That Profound Secret and Mystery: The Artist and Too Much Information






Says Masha:




"But all of those acquaintances are your relations."




"Odd! Jane has not complained of it."





  1. The little Elizabeth/Bingley Facebook vignette is hysterical and spot on, and filled with creativity. :) Definitely shows how well you're able to inhabit Austen's characters, even for a few short lines ;)

    1. Haha, thanks! That's such an impossible linguistic mashup that it was difficult to write and risky to publish, but I had so much fun with it that I couldn't help myself. ;)

  2. HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, the Austen bit had me rolling! You ought to publish that as its own post - it would probably be viral in about ten minutes. Please, please, please? I really want to know someone famous. You know, so I can brag about it on Facebook.


    1. Maria, LOL. The ultimate irony would be just copying and pasting it into Facebook itself. Of course, FB doesn't do italics, which spoils the effect a little. :P

      Are you serious about wanting it in its own post?

    2. Absolutely I'm serious!!! Not that you're beholden to any whim of mine, but I'm pretty sure it would go viral.

    3. Not that the rest of the post wasn't worth reading - but most Facebookers are looking for more instantaneous gratification.

  3. I loved the Austen bit!

    And I thought the part on how viewing conversation artistically causes trouble in life was so true! As is the desire to enjoy and preserve a sense of mystery in life.

    I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been to be a Christian fan when Rowling made those statements! Especially if some family members were having trouble with the books already! I'd actually always seen Dumbledore as gay anyway, so it wasn't a surprise, but I do hate it when author's feel the need to reveal ALL the details! Mystery, and privacy are important for characters too, we know so much about them, they deserve hidden aspects in their lives just as we do. At least, that's how I see it. I felt kind of like Rowling betrayed Dumbledore, like a priest sharing confessions..

    1. Thanks, Masha! I figured you'd sympathize with the part about viewing conversation artistically. :)

      I've never met anyone else, online or otherwise, who caught on to Dumbledore's being gay before Rowling actually said it--so props for that! I can see certain suggestions of it looking back, mostly in the flamboyance. The fact itself doesn't bother me, but the fandom hoo-hah did; I quit listening to at least one well-known Potter podcast over it, and had a rather painful debate with one of fandom's biggest names over whether people who held certain standards of sexual morality ought to be treated as Death Eaters. And did I ever get tired of Christians using that as one more reason to call the books evil and dangerous.

      Apparently I'm still not over it. :P

      But I do agree with you about mystery and privacy being important for characters. Even with my own, whom I know and love deeply--there are places I feel obligated to respect their own secrets, not just in writing the book, but in my mind.

  4. It wasn't so much the flamboyance as it was..um..I was trying to imagine him in love, and I couldn't really see him in a relationship with a woman, he had a sense about him of being gay..which, I mean, I guess I have to give Rowling credit for writing a subtly gay character who in no way "acts gay".

    Your debate sounds SO PAINFUL! wow. And of all the reasons to reject the books, a non-practicing homosexual is not one of them, and it really makes Christians look bad..Another frustration in the love the sinner hate the sin discussion. :( I don't blame you for not being over it..what a nightmare.

    Non-artistic, prying conversations are becoming the bane of my existence. :0 It's one of my major resentments against the Catholic, NFPing crowd, and it seems to be getting worse everyday. Not that I see people everyday..but I imagine them being worse, and then I do see them again and am proven right.

    1. Yes, nightmare is definitely the right word. :) Ah well, the debate is over now--though the attitude's not, I stay far away from that part of fandom--and most of the time, I've just learned not to talk about Harry Potter around some people.

      Haha, I know what you mean about the NFP crowd. Totally A-okay with talking about things that make my ears burn inside and out. It's not usually too big of a problem in my everyday life, as the only people really likely to get into that around me are family members (at least it's not random people in church!) But I won't even get into the online stuff. If I did, I'd have to create a false identity out of pure shame.

