After a horrible day at work where I was pulled in about 16 different directions for nearly 10 hours, I arrived home to find my registration information had arrived for my FINAL WEEK OF RESIDENCY in my Master’s degree program.

It’s so hard to fathom that it’s really been two years since I started at Seton Hill…and yet in ways it seems like it’s been forever ago that I received my welcome letter and first registration packet (the day before I walked across the stage to receive my BA).

Both of my thesis evaluators passed me, however their feedback couldn’t have been more different!  As I read the first evaluation to be returned to me, even though she’d marked “Pass” on each of the criteria, I began to wonder if she’d really meant to pass me, as it seemed that she found my manuscript flawed in several ways.  But she passed me, so I was happy with that.  Then, about two weeks later, I received the evaluation from my second reader.  She also passed me on everything and was so complimentary her comments brought tears to my eyes.

In between receiving the two evaluations, I learned that this same manuscript (although in an earlier version) is a finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers’ GENESIS contest for unpublished authors in the Contemporary Romance category.  I had entered a much earlier version of the first chapter (completely different) two years ago with mediocre results.  If my entry ends up being one of the top 5 scores coming out of this round, it will be taken straight to the pub board at WARNER FAITH publishers (well, the proposal, synopsis, marketing strategies, and first three chapters will be reviewed—I’ve got a lot of work to do between now and June 1 when all this is due to the contest coordinator!).  Warner Faith doesn’t guarantee the winning manuscript will actually be published, but 1st Place is $500.  And one of their editors is the one I pitched it two 2 years ago at the Denver ACRW conference who requested a full manuscript (she was with a different house then).

But anyway, I digress.  I received my registration packet in the mail today and one of the pages in it is the THESIS PRESENTATION schedule – the schedule of when all of the graduating students will be presenting their—I mean our—theses publicly.  I have been really worried about this schedule—not so much about the actual presentation, but about what time I would be scheduled to present.  Having been through this several times now, I know that the later presentations are not very well attended, and I knew if they saw my genre of “Inspirational Romance” at a 7:00 or 8:00 slot (the 1-hour timeslots begin at 5 p.m.), I would be lucky to have five or six people there, especially if it’s later in the week.  I am pleased to report that not only am I presenting on the first night, I’m presenting in the first timeslot at 5 p.m.  And, because we have a small graduating class, I’m only presenting opposite one other person, unlike previous residencies where three or four presentations are going on at the same time.   I don’t know yet when my teaching session will be, but at least I know for sure it won’t be on the same day as my thesis presentation—as there are no teaching sessions the first day!  I’d actually really like to do my teaching session on Thursday morning (the first time available) so that I can really relax and have fun the rest of the week.

So, getting that in the mail today really turned around my bad day.  Now, if only I can get some even better news on Thursday, my week will be perfect!