling me to stay at least 100 feet away from all mail trucks and the men who drive them. I tried to explain about the whole James Jones contest experience, and how the waiting makes otherwise sane people lose their minds.

I promised (through my attorney) to stop chasing after mail trucks, accosting mailmen and demanding to see their blue canvas mail sacks. What I heard was that the mailman wasn't complaining - it was my nosy and prudish neighbors.

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hahahahaha.....get even with the neighbors. Kill them off in your next book

James D. Macdonald said:

I hope everyone is working on their next books.

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You're allowed to work on more than one at a time? Schweeet

JulieHowe said:

Fingers crossed. Knocking on wood. (Ouch.) The postmaster general served me with a restraining order this morning, telling me to stay at least 100 feet away from all mail trucks and the men who drive them. I tried to explain about the whole James Jones contest experience, and how the waiting makes otherwise sane people lose their minds.

I promised (through my attorney) to stop chasing after mail trucks, accosting mailmen and demanding to see their blue canvas mail sacks. What I heard was that the mailman wasn't complaining - it was my nosy and prudish neighbors.

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Well, I sent off an e-mail yesterday to the folks at the contest. No word back. Hopefully I won't be black listed for being a pest!

harmonyleo said:

Well, I sent off an e-mail yesterday to the folks at the contest. No word back. Hopefully I won't be black listed for being a pest!

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Thank you. As they always say, no news is good news, right?

UPDATE: Here is the e-mail I received back from the fellowship contest. At least we have another month or so to relax before we start haunting our inboxes again:

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]We are still in the process of selecting those who will move on to the next round. The final selection for that round will not be decided until August.


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harmonyleo said:

UPDATE: Here is the e-mail I received back from the fellowship contest. At least we have another month or so to relax before we start haunting our inboxes again:

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]We are still in the process of selecting those who will move on to the next round. The final selection for that round will not be decided until August.[/FONT]

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Thank you! My exhausted mailman also thanks you.

Thanks for the update!

Updated to add:

I've finally let it go and given up the ghost of James Jones. Hopefully one of you will be the ones to get the good news. My fingers are crossed and I'm hopeful that one or more AW regulars will make it to the second round.

alias octavia said:

Just saw a blog post dated yesterday from someone who has made it into the final round. He writes that there were 700 entries.

I wonder if all the notifications have gone out yet? *insert melodramatic sigh here*

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I think I saw the same blog (the title had the name "Falcons" in it, right?) This is what I'm confused about...it looks like this authors has two other books published. Isn't that against the rules of the fellowship?

I haven't heard about anyone else selected, have you?