Phantom of the Opera discussion

I feel really bad self promoting but what the heck.

I have been working for a little while on a blog here -

http://phantomlit.blogspot.com/

pretty self explanatory. I am trying to review all the phatom books that I read :-). Some posts are more indepth that others...

I am also posting on my trip to see Love Never Dies last year and will be posting about my trip to see the 'changed' version in February.

Thats me.

Take care everyone :-)

Thanks for posting it, Alexandria!

You POTO fans needs to get to know Alexandria! She is a fun, funny and very sweet young lady!

Swannie

Thanks for your blog, Alexandria. I really enjoyed reading your views, especially on LND, which I remain iffy about. I presume the song which was rather "point of not return-Y" to you was "Under a Moonless Sky" which really thrilled me the first time i heard it, in spite of the fact that I did not like the idea of Phantom and Christine having a "relationship" the night before her wedding. You just cannot resist the beauty and poignancy of the song.It is my favorite so far.

Anne wrote: "Thanks for your blog, Alexandria. I really enjoyed reading your views, especially on LND, which I remain iffy about. I presume the song which was rather "point of not return-Y" to you was "Under a ..."

I am glad that you have enjoyed it so far :). Yip that was 'Beneath a Moonless Sky'. It got me from the first time I heard it. It isn't as 'deep' as Point of No Return but it is still fantastic IMHO. Yeah, I was a bit up in the air about the whole Phantom/Christin/night before the wedding thing but it made for one smashing song. :-)

I LOVE your Blog Alexandria! And great reviews! I was tempted to buy the Phantom Diaries, and glad I read your review first. Thanks for sharing with us here..will look forward to more :) Nicely done!

Sandi wrote: "I LOVE your Blog Alexandria! And great reviews! I was tempted to buy the Phantom Diaries, and glad I read your review first. Thanks for sharing with us here..will look forward to more :) Nicely done!"

Hi Sandi, glad you like it :) I know that there are quite a few 5 star reviews out there for Phantom Dairies so people do like it (don't know what the ages are of these people or what their phantomy experiance is mind you) but the immaturity of it just set my teeth in egde. Thanks :)

I've been playing around with the gadgets and have added a 'subscribe by e-mail' option on the blog. Woohoo, look at me being all techy. Yeah, not really lol. :-)

Thanks Alexandria! And I did! :)

Sandi wrote: "Thanks Alexandria! And I did! :)"

Cool. You'll have to let me know if it works. Since I have no idea if it does or not lol.Thanks :-)

The email subscription button seems to be acting up :(. But the 'yahoo' and 'google' follow buttons are working yay. Hmmm...don't know what's wrong with it...

Alexandria wrote: "The email subscription button seems to be acting up :(. But the 'yahoo' and 'google' follow buttons are working yay. Hmmm...don't know what's wrong with it..."

I havent gotten anything yet :(

:-( I don't know why it isn't working. Hmmm...google here I come :)

I hate computers! BUT I think I have it sorted! :-)

Ha! I subscribed!!! Got the verification email, so I'm in!

Alexandria, could you tell me a little more about your blog subscription? I'd love to do it, but I use my dad's computer...

FYI, I added Alexandria's cute badge and link to my homepage! Also, y'all should subscribe to my newsletter!

http://www.chansondelange.com

Sandi wrote: "Alexandria wrote: "The email subscription button seems to be acting up :(. But the 'yahoo' and 'google' follow buttons are working yay. Hmmm...don't know what's wrong with it..."

I havent gotten..."

Hey Sandi,
Did you click the activation link on the verification e-mail that you should have got? It may be in your spam folder...
:-)

I get Paisley's sub email...and I check my spam folder ..only the "dirty stuff" in there..should I subscribe again? ...you have me as a follower right?

Sandi wrote: "I get Paisley's sub email...and I check my spam folder ..only the "dirty stuff" in there..should I subscribe again? ...you have me as a follower right?"
Yeah, maybe trying again would be the best thing. Feedburner is telling me that I only have Paisley following by email...weird...:)

Alexandria wrote: "Sandi wrote: "I get Paisley's sub email...and I check my spam folder ..only the "dirty stuff" in there..should I subscribe again? ...you have me as a follower right?"
Yeah, maybe trying again would..."

Ok..I did it again...III let you know..

Ok Alexandria..it says it was confirmed! Check out the new folder I added in the group! :)

Yay! Sandi it did it this time! Wonder what went wrong...So if I post you should get an e-mail. The e-mails are set to go out for 11am at the latest (UK time) so I don't know what time that is for you. :)

I think what happened was before I never got that box that you put the letters in,all I got was saying I was subscribed..as for the time diff..hmm...Im on Eastern standard time..I remember when I went to Scotland they were 3 hours ahead of Canada I think?

