Well, yesterday I told you I had good news. Here it is — and I’m just going to go ahead and scoop the newspaper on it, since we’ll probably wait until the certificate arrives to put in a photo.

Last year, I placed third in personality / individual profile stories in class A (circulation less than 10,000) in the Inland Press Association Local News Writing Contest. This is a nationwide competition. My story which placed last year was about Ted Lewis of Shelbyville and his mission trips to Thailand.

Well, guess what? This year, I have received a second place award in the exact same category and division. This year, my winning story was about Anita Turner of Shelbyville, whose childhood friend was obsessed with reconnecting with her even though he lived half a world away.

CLARIFICATION: In my haste to write this post, I referred to Anita Fields by her maiden name, Anita Turner. Because some of the newspaper story is about her childhood, I refer to her that way a couple of times in the story, and I made a mental short-circuit when writing this post. She is now Anita Fields.