The Phantom of the Opera: Chapters 14 & 15

Faith Moore (0:00)

Hello, and welcome to Storytime for Grownups. I'm Faith Moore, and this season, we're reading The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux.

Each episode, I'll read a few chapters from the book, pausing from time to time to give brief explanations, so it's easier to follow along. It's like an audiobook with built-in notes. So brew a pot of tea, find a cozy chair, and settle in.

It's Storytime.

Hello, welcome back. So now, I have actually been to Tennessee and come back again, and so now I can say, oh my gosh, what an amazing event that was. There were so many people there, and I was so touched and happy and excited to meet you all. And I don't know, I had the most wonderful time. It was so great to get to meet you in person. You know, it's funny, one of the themes, I guess, in my book Wooing Jane is this idea of your online relationships and your in-person relationships. And the idea is meeting people online is a wonderful thing. It's fantastic. But if you kind of build up those relationships in your mind as kind of your imaginary version of those people, then when you meet the people, you might feel kind of disappointed or confused that they are actually themselves. They're not your version of them, they're themselves. And they might be more complicated or more messy or more flawed than you thought. And the idea is that that's okay, right? It's not that you shouldn't meet people online, it's that when you do meet people in real life, you should remember that it is okay that people are messy and complicated and flawed. Reality is, in fact, the most important thing. And that is why it was so wonderful that I got to meet you guys in real life, some of you, because I love that we know each other now. I love that, I mean, this podcast wouldn't exist without the Internet, essentially. I mean, without a technology that allows me to record this here and then send it out to your phones and devices and stuff. It's a wonderful, magical thing. But also, it was a wonderful, magical thing to get to see you all and to know that there you all are. And, you know, you got to see me, the more complicated, messy version of me, and I got to see the more complicated, messy version of you. And I loved it. So thank you for coming. Thank you for... Some of you came from really far away to come to Franklin, Tennessee, and I'm really so moved by that. So thank you for taking the time to come. Thank you for spending the evening with me and my brother. It really, really was a dream come true for me. So I just want you to know that, and I want you to know how grateful I am that you came. And for those of you who weren't there, I'm so grateful to you as well, because I know that you are out there and you are real people, because I'm a real person and I'm so happy that you spend time listening to this show. I'm so happy that you write in. So thank you, everyone who was listening, for being a part of Storytime for Grownups in whatever way you are able to be a part of it. So thank you. And it really was, it was like a magical night. So thank you so much for being there. And thank you to everyone, whether you were there or not, for picking up a copy of Wooing Jane. If you haven't done that already, you can scroll into the show notes, pick it up from Amazon at this point. If you pick it up from the Landmark Bookstore, they will ship it to you, I'm sure, but it won't be a signed copy unless you ordered it before the event because I got to sign, I got to sign so many books. It was so cool. But so I've signed all the books that people ordered. But now, if you'd like a copy, and I hope that you would, please order it from Amazon. There is a link in the show notes. And wherever you bought the book, if you are enjoying the book or you've read it and you enjoyed it, please go on Amazon and give it five stars and leave a positive review because that, just like with the podcast, that helps people to find the book. And I would love it if more people learned about it, people who maybe don't listen to this show, but might like to read a romantic comedy. So also tell your friends, please. Okay.