Nymphadora Tonks and the Liquor of Jacmel - it's FINISHED. :D

Yes, the epilogue, Between Midnight And Day, has finally been posted here at FA and here at CoS!

After more than two years and about 280,000 words, it's actually finished.

*mops brow*

*opens champagne*

Huge, huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed the fic or indeed simply read it -- I know it's been an up-and-down sort of thing with long gaps between chapters sometimes, and two years on one story is a bit excessive! (I'll probably do a 'DVD commentary' and confess all -- or at least most -- at some point. :D) Special thanks as always to a_t_rain aka Lady deMimsy, for both her encouragement to start writing the story in the first place, and for her own stories which first made me realise that this fanfic stuff could actually be good as well as fun, and worth having a go at.

More trumpet blowing ...

So, a RL post for a change! Feel free to skip, especially as this may not make any sense to non-philatelists. :D

Tomorrow and Saturday sees the first full-scale UK national stamp exhibition outside of London for ... well, possibly ever, actually, but decades at least. This is Torquay 2006, which very conveniently for me just happens to be taking place about ten minutes walk from where I live. The trumpet-blowing (as in 'one's own') comes in because I put in a couple of entries with some success.

My speculative national-level 'Social Philately' entry of The 1971 Postal Strike ended up with an unexpected Large Vermeil medal (one step below gold) and the even more unexpected BPT Trophy for Best In Class. Since I wasn't sure whether the judges would dismiss out of hand an entry of material such as this which is usually regarded as (a) far too modern and (b) far too philatelically contrived, this counts as a RESULT. (I made sure to include almost all genuine commercial strike post mail.)

My main international-level 'Postal History' entry For Safe Conveyance: registration and associated services in Great Britain 1705-1907 also ended up with a Large Vermeil. This was a mild disappointment as I was hoping to scrape a gold(!), but it wasn't far short and offers scope for getting the extra couple of marks needed on a later attempt. The Best In Class here was another registered mail entry (national level) of somewhat different approach, but then it did have some superb out-of-my-price-range items including ones I know must have cost the bloke five-figure sums because I remember seeing them come up at auction! (But then again, I also have a number of things he doesn't have. Must ... resist ... saying ... nyah ... nyah ...)

On the other hand, being ten minutes away mean I ended up spending the best part of ten hours on my feet putting up frames, leaving me footsore and leg-weary (and somewhat embarrassed that I've let myself get so unfit). Not to mention needing to turn up at about half past eight tomorrow to finish off after staying up until about half past one to watch This Life. :) Still, it's going to be fun.

Normal service will doubtless be resumed for the next post. :D