Okay, this is wild for me to even get to type this, but this past weekend I was named the League of Utah Writers 2021 Writer of the Year at their annual Quill Awards Banquet.
I’m still in shock.
Since joining the League in 2016, I’ve watched many authors I respect and admire accept this prestigious award. Each year at the banquet, I’ve listened as the Writer of the Year award chair, Carolyn Campbell, stood and described the accomplishments of the winner. It’s a fun guessing game as a spectator. She starts with vague details before zeroing in on the specifics. It’s exciting to realize you know exactly who she’s talking about and whisper your theory to your table mates. Then, when Carolyn says the name of the winner, the entire room breaks out in applause.
I genuinely never expected to be the person Carolyn described.
And I always thought that though most of us were in the dark, the new Writer of the Year knew in advance and could mentally prepare to receive such an amazing honor.
Nope. 😂
This year, as Carolyn introduced the award, she described how incredible it had felt for her the year she won. How she had sat there in growing disbelief as the description of that year’s winner began to sound more and more like her. I thought, “Wow, they didn’t used to tell them beforehand? I don’t know how I would handle that.”
Carolyn started to describe this year’s winner and bam, a few words in, a photo of me was suddenly on the wall. It might have had the words Writer of the Year above it…. I honestly can’t remember and it was only days ago.
I immediately burst into tears.
Aaaaaaand I’m crying again now.
I remember hearing Carolyn’s kind words and murmurs of support from the tables around me as my shoulders shook. Thank goodness I have a long author bio, because I needed a lot of time to process some emotions. I was still crying when I walked up to the podium to receive my plaque. I paused after coming back down the few stairs from the stage and stared out at the crowd for a moment. Everyone was on their feet, applauding and smiling, and I genuinely felt like I had stepped into another world.
Before my face popped up on that wall, Carolyn mentioned how this award can help drive an author forward and get them through rough patches in their career. On my way out of the banquet, past winner (and wonderful mystery author) Johnny Worthen stopped me and told me that you never stop being a Writer of the Year. It’s yours forever.
And I cried some more.
I have so much to be grateful for. A wonderfully supportive family, amazing friends who come to book launches or read my work, a writing community filled with love and opportunities for learning and growth, and now this. I’ll never forget it. ❤️
If you’re thinking, “Dang, I wish I could have seen Caryn bawl over this,” here’s me crying the day after.