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Wednesday 16 January 2008

ABNA update

The ups and downs of an upublished author...

This morning I came in to find an email from April Hamilton, a fellow entrant on ABNA, which is so kind I'm going to quote it in full;

'I'm disappointed to find Trav Zander didn't make the semis. I read some of it and thought it was eminently worthy of advancement. As you yourself said in your Amazon blog, sometimes it just comes down to a poor pairing between the manuscript and the reviewer. In any event, this is just one small pothole in a long road, and you're already a seasoned traveller, already making your way in other venues and competitions. Don't let it get you down, and remember, in the end all but one of us ABNA'ers are destined to lose this contest. Take a day off to feel bad if you must, but then, it's right back to the keyboard with you!- April'

Which was a nice way to discover I didn't make the semi-finals.

By the way, I've just read April's entry and it's excellent and made me laugh - do read it here and write her a review.

7 comments:

  1. Hard luck, Lexi. Still, I think you've done brilliantly to get as far as you did. Not many others did.

    Onwards and upwards. And what a lovely way to find out.

    Nik.

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  2. Thanks Nik.

    I was just unlucky in the reviewer I was assigned. Difficult to see how else Amazon could have winnowed the entries; but luck played too large a part.

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  3. Apologies for the preemption of your blog Lexi.

    Yay Plum! Get that sheepskin. Whoop, whoop, whoop.

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  4. Gnomic is the word.

    I'm off to Alan's blog - I mean online journal - to look for an explanation.

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  5. Alan, I've just read your blog, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm really looking forward to hearing all the details of your being back at college thirty years on.

    And I love your aphorism; "Any enterprise which does not cause the digestive system to rebel and the mental apparatus to look at itself with no little apprehension is hardly worth undertaking."

    But...I still have no idea what Norm's talking about.

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  6. The comment may lose some of its lyricism if parsed but here goes:

    Apologies [acknowledging and expressing regret or asking pardons for a fault or offense] for the preemption [to appropriate, seize, or take for oneself before others] of your blog [a web based log of thoughts, ideas, and opinions] Lexi [author of said web based log of thoughts, ideas, and opinions].

    Yay [an exclamation of pleasure, approval, elation] Plum [a shortening of Alan’s online nom de plume]! Get that sheepskin [Informal- A diploma. Presumably derived from diplomas being printed upon vellum-- A fine parchment made from calfskin, lambskin, or kidskin]. Whoop [A loud cry of exultation or excitement], whoop [A repeat of the loud cry of exultation or excitement], whoop [A third utterance of said loud cry of exultation or excitement for the simple heck of it].

    I hope this clears things up.

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  7. All is now as crystal for this simple Britisher.

    Thanks for the elucidation, Norm.

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