It Pays to Answer Your Phone.

I got some good news this week, and the moral of the story is this: sometimes it does pay to answer those random phone calls.

 

If you’re like me, you never answer calls from numbers you don’t recognize. I’ve gotten too many telemarketers and scammers, so I’m always cautious about answering my phone with a number I don’t recognize. I also have phone security apps that weed out a lot of the spam calls.

 

So, on Sunday, when my phone rang from a number in Atlanta, and I knew I didn’t recognize it, I let it go to voicemail. And forgot about it, especially when my phone didn’t alert me to a voicemail. Later in the day, I was scrolling on my phone and noticed an alert on my voicemail screener. Usually, those calls are spam, but if I get an alert, I check it. 

 

The cool thing about that app is it transcribes the voice mail so I can get a hint at least about the type of voicemail it is. This time, the app couldn’t transcribe the message. I was positive that meant it was a scam. But I listened to it anyway.

 

Good thing I did, because it was from the contest chair for the Maggie Awards, a contest run by the Georgia Romance Writers. Although it only asked me to call them back, I knew it would be good news of some sort, since you never get calls that you LOST a contest.

 

I called back immediately, left a voicemail, and unblocked the strange Atlanta number that I’d blocked before. Oops. She called me right back and let me know I’m a finalist in the contest for my book Unlock My Heart. Winners will be announced at their conference in October.