It’s been a long few months of writing, applying, and nervously waiting, but the time has come. We have carefully reviewed your applications—all 73 of them—and painstakingly narrowed the field to a few exceptional finalists. Of those we have chosen one winner, whom we notified yesterday, and now that she has accepted it our great pleasure to announce that the 2013 “That’s a Pretty Good Excuse” scholarship goes to Alissa Leonard.

The quality of the applications was higher than we expected, all across the board, but not only did Alissa win the most votes, she won ALL the votes: the four podcasters and our mystery sponsor picked her application unanimously. She will receive full tuition to the 2013 Writing Excuses retreat, a free room in the nearby hotel, and up to $500 for airfare to get her there. Her writing samples show a lot of promise, and we hope this retreat helps her hone her skills to an even higher level.

Those of you who didn’t win, we still love you! You are amazing writers and amazing people, and we hope you continue working hard on your dreams. Keep writing, and make sure to say hi if we ever see you at another convention or conference.

To Alissa and the other retreat attendees, we’ll see you in June!