The Best of....

I feel like the word BEST is a very ambiguous term.

Dictionary.com had the following definitions of the aforementioned word:

1. of the highest quality, excellence, or standing
2. most advantageous, suitable, or desirable
3. largest; most
4. the highest quality to be found in a given activity or category of things

Pretty straight forward I think. Basically someone who can be ranked as #1 among their peers.

But where the ambiguity for me is how can someone truly be the best? Like first of all, who has the authority to rank anyone or hold a position that gives them the right to deem someone "the best"? Secondly, what if there's someone else out there who is better, but simply didn't throw their hat in the ring? So, I guess what I'm trying to get to is the word BEST is very linear and all based on perception. Really the word BEST is an opinion, not really set in stone.

Well.....I was totally under that mindset until this went to print today:

I got a call about 2 weeks ago from my publisher informing me that my book had been named to Kirkus Reviews Best of 2013 Indie List! I literally screamed out loud when I got the news, but was told to keep it quiet until the magazine went to print and the website was updated on 12/16. Can I tell you how hard it was keeping this quiet? Ok, sure...I may have told a few people (like the important people--my family and really close friends) but the vast majority were informed today via social media.

So....the word BEST. Maybe not so bad?
;)

For a full listing; here's a Link!

I'm super excited about this honor and am really hoping it leads to bigger and better things for me and my writing!