Yesterday really helped to boost my spirits. It's been a challenging year for me, even more so than usual since I returned from GRL, but when I get an acknowledgement from my peers for what I put so much time and emotional energy into, it's very uplifting.

When I woke up, the Finalists had been announced, and that was exciting enough. Building Bonds in combination with Safe Limits (from the Kiss of Leather series) had already received an Honorable Mention, and to get into the finals was about as much as I could've hoped for. But last night, I found out (through the tagging efforts of the lovely Cody Kennedy/Aisling Mancy) that they'd made it onto the runner-up list, and that was amazing! I gotta admit, there are some real heavy-hitters and great books in the category I was entered into (Gay Erotic Romance), so this makes it even more of an honor for me personally.

And guess what else? Through the unbelievably tireless work of Elisa Rolle, who coordinates the entire contest on her own, over $14,000 was raised for various LGBT charities around the world. I'm hoping next year will be even better.

Anyway, if you'd like to see the full list of winners and honorable mentions, you can find them at Elisa's blog HERE

If you haven't checked out the Kiss of Leather series yet, you can find out more about it HERE. Right now, Book 1, Building Bonds, is on sale for only .99 cents.