Greetings, All ~ I can now reveal what the two secrets I have been keeping for a long while were. In December I was notified by John Reid that my storoem entitled the Old Salty Poems had won 2nd Place in the 2008 Tom Howard Poetry Contest. In addition to being quite an honor, it awarded a $1,000 prize to the winner. Then, in January I was notified that I had won another cash award in the contest. My free-verse poem entitled The Assembled Waiters had won a High Distinction award, with a prize of $200. I was informed that I was the only poet to win two cash awards in the contest. I was asked to please not tell anyone about my winning until they released the official results in mid-February. So, I have been sitting on this great news for over six weeks. The official results have now been released. See them at: http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/tompoetry/2008/tp08_pastwinners.php Needless to say, I am extremely pleased at both the two honors and at the $1,200 winnings. That is more money than I have earned from all five of my published books together; plus it is most pleasing to have my poetic talent officially recognized. Cheers for now! Harry |