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igenlodeAfter another fortnight I think I've finally finished my epilogue, on the note of Hertha trying to make the best of things:
(Except that, looking back at my former post, I now remember that I *still* haven't sorted out the Beauvais travel issue; my feeling is that Hertha's obstetrics appointments at least ought to take place by train...)
In the process of writing this epilogue it occurred to me that the story probably ought to be titled in some way for what turned out to be the recurring image of 'the city on the high hill', representing Raoul's feelings for Christine: a beautiful but inaccessible sight to yearn for. I never did like "An Outsider and a Foreigner" all that much as a title, and it's not a particularly significant element in the completed story -- I was just scrabbling around for a title of some sort so that I could upload the first chapter to meet a challenge deadline now very long since passed! It served as a title for a stand-alone first chapter, which a 'Citadel' one wouldn't have done, but doesn't really form a theme for the story as a whole.
My initial thought was that I couldn't very well rename the story over a year after publication (not to mention the practical difficulties of changing anything on FFnet), but I'm coming round to the thought that I probably could. I can't imagine that any of the people who were initially interested still remember what it was originally called anyway, so won't be taken aback if chapter 2 pops up under a new name -- and the odds are that they may not still be around on FFnet anyway, or still in the fandom, given the level of churn. And I shall have to find a workaround for posting to FFnet anyway if I'm ever going to finish uploading that story, as I did promise I would do. I'd rather assumed I would have library access at the point that the story was actually finished :-(
It occurs to me that this means I now have *two* novel-length manuscripts to type up and edit, and no writing to procrastinate the process with :-p
I suppose I now have the option to switch to cycle-based exercise in place of deliberately walking places so that I can oblige myself to write en route, but I'm very worried about my bicycle; I've had three rounds of repairs since December, and yet the last time I used it the gears were going wrong yet again. I did a lot of fiddling with the adjustment and managed to get it into a position where the middle gear could successfully be selected, but it started making disturbing noises after that, and I wonder if all I actually managed to do was to pull the wheel sideways in the forks. Unfortunately it's very hard to be certain what you are hearing when you are surrounded by heavy traffic and/or have an icy head-wind blowing past your ears...
I was horrified to discover by chance that the Royal Mail is telling people current 1st and 2nd-class stamps are going to be made obsolete in favour of 'bar-coding'; on further investigation, it's not as bad as my original impression. Stamp booklets are not going to be phased out altogether in favour of smartphone app/JavaScript-driven print-it-out-yourself labels -- they are simply bringing in a new stamp design for sale and invalidating further use of the old ones as of next year. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/02/anyone-with-stacks-of-stamps-at-home-has-less-than-one-year-to-u/
Although I'm a bit worried about the idea of the two elements being "connected using the Royal Mail app" -- presumably that doesn't mean you need to run compulsory software to be able to post a letter?
What I imagine this *does* imply (probably comprising an active part of the intention) is that people like me will no longer be able to eke out our supply of stamps by re-using the ones we receive, and which the Royal Mail has become extremely lax about post-marking in recent years. Which is fair enough, because it *is* bilking the post, but it has been a lifeline for me over the past eighteen months. I've even been able to post a couple of small packages using uncancelled Large Letter stamps, which wouldn't have been an option otherwise. (At the current rate of consumption, my last remaining booklet of stamps is going to run out before January next year in any case, so I'm not particularly worried about whether or not I'll be able to 'swap' them -- but getting a supply of new ones becomes much more urgent than before. Yet more nagging worries.)
Sun was still streaming into the room. I smiled brightly at Raoul and dropped a kiss on top of the baby's head, tired and sore and bracing myself for the future. "We'll manage, I'm sure."
(Except that, looking back at my former post, I now remember that I *still* haven't sorted out the Beauvais travel issue; my feeling is that Hertha's obstetrics appointments at least ought to take place by train...)
