I won!

Well here I sit on a gloriously sunny Sunday morning in November, and the view from my sitting room window is that of a beautiful autumn-dressed tree standing against a sky of pure blue. Lovely.

The view from my head, however, is as exciting as hell, frankly. 

Saturday's Child (previously titled A Tainted Legacy, see this post for rantings about how Downton Abbey is copying me!) has won the Piatkus Entice award for Historical Fiction 2012! The prize is a publishing contract with the Ebook-first imprint of Little Brown, and by all accounts that will happen next summer. 

To say I'm thrilled and delighted is an understatement, of course, and at the moment there are no words to adequately describe how it does feel. I can yell and jump around (and I have done) I can post status updates and smile as every word appears on the screen in front of me (and I have done) I can make new blog posts trying to explain how amazing it feels to have won this prize (and I am doing). But it will never be enough. It's potentially life-changing, I have no doubt of that. 

I feel validated and vindicated, hopeful and happy, inspired and invincible. Now I can move on, knowing I'm not banging my head against a brick wall, that I do have something I can work on and with, and that people want to read. If I never publish anything ever again (and I hope to goodness THAT'S not the case!) at least I can say that Saturday's Child, and my Grandma Mary, will be immortalised together. 

So watch this space, my friends, for further news!