Hello faithful readers ! (if I still have any after these long months) ;-)

Okay, so first I'd like to apologise for not having updated anything for such a long time - but, I do have a (fair few) valuable reasons:

1. My computer was being a jerk;

2. My computer decided it'd be a good plan to crash BIG time on me and lose half of my word documents (aka: my stories) which I hadn't been able to save on disk because my disk driver had been kaput for nearly six months (I'm still in mourning);

3. My computer put up a three-month long struggle against my informatics- obsessed friend, which resulted in a "personal matter/war", as my friend called it, between him and my will-go-to-any-extent-to-remain-unfixable computer - three month long period in which I was unable to type anything I had written on paper;

4. My computer is still being a jerk.

But - as I suspect my computer will be a jerk until the moment comes that I finally summon up enough courage (or just plain weariness) to chuck it out the window, I've decided to just deal with it and manage as best I can, for as long as it lasts.

Now, I've been typing and writing this particular story ever since I got my computer back (about two months ago) but I haven't been able to post it on here because when my friend took my computer away, he managed to save the remaining word documents that still were on my hard disk (and which included this story) and his hard disk, but forgot to put them back on mine when he gave it back to me. And since we're both the worst possible procrastinators/clumsy/disorganised people on the face of the earth, two months after getting my computer back, I still haven't got my word documents reinstated yet.

But, now, with holidays coming up, it should (should, mind) only be a matter of days before I finally get it back and can fill in the gap (about a chapter-length part, I think) between the last part I had written before my computer crashed, and what I've been writing since then. So, as soon as I get my documents back and have dealt with that missing chapter, there should be lots of updating in perspective!

Thanks for being so patient! And I will totally understand if you've given up waiting by now. But - well - bear with me! It won't be another five months gap between chapters, now, I promise!

Oh, and on another note: if I so happen to still have readers, and if new ones stumble in, I'd really really appreciate it if you took the time to review me - not only to tell me what you liked (or disliked, for that matter) but also what you think needs improving - constructive criticism, in other words. Writers crave for this. Really, it's essential for a young would-be author to know what his flaws and weak points are - just as it is important for him to know what his readers do appreciate in his stories. Firey A. wrote a very complete column (well, complete enough for this site) about reviewing; it's definitely worth looking at! Now, because I started writing this story over a year ago (and just don't have the courage or *alas!* time to go back and edit it or even re-write complete parts of it I'm realising now sound horrible), I'd be positively terrified to read a review of the very first chapters of this story. But since then, I think - I hope - that I have improved a lot of points. But is that true? A vous de me le dire. (translation : you're the ones supposed to tell me that) ;-)

Once again, thanks for your patience in reading this veeeery long author's note!

And more updating SOON! Stalk me if I haven't posted anything by the beginning of next year. ;-)