Rurally Screwed nominated for a literary prize

I’m pinching myself. My book Rurally Screwed was just nominated in the nonfiction category for the 16th Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards. I am so honored and excited! I never win anything! And probably won’t this time either! (Actually, not true — I won a bubble gum blowing contest at day camp in the fourth grade for which I was awarded a family pack of Hubba Bubba bubble gum, one of the defining moments of my childhood.)

Here’s the thing about being nominated in the nonfiction category in a state like Virginia. Do you know how many books about the Civil War are published by Virginians in a given year?  A lot. Like, so many I can’t even count that high. Which means that my book, with its “unexpected, unpretentious — and very funny — heft” (NPR.org), may be like the lame gazelle galloping at the back of the herd; ripe for a take down by the more stately nonfiction tomes about more serious matters, like — oh, I don’t know — THE HORRORS OF SLAVERY, and other big topics pertaining to The War of Northern Aggression.

But who knows? Maybe this is the year the powers-that-be are looking for a book that deftly explores working in women’s magazines while a loved one deploys, and how to eat and enjoy a scrumptious deer neck taco. Fingers crossed! Winners will be announced in October. (Can I wait that long?)

(See a run down of the Library of Virginia’s past nominees and winners here.)

(To buy an autographed copy of Rurally Screwed, call and order from my local bookstore Books & Co. here.

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