I just subscribed! I'm not sure if it worked or not, though, I'm no technology nerd, so I'll have to wait and see!

Just got my first email Alexandria..very nice!! enjoyed reading! :)

Yay! Thanks for letting me know it works. Great :-)

Alexandria wrote: "Yay! Thanks for letting me know it works. Great :-)"

Your reviews were great! And Im with you on I LOVED that book! they only thing that I found kinda "hokey" was the singing to each other ..I guess if you could hear it..it would have been better, what did you think? And the ending? I wasnt expecting that! that was pretty clever on the authors part.

Yeah the singing was a bit...yeah lol. I have read some where the singing has been pulled of great but...yeah.
But I loved the ending. It was like. WOW! Totally didn't see that coming. I loved how it ended on such a happy note instead of having somebody on their death bed, it was nice and happy :)

I read your review of Letters to Erik, Alexandria, and now I want to read it more than ever!

Gemma Irene wrote: "I read your review of Letters to Erik, Alexandria, and now I want to read it more than ever!"

Im finished with mine Gemma..would you like to have?
Send me your address to my mailbox if you do, III be happy to send it.:)

That's all right, Sandi, I can wait. Thanks for offering, though!

Gemma Irene wrote: "That's all right, Sandi, I can wait. Thanks for offering, though!"

No problem..its here if you do..:)

Alexandria! Last email blog was SO good! anyone looking for great reviews (and opinions) you really must check out Alexandria's blog! :)

Just got your last email, Alexandria, and hardly stopped laughing! You made my day with that one!

Great review Alexandria of Love Never Dies in your recent email loved it! :)

I for one have enjoyed Alexandria's Blog. It fun to read others reviews,thoughts,opinions. And she has a way with words that make you chuckle.Then...someone has to spoil her fun (as well as ours) by bashing what she is passionate about to share with others..because they think they know better..or this is how it should be discussed/or not. Geez..why are there people who cant respect the hard work & time that someone puts into something they love and wish to share with others? Keep it going Alexandria! love it!

Sandi wrote: "I for one have enjoyed Alexandria's Blog. It fun to read others reviews,thoughts,opinions. And she has a way with words that make you chuckle.Then...someone has to spoil her fun (as well as ours) b..."

I'm with you, Sandi. Alexandria, your blog makes my day every time I read it. And though you can't please everyone, I wouldn't pay any mind to any critics. If they do know so much better, they can start their own blog, but until then, they need to step off their soapbox.

Gemma Irene wrote: "Sandi wrote: "I for one have enjoyed Alexandria's Blog. It fun to read others reviews,thoughts,opinions. And she has a way with words that make you chuckle.Then...someone has to spoil her fun (as w..."

Well said Gemma!! And I agree with you 100%! There is always someone like this to spoil things isnt there?

I posted this on my FB page in response to one of the rude comments left on Alex's blog:

A friend of mine has been posting her own personal reviews and opinions about all sorts of POTO related media and books, including Love Never Dies-which she has seen a couple of times. She makes it very clear that her reviews and observations are HER own as an individual fan of all things POTO. She has a cheeky and lighthearted way of communicating her opinions, does not claim to be a professional critic, and never takes herself too seriously.

Recently after posting her an article about her own experience in seeing LND, certain comments were left by LSD members, and IMO one of those members was really out of line in what she had to say to this blogger. It is fine to express your opinion when comments are open to all, but I think it is rude and unwarranted for LSD members to pounce on an individual's personal blog like this, whether they agree with the blogger's opinion or not.

After Alex (the blogger) made every attempt to keep the peace in her replies to the LSD members, this is a quote from one of the LSD posters:

"Now it's your choice whether this conversation becomes a mature discussion of Love Never Dies or a flame throwing contest. I don't see the need to flame those who's opinion doesn't match mine on LND but if you want to engage in a mature, civilized discussion of Love Never Dies I'd be happy to oblige. Or you can choose to ignore this comment because it doesn't mesh with your opinion. I don't care. No skin of my back. I'm just sick and tired of seeing those who don't like the sequel be constantly falsely accused by those who do that's all. Carry on everyone! :D"

I have seen this type of response all over the net being posted by LSD supporters on everything from personal blogs, to commercial articles and reviews. The example I posted above is NOT an isolated incident.

