Fists and Lipsticks wins Soompi Fic of the Year 2008 (FOTY) for Most Original Plot

They say it's hard work paid off, but I say we still have a long way to go.

I learned that the results were posted after receiving a number of e-mails from Soompi and Fictionpress readers congratulating me for Fists and Lipsticks winning the FOTY this year for the Most Original Plot (with 65 votes).

My first reaction was the infamous "hyena grin" of course, hehe. The feeling was like winning the lottery or something, honestly.

EDIT: Hey, Miss Diana (Username: fairy~dream) from Soompi, thanks for giving me a cool banner ^ as a congratulations gift, hehe. Meia and I laughed out loud upon receiving it.

Knowing that people actually come and spend time to download and read your stuff of course makes me feel great, I mean who wouldn't? Apparently, the Mediafire downloads of the PDF version of Book 1 increased hundreds since the announcement for FOTY has been made in the forums, that is still excluding readers who gain access through Shoebox (meaning more people seeing my careless grammar mistakes, tsk tsk tsk).

As a prize for winning, Meia treated me out to dinner - a date in McDonalds, hehe.

I'm actually considering making a Version 5.0 PDF of Book 1 - rewriting it all over again to correct these errors after Book 2 finishes probably by the end of April or May this year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Currently, I'm already in Chapter 54 of Fists and Lipsticks 2: The Silver Crescent (I've posted only up to Chapter 43 though because I write in advance before posting and at the same time spacing out updates to let readers catch up) and I'm estimating it to be finished at around chapter 60 or 65. If I'm going for 60 though, the chapters are going to be quite long that it may overwhelm, so I'm thinking 65 is a better number.

I've been receiving reply posts and emails asking whether F&L2 will be finished before the next round of FOTY 2009 starts "so that they can nominate it again". To answer this question, YES, F&L2 would definitely be finished before October 2009, but to have F&L2 enter AGAIN in the 2009 FOTY in ANY category, I think I have to think it over first... or better yet, completely avoid thinking about it at this point in time. One year win is already an honor.

Just maybe, one year is already enough...

I'm afraid that by thinking about FOTY 2009 this prematurely, especially now that the contest results are still fresh and still lingering at the headlines, it just might affect how I write this story. I am more than thankful to those who continue to support this story - moreover, taking the time to actually vote and make Book 1 of F&L win. It's just that I wanted my PRIMARY goal in completing the second book to be the SAME as my goal in Book 1 and that is to be able to write and successfully complete my very first novel dedicated to Meia. If an award comes along with that, well, that's a big bonus. It's like getting a free toy along with your favorite McDonalds meal - and everytime you look at that toy in your bedroom at night, you're reminded of your McDonalds dinner (not the other way around - not remembering the toy instead of the dinner whenever you eat in McDonalds).

Am I making sense?

I want another burger, hehe.