Failstate: Nemesis is a Christy 2015 Finalist!

So if you missed the news, Failstate: Nemesis was named as a finalist for a 2015 Christy Award.

I actually spent parts of today obsessively checking the Christy website. I knew from experience that the finalists were usually announced around this time for the past two years, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it was going to happen today. I also knew that my publisher had submitted Failstate: Nemesis for consideration. Now I’m not so egotistical that I thought that I was a shoe-in or anything like that. I was simply curious to see what would happen.

Then I saw this announcement:

Are you ready? 2015 Christy Award finalists will be announced within an hour. Pass it on! Like us at http://t.co/YmTuaQY8tk

— Christy Awards (@ChristyAward) April 21, 2015

Unfortunately, I saw that right around the time I had to go pick up my older son from school. And that meant being disconnected from the Internet for about a half hour. When we got home, I hopped on to check my e-mail to see what, if anything, I’d missed. And that’s when I spotted this tweet:  

Congrats @JohnWOtte @JoanneBischof @mchristineweber 2015 #ChristyAward Finalists!!! http://t.co/uifoTnfnKI — JoJo Sutis (@JSutis01) April 21, 2015

So I knew I had made it as a finalist again, which is awesome, no two ways about it. But then I saw who my merry band of superheroes was taking on in the YA category: This Quiet Sky by Joanne Bischof (a book I’d not heard of before, but is now waiting for me on my Kindle) and…

Storm Siren by Mary Weber.

The moment I saw that, I knew how this would end. I’ve read Storm Siren. I loved Storm Siren. If I were judging this category, I’d be handing the trophy to Mary Weber right now, no questions asked.

So while it is an honor to be a finalist for the third year in a row, I’m good with just remaining a finalist.

But here’s the funny thing about this whole process. In the past two years, interesting things have spun out of being a Christy Award finalist.

The first year I was a finalist, I attended the awards banquet with my intrepid (and long-suffering) agent, Amanda Luedeke. While we were having dinner, I mentioned something to her about this idea for a non-fiction book that was rattling around in my brain, something I call The R-Rated Bible. She suggested I take a crack at writing the manuscript. I have, and I had a lot of fun doing it. There isn’t a home for that project yet, but there we go.

Last year, in the aftermath of Numb‘s status as a finalist, I shared this ironic story. Steve Laube, my publisher, touched base with me after I shared the story. We got to talking, and the next thing I knew, we were hammering out the details for The Hive to be published.

I may not have a Christy to my name, but that’s okay, because it’s an honor to be nominated, a little terrifying that I’m in such excellent company, and invigorating to see what might spin out of the situation this year.

Oh, but my money is still on Storm Siren. For sure. You should totally go and read that book. Like right now.