Keeping Current With Kat

Merry meet, my friends! I just felt the need to inform me of obsessions that have grown and died, etc., etc., keeping current and updated with your phriendly neighborhood Phantom. Why? Because I am. . .bored. And this is my logic. I shall annoy you, because I am bored. I am bored, so I shall annoy you. Okay? Actually, I don't care. I'm just going to begin.

My Current Book: Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrel. Read this book. Read this book. Read this book! It is a completely remarkable work. It's kind of like Tolkien, a lot like Jane Austen, a lot like Rowling, and in the style of maybe. . .Susan Cooper. This book is so brilliant. It's an alternative history of England, in which magicians figure prominently. The two most famous are Johnathan Strange, a dashing young fellow who battles Napoleon's army alongside the Duke of Wellington, and Mr Norrel, an eccentric, older man who keeps most magic for his own and stifles some of Strange's more innovative works. Combine this with the mysterious figure of John Uskglass, the Raven King, and Strange's obsession with him, and you have the makings of one of the best books I have ever had the pleasure to read. I know it is long, but as yet I have not been bored for one minute, and I'm four hundred fifty something pages in. It does not let go of you for a moment, partly due to Susanna Clarke (the author)'s witty narrative, which includes a great amount of Austen-esque social commentary. It also reminds me vaguely of Oscar Wilde at points.

But I can't just tell you about the book. I feel the need to do more. Read on:

Character Most Comparable to Erik: John Childermass, Mr. Norrel's Man of Business. A dark, dodgy fellow who is courteous, but always appears rather dangerous and wild. "Childermass knew the world. Childermass knew what games the children on street corners were playing - games that all other grown ups had long since forgotten. Childermass knew what old people by firesides are thinking of, though no one had asked him in years. Childermass knew what young men hear in the rattling of drums and the tooting of pipes that makes them leave their homes to be soldiers - and he knew of the half-eggcupful of glory and the barrelful of misery that awaited them. Childermass could look at a smart attorney in the street and tell you what he had in his coat-tail pockets. And all that Childermass knew made him smile, and some of what he knew made him laugh out loud, and none of what he knew wrung from him so much as a ha'pennyworth of pity." It rather reminds me of the way Erik spends a paragraph in Susan Kay talking about how in genius he is, then points out that no one will ever love him. Also, you know, dark smart people.

Kat's Muses: The ones most likely to appear in future stories? I'm pondering stories about, well, almost all of the guys from Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrel, but top on my list would be a love story about Childermass. Perhaps an OC, or perhaps an existing character, or perhaps. . .oh no, I might write a slash story. Don't let me do it! I only write MercutioRomeo and BorachioConrade slash! (If you understood that, you are a Shakespeare geek, and a fiction writer.) Oh no, now I have an idea for a story. . .I have to shut up!

Status of My Stories: "The Night Club" is on Chapter Seven and going strong. We're presently celebrating Easter. Max is mad at me because I am serving martinis that are red, the color of the Republican party. Erik is mad at Ben because he is hiding Easter eggs in his organ pipes. We are all mad at Ely because she talked for two full Word pages without a paragraph break last chapter. Phillip Quast has gotten involved somehow, and who is coordinating the Easter egg hunt but Johnathan Strange and a certain totally random fairy with thistledown hair from the same book!
"Requiem" my tale about the aftermath of Erik's death and the tasks he sets for the others in his will is on it's fourth chapter, but I have writer's block. What task would Erik set for Raoul? Why would Raoul accept, anyway.
"Clouded Eyes" my story about Erik's meeting with Adrien, a bitter blind boy, is FINISHED! YEAH! *Confetti falls*
"Guardian" my story about Erik's protection of Raoul, is on it's second chapter and zipping right along. Wait, I'm not sure those who haven't read Leroux understand. See, Raoul is in the Navy in Leroux, and therefore is going on an expedition to the North Pole. No joke. Erik realizes Christine can't live without Raoul, and goes along to protect him.
"Hello Neighbor!" the tale of Max and Erik living near eachother refuses to get off the ground. Argh.
"This Next Encore" the story of Nadir, Erik, Ayesha, Raoul, and Christine's being reincarnated as junior high school kids is coming along well. Raoul has just appeared. To those who haven't read Kay, Ayesha is Erik's Siamese cat. But she was reincarnated as his cousin. Nadir is now a dog. Yeah, I know. . .quite odd, but actually serious, and going well.
"Cirque de Sancte" is on hiatus. I might restart it, though. A story about Erik's time at a traveling circus, post Christine.
"A World In Twilight" my what if story about Christine and Erik's family, I have writer's block on. Ay.

Current Web Residences: This blog, and www.fanfiction.net/~simplyelymas/. Or, if the link doesn't work, search for SimplyElymas with Phantom of the Opera as a filter.

Favorite Quotes: "Can a man kill a man by magic?"
"I suppose a man might, but a gentleman never could."
-Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrel.
"I am adorably strange."
-Max
"For each and every thing in life, there is a matching font."
-Ben

I remain, gentlemen, your faithful and obedient servant,

J.G.