In the process of writing this epilogue it occurred to me that the story probably ought to be titled in some way for what turned out to be the recurring image of 'the city on the high hill', representing Raoul's feelings for Christine: a beautiful but inaccessible sight to yearn for. I never did like "An Outsider and a Foreigner" all that much as a title, and it's not a particularly significant element in the completed story -- I was just scrabbling around for a title of some sort so that I could upload the first chapter to meet a challenge deadline now very long since passed! It served as a title for a stand-alone first chapter, which a 'Citadel' one wouldn't have done, but doesn't really form a theme for the story as a whole.
My initial thought was that I couldn't very well rename the story over a year after publication (not to mention the practical difficulties of changing anything on FFnet), but I'm coming round to the thought that I probably could. I can't imagine that any of the people who were initially interested still remember what it was originally called anyway, so won't be taken aback if chapter 2 pops up under a new name -- and the odds are that they may not still be around on FFnet anyway, or still in the fandom, given the level of churn. And I shall have to find a workaround for posting to FFnet anyway if I'm ever going to finish uploading that story, as I did promise I would do. I'd rather assumed I would have library access at the point that the story was actually finished :-(
It occurs to me that this means I now have *two* novel-length manuscripts to type up and edit, and no writing to procrastinate the process with :-p
I suppose I now have the option to switch to cycle-based exercise in place of deliberately walking places so that I can oblige myself to write en route, but I'm very worried about my bicycle; I've had three rounds of repairs since December, and yet the last time I used it the gears were going wrong yet again. I did a lot of fiddling with the adjustment and managed to get it into a position where the middle gear could successfully be selected, but it started making disturbing noises after that, and I wonder if all I actually managed to do was to pull the wheel sideways in the forks. Unfortunately it's very hard to be certain what you are hearing when you are surrounded by heavy traffic and/or have an icy head-wind blowing past your ears...
I was horrified to discover by chance that the Royal Mail is telling people current 1st and 2nd-class stamps are going to be made obsolete in favour of 'bar-coding'; on further investigation, it's not as bad as my original impression. Stamp booklets are not going to be phased out altogether in favour of smartphone app/JavaScript-driven print-it-out-yourself labels -- they are simply bringing in a new stamp design for sale and invalidating further use of the old ones as of next year. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/02/anyone-with-stacks-of-stamps-at-home-has-less-than-one-year-to-u/
Although I'm a bit worried about the idea of the two elements being "connected using the Royal Mail app" -- presumably that doesn't mean you need to run compulsory software to be able to post a letter?
What I imagine this *does* imply (probably comprising an active part of the intention) is that people like me will no longer be able to eke out our supply of stamps by re-using the ones we receive, and which the Royal Mail has become extremely lax about post-marking in recent years. Which is fair enough, because it *is* bilking the post, but it has been a lifeline for me over the past eighteen months. I've even been able to post a couple of small packages using uncancelled Large Letter stamps, which wouldn't have been an option otherwise. (At the current rate of consumption, my last remaining booklet of stamps is going to run out before January next year in any case, so I'm not particularly worried about whether or not I'll be able to 'swap' them -- but getting a supply of new ones becomes much more urgent than before. Yet more nagging worries.)
no subject
Date: 2022-02-15 10:26 pm (UTC)The Royal Mail has had massive problems with fake stamps recently - that's why they're going over to the barcodes.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-15 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-20 12:15 am (UTC)What you could do, potentially, is keep "An Outsider and a Foreigner" as the title of the first chapter, which would retain a thread of continuity with its original publication -- although then, of course, you'd have to come up with titles for all the subsequent chapters as well...
no subject
Date: 2022-02-20 05:06 pm (UTC)So for Chapter 1, I've used "Can it be Christine?", which is of course the *canon* line from Raoul's recognition scene, but which, like "Elementary, my dear Watson", he doesn't ever actually say in the rewritten dialogue here, and for Chapter 2 -- now awaiting final revision -- I used "We Can Make it Work", which is the theme of Raoul's marriage proposal, but which it turns out neither of them quite says verbatim ;-)
Ironically, "An Outsider and a Foreigner" would fit Chapter 2 better than Chapter 1; it was a direct quote from that chapter in the first place, which is what gave me the idea, but picked because I realised that it could theoretically be taken to apply to Christine instead of Hertha. But Hertha's 'foreign' status isn't really central to the story as it eventually came out, while Raoul's unattainable feelings are...