So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye

[applespice]

Well, I did get eliminated tonight in LJ Idol.

I was pretty broken up about it for the first little bit, but I am feeling much better now. This is pretty consistent with how I handle competitive losses - because I'm such a competitive person and so ambitious about the things I love, I tend to feel REALLY awful if I don't perform up to my standards and reach the goals I set for myself. In the case of Idol, I decided pretty early on that I was going to gun for Top 10. I knew that it was a long shot and that I would have to work hard to make it happen, but I am the kind of person who always shoots for the tough target. Usually it works out reasonably well for me because it means I don't give up, and this competition is really no exception. I made it all the way to the top 14, and that's not too shabby.

So I am disappointed that I didn't make my goal, but I did do pretty well all things considered, and I have to be glad for that.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me through the last several months. You guys have saved my keister more than once, and I will never forget how so many of my friends went to bat for me. This competition has meant so much to me, because it's given me the confidence to write and, more importantly, share my fiction. That was a big step for me, and you guys have all been so wonderful through the whole thing.

I really do love to write, guys. I've loved it since I wrote my first story in the third grade (about a baby seal trapped on an island, lol) and my teacher told me that she thought I had what it takes to become a great writer. Since then, that's been my dream. Never faltered. I might do other things in the interim, but I won't give up on someday being able to write professionally. This competition has made me believe in that dream again, and that's been the best part of it all.

And now I've got to get back to writing about my actual life on my LJ... don't get excited, flist, you remember how boring that was!



(And thank you so much to the people who commented on my last post! I hope to respond to those comments at some point, but whenever I look at them my eyes get all leaky again. Thank you so much, it means more than I can say :))

Comments

[star-healer.livejournal.com]

You might be in it to win, but, the stories are so awesome that hopefully you are setting them aside somewhere and could print a booklet of them sometime! :P

[naiveprophet.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry you were eliminated, I loved your entry!

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

I am really sorry that you got eliminated! As I was just saying in a private email, you would have been my first choice for Spirit if you had not.

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

In my mind, You belong in the Top 10. Just know that. I thought that early on from one of the first posts I commented on. Why do you think you were the first person I e-mailed when intersections came up and I realized I could work with you?

THANK YOU for working with me and helping me discover a new area of fiction I never would have considered in my life.

[stationery.livejournal.com]

I think it's so awesome that you made it as far as you did! Just keep doing what you're doing and you'll definitely get noticed.

[cetacea.livejournal.com]

Aw, I didn't see any of these posts until too late. Sorry! I think all of your stories were wonderful, and getting this far is pretty amazing! ♥

[team-jessie.livejournal.com]

You played an excellent game! I had you singled out early on (when I needed a spreadsheet to keep track of everyone) as a favorite of mine, and you kept that standard up the whole way through. You've got an impressive body of work to look back on now!

[michellerz.livejournal.com]

Awwww *hugs*

You're gonna make it to HIGHER than the top 10 next time, because you're awesome. Shit, you're more than awesome, you're MISS FLETCHER. :D

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I'm sorry hun! I would have totally joined and voted for you, but by the time I made it that far back in my flist catching up, the poll was closed.