Congratulations Barb!

Congratulations Barb (AKA Caridad Ferrer) on winning the Rita for her book Adios to My Old Life. This is a wonderful book from a fantastic new author that everyone should put on their "new authors to check out" list.

Barb calls this book "the little book that could." She originally entered her little book in the YA and Best First Book categories of the Ritas. The YA category was cancelled and Barb was stuck. In order to enter the Best First Book category, you also have to enter another category. But none of the other categories fit. The second best category had a word requirement that Adios didn't meet, so Barb chose her third choice, Contemporary Single Title. That meant that Adios, a YA novel, was being put up against adult novels that could have been much longer, but she had no other alternative.

Imagine her delight to find out that she'd finalled in BOTH categories. And now imagine her glee (and the glee of her friends) to hear that she won the Contemporary Single Title Category, rather than Best First Book, which seemed her best chance. But Barb shouldn't be surprised. The little Book that could has been surprising her all along. She should be used to it by now.

Congratulations Barb! I hope you are enjoying yourself tonight. You deserve it!