My First Win Carries Many Emotions

How 22,000 Acts of Loving Kindness Brought More Than Kindness

Photo by Jennifer Grace Portraits

I lowered myself to the floor with legs stretched before me, phone in hand. I’d been named a finalist in a writing contest the month before and was eager to know if I’d won. I hadn’t been present during the awards banquet in New York the night before. No congratulatory email had been sent. No list of winners had yet to be posted on social media. I thought why not look once more before feeding the foster cats and putting myself to bed.

Snickers, sitting to my left, tenderly stretched his striped ginger paw to wrest the black rectangle from my grasp. Midnight, not as subtle as Snickers, glared at me with emerald eyes from his perch beside the stacks of canned food, willing me to fill their bowls. I couldn’t oblige. I’d come across a new post with a link to the results.

My heartrate accelerated with hope, but my stubborn thumb refused to click the link. It had become paralyzed by the wrestling match in my head. One side of my brain was chanting “you’re not worthy.” It had good reason. Earlier that day I had received another rejection from a literary agent, pushing the tally of “sorry, not interested” in my memoir to well over 100.

The optimistic side of my brain, the one that paid heed to successful writers who had traveled their own tumultuous paths to publishing, rebuffed negative Nelly with a loud “why not me?”

Midnight’s guttural “mop mop” turned into a high-pitched “meow” just as I clicked the link. Then another. Then a scroll. Then a click. Wait? What’s that? I won! Wait! What? Scroll. Click again. Check the icon. Is that really my name on the winner’s list?

“Joe,” I yelled, scattering cats as I ran down the hall. “I won. I won. I won a major award (my nod to the movie A Christmas Story.)” I skipped down the stairs while he walked up. I fell into a bear hug and a kiss of congratulations.

I ran back to the foster room with hands shaking, blood pulsing in my ears as I fumbled with Midnight’s medicine in the pill-splitter. I doled out food and meds. Lights out.

I ran to my computer to confirm that my phone hadn’t lied. There in the “Articles - Rescue” category of the Dog Writers Association of America writing contest was my name next to the trophy icon. Oh my, how many years has it been since I’ve won anything?

Joy welled past years of rejections to absorb the win. I sat in the creeping darkness of the winter night with a new kind of light shining on my confidence.

I’m old enough to know that “this too shall pass.” Nothing remains elevated on the teeter totter of life. But for now, I’ll gladly float as an iridescent bubble until the inevitable pop.

To the Dog Writers Association of America, thank you. What an honor to have my name alongside your passionate writers present and past.

To all of the judges who juggled busy schedules to review submissions, thank you.

To all the writers and creators who won, congratulations. May this achievement help you on your writer’s journey.

To all the writers and creators who did not win – yet. May the world continue to be enriched by the stories you share.

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THE WINNING STORY. 22,000 Acts of Loving Kindness

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A HOME FOR DOG WRITERS AND CREATORS. If you write about dogs, podcast about dogs, illustrate pictures of dogs, or photograph dogs you may want to consider being a member of the Dog Writers Association of America. DWAA provides several ways for you to elevate your work and get seen! In addition to the annual writing competition and a blog, DWAA produces Ruff Drafts, their quarterly newsletter.

AWE-INSPIRING DOG PHOTGRAPHY. I’m thrilled to be a Dog Writers winner alongside Angela Schneider, a three-time DWAA 2024 contest winner for outstanding canine photography. Her ability to capture the soul of her subjects, human and dog, pulls me in each time she shares a new post on her Cameras and Canines site.

CROSS-POSTED POST. Cross-posting is a sharing process on Substack where one author shares an already-written post by another writer to elevate their writing and the topic in their community. My story “Is It Cruel To Abandon A Pet?” was featured by Kristi Keller in her Dog Snobs site to get more eyes on the topic of pet abandonment, human suffering, and judgment.

PET HUMOR. Interested in more images of pets? I also produce a monthly newsletter called PetStack to celebrate the human-animal bond. The most recent post offers a dose of humor by the unofficial comedians of our homes.

I would make my day a bit brighter to know you passed this newsletter along to a friend, family member, co-worker…Please share!