Freedom of expression is fine, I'm all for it-but the rudeness and disrespect, IMO is just plain wrong. Can't we please ALL make an effort to be more respectful in our communications?

Amen, Paisley!

Thank you so much Paisley! what an nice thing to do for her! Alexandria has been most upset by this
( we have been taking about it threw our inbox) She has worked very hard on this blog,( with little time of her own to spare) And it has made me so mad that someone could "bash" her so.( and you all know that REALLY bothers me when it comes to my POTO authors/bloggers here. So I decided to post it here what has been going on for her, and let her know we support her! :)

Well said, Vicki. Incidentally, I appreciated your stance against "Lerouxism" in your blog. It's the same thing as Alexandria's situation: a denomination of rabid, self-righteous phans thinking they have the right to pick on the rest of us because we're somehow wrong in our phandom. Thanks to both of you for doing your thing and defending your opinions!:)

Thank you So much ladies for supporting & giving Alexandria advice on how to deal & handle such people,so that she continues with something that she is passionate about and will be surprised when she checks in here.She came to me in my mail box asking my opinion if she was out of line,doing it wrong,being preachy..ect. Of course I told her much the same as you have,but didnt seem to be enough for my liking. So weather is right or not to bring it to the group I dont care,as I know you authors & bloggers have your share of this crap I knew it would help her out. So I thank you..and Alexandria we are here for you,we have your back..dont hesitate to ask Paisley & Vicki concerns..as you can see they have been there..and now have thicker skins! And Gemma who has been threw her own up's & downs..dont let this stop you!as Vicki said.."you go girl!"

Alexandria, I am sorry to hear about the meanies who have made nasty comments. I would prefer people would keep those type of comments to themselves. I know as a POTO book author, that some can be mean, especially if they do not like a Christian theme, like mine.I was deeply hurt by a couple of pposts. If I do not like something, I usually prefer to say nothing, unless my reasons have merit for not liking a book. Remember Bambi's mother's great advice"if you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all."

Anne wrote: "Alexandria, I am sorry to hear about the meanies who have made nasty comments. I would prefer people would keep those type of comments to themselves. I know as a POTO book author, that some can be ..."

So true Anne!

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words of support, encouragement and wisdom.

I will admit to getting a little chocked up when I clicked on my notifications and saw everyone's posts...

I was expecting some sort of comments coming my way for the Love Never Dies posts since it is such a soft spot for many Phantom fans and I did not mind this at all.

But I was more concerned about wither my way of expressing myself and delivery were being seen as offensive in general for all of my posts as that was the last thing on my mind (not just for those who disagreed with what I was saying but the way I was writing everything).

I started the blog for fun and a way to just go 'bluh' about Phantom without watching my families eyes glaze over with boredom and do not want to be seen as dictatorial through my posts and opinions.

But, it is Phantom Novel Reviews ;) and things will be going back towards to bookie side of things now that the LND reviews are out of the way(safer territory for all concerned I think :))

I don't know what else to say other than thank you again for your up-building words and support.

Take care

Anne wrote: "Alexandria, I am sorry to hear about the meanies who have made nasty comments. I would prefer people would keep those type of comments to themselves. I know as a POTO book author, that some can be ..."

I cant believe Anne that someone would attack you by leaving mean posts just because your book has been written in a christian theme. I havent had a chance to read your book yet,but in Susan Kays book did she not use religous beliefs as well? its a shame then they didnt learn anything then while reading it!

I'm one of those old, crotchety Leroux phans (and LSD members) who wave their canes at Raoul-bashers and Andrew Lloyd Webber, but I've stopped trying to change the way the Phandom thinks simply because it never makes a difference. I've been on the fringe of the Phandom for the past 5 years, simply because of how stagnant it is. In general, there's no such thing as logic; all debates tend to be far too emotional for my liking. So when phans bash other phans, there's often no point in listening because it's always fueled by overwrought emotions and hormones.

...Actually, the real point I'm trying to make is the Phandom in general is filled with some of the nastiest, craziest people I've seen in any fandom. It's best to hold your critics at arms' length and examine their posts for any legitimate criticism. Unless they're providing a level-headed critique/debate, dismiss them entirely.

Sorry to hear you're having troubles on your blog, but you did pick a dangerous phandom to express your opinions to! ;D

So true Lindsay!I dont think since taking over this group have I ever seen fans that are So passionate & emotional on the play,movie,sequel,book..you name it..sometimes its taken a little OTT..oh well Alexandria Im sure will do fine..she loves what she writes about & that's what counts.