A couple days ago, my husband and I had to chance to drive up to Portland to attend the 2024 Oregon Book Awards. I had the spectacular honor of having DRAGONS ON THE INSIDE (AND OTHER BIG FEELINGS) be chosen as a finalist for this year's Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children's Literature, and we went to be part of the ceremony where the winners in multiple categories would be announced.
We'd been informed a SHORT acceptance speech would be appropriate so I had jotted down a few notes that afternoon, and then hid them in my program because I didn't want to look too eager (or maybe presumptuous ...)
I didn't win.
But the thoughts I had planned to share have stayed with me, and I realized they still hold true, whether as a finalist or as a winner. So for what it's worth, here's the speech no one got to hear:
"There's a verse in the New Testament that describes God as "able to do far more than we ask or imagine." This feels like one of those moments.
I have some big feelings myself right now, and the biggest one is gratitude. We never get to a moment like this by ourselves and I am grateful for all the people that have opened doors and stood beside me and shared their skills and talents to bring this story to life.
I am grateful for my critique partners, Kim Griswell and Judy Cox, who saw this story from the first draft and believed it had potential.
I am grateful for Free Spirit Publishing and Teacher Created Materials for also seeing potential and especially to my editor, Cassie, for helping to shape this story to be able to reach readers that might need some extra help with big emotions.
(I'm also grateful to them for realizing that the working title, "On the Inside," might have too many connotations to jail time to be entirely appropriate for kids :D.)
I am beyond grateful to Alexandra Colombo for her wonderful and whimsical illustrations that partnered with this story to add fun and color and joy to a sometimes difficult subject. As a writer, there's always a moment of apprehension when you hear an illustrator has been chosen, and Alexandra's work was a joy from the first drawings to the final copy.
I am grateful to Literary Arts and the Oregon Book Awards for the recognition of what I think is a notable book, and to the teachers and librarians that have invited me in to talk with their students about the joys and the practices of writing. I am also grateful for Susan Moore [Director of Programs for Writers], who's emails answered all the right questions and who, even in an email, set an example of relatable voice that I hope to emulate some day.
And I am grateful for my husband Randy, who for well over 30 years has balanced the sometimes precarious realities of being a sane man married to a creative partner. He has consistently supported my career and my calling in ways that often surpass my own enthusiasm or belief in myself, and I am amazed to do life alongside someone like that.
To all the finalists of this year's Oregon Book Awards, it has been an honor to have my name and my work stand alongside yours. May your words continue to soar."
It was a fun evening of expectation and of hearing from and about the work of other creative Oregon writers. I got to meet some of those that did win, and more of those that didn't. I got to dress up with my husband and have a couple days to travel time with him. I got to drink a Shirley Temple from a plastic cup (which delights me in ridiculous ways :D). I still get bragging rights as a finalist, and I got to add some wonderful work to my own library as well. So I may not have delivered my speech, but I consider myself a winner anyway. And I'm grateful for that, too.
