Every would-be novelist dreams of getting that phone call. You know, the call that goes something like this: “We want to publish your book.”

Last Friday, Brandi Lynn Ryder picked up the phone to hear that her novel, “In Malice, Quite Close” was one of three finalists in a writing contest sponsored by amazon.com and publisher Penguin Group. It’s not a publishing deal, per se, but it is huge recognition in a famously competitive field.

“At first, I was a little shell-shocked, but happily so,”  Ryder said. “My heart started pounding … It’s a dream come true for me.”

Earlier this year, Ryder submitted her book to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest to find the next great “popular” novel. She made the first cut of 10,000 novels. The field narrowed to 2,000, 500, and then 100, and still Ryder was in the hunt. Now, Ryder finds herself in the final three.

“It’s been a bit of whirlwind since,” Ryder said. “Writers are used to being alone in a room with our laptop, so all this excitement is very welcome (but) unusual.”

Ryder, who grew up in the Gold Country town of Sonora, moved to Napa with her husband in 2001.

“I’ve been a writer all my life,” Ryder said. “I wrote my first story when I was 4.” She said she was 9 when she completed her first novel.

In school, Ryder penned her class song, several plays, and had numerous poems and stories published in campus publications. But the novel is her first love. She has written two: “Like a Guilty Thing,” and “In Malice, Quite Close.”

“In Malice, Quite Close” opens in San Francisco in 1979, where an unlikely relationship forms between 15-year-old Karen, who longs to escape her abusive father, and wealthy art collector Tristan Mourault. Tristan gains Karen’s trust and she soon adopts a new identity as his daughter, sending the two on an extraordinary odyssey that spans 15 years and two coasts.

The author said she draws inspiration for the book from her passions for Impressionist art and French culture.

From now through Thursday, amazon customers can go to www.amazon.com and vote for their favorite work after reading excerpts from the three finalists.

The grand prize winner will receive a publishing contract from Penguin Group, which includes a $25,000 advance. On May 27, the winner will be announced in New York City. Ryder will be there.

Even if Ryder doesn’t win the top prize, Penguin reserves the right to make an offer on her book. “I don’t want to jinx it, but regardless of the outcome there are good indications that the book will be published,” Ryder said.

There’s even some discussion of turning “In Malice, Quite Close” into a movie. “It’s been very exciting,” she said.

What will she do if she wins?

“Jump up and down,” said Ryder with a laugh.