How Winning a Critique Built my Confidence- Thank You Angela Ackerman

Recently, I won a blog critique and a 5000 words critique from THE BOOKSHELF MUSE. The friendly and wonderful Angela Ackerman herself blessed me with the prize. I can sum it up in one word;

FATE.

I mean damn. The entire thing was like a magical carpet ride. First, I had to find these vaults to enter the contest. And if you've ever been to their site; they have an impressive thesaurus on the sidebar. For the contest we searched it to find these hidden vaults. There were only 25, and I had to find 5. I had about 15 minutes before work. Really, the odds were against me, right? Right? Well, for fun I tried a word. And the first one I tired I found a vault. The third one another. The fifth one, and so one. I had all five in fewer than six minutes.

Magic like that is fate.

So I entered.

I won.

I won a contest.

Me.

Not just a contest. I won a critique of anything I wanted by Angela. Yeah. I stared at the screen shocked for awhile on that one too. What to send?

Not only that, I won a critique of my blog. Yeah. (By the way, doesn't my blog look neat?) hahaha! I laugh because her changes were so subtle, I bet no one noticed, yet they've made my life so much easier, and probably yours too. What? She knows magic like that, you say? She does.
I will share one little tidbit;

" see you have your captcha on. This is something I would consider removing. Because blogger has a spam filter now, it will 'catch' your spam before it ever hits your comments... I know it seems like a small thing, but a lot of the folks I see in your comment box are ones that comment on a lot of blogs. Removing your captcha saves them time and they will appreciate it, trust me. :) If for some reason... spam gets through, you can always slap it back on, but I would give it a try and remove it--your readers will be happier. :) " --- Aka Genius

Now onto the critique. OMG It came at the perfect time for me. Of course, I always have something sitting here to critique, edit, beta read, publish, throw in the trash , rewrite, and cry over, but still... if I wanna call it fate, you'll let me, right?

THANKS FOR SHOWING ME HOW TO LOVE MY WORK until it shines

You see, thanks to her clear critique, I brought my piece to a new level. I liked my intro as was and without her critique I wouldn't have changed it. However, for fun, I gave it whirl. The change-- in my daughter's estimation-- is about a trillion times better than the last intro. Wow eh? "Gee Mom! Talk about improvements." Funny how small things can make all the difference.

THANKS FOR REMINDING ME OF THOSE WHO HELP ME until I shine

And! What really won my heart over was when she referred me to Lydia Sharp's site. You all know how her critique changed my series! If not, see So Close to the Project you're Stupid.

THANKS FOR GIVING ME CONFIDENCE in my own writing

Now of course, I couldn't use all her comments, but they did make me reflect on how others see my work. And, if I turned down her suggestions after she helped me improve my blog and my intro, do you know what that means? I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN MY OWN WORK! Now. That is something I have never been able to say.

Today, I stand before you a Writer with confidence, no more hidden addiction.
No more drowning alone in a sea of paper. I have come ashore to get down to business. You ready for this?

Thank you Angela for helping me see my work with new clear eyes, for showing me that I can make improvements to things that I like and turn them into things I love, for reminding me of those who help me along the way, and mostly for giving me the confidence to trust my own words. Finally, I can say, I am a Writer, and I can send my MS off to face its first rejections. ah... the magic in it.

I could say thank you all day. The Bookshelf Muse already has 2000 followers, and more, but if one isn't you, you are missing out. This girl is incredible, and she isn't alone over there!!

Now I know it was a prize and I should just say thanks and smile all pretty, but I really feel like I owe the universe or something for introducing this Canadian Chicky to me. So please, I'm giving everyone here a chance to recall one moment that changed your life or one person who helped you in a way that you can't repay. Leave it in the comments so others can see how lucky you are too and how magic is at work all around us, in great people like Angela who work so hard to help other writers become their very best.

Oh, did I say thank you Angela? Because really, this post is dedicated to you and to all the great friends and writers like you who have helped not only me, but other writers build their confidence so they too can get rejected properly. Thank you for being so nice to me too! It's a small thing, but sadly, not everyone is.

One day, it won't be a rejection and then what the heck will we do, eh? lol I guess, I'll come back and thank you all again! hahaha! Can't wait for that day!