Fondest greetings to you all. I go by the name of Mereidia; a name with no notable origin given that I created it for an original character in a fanfic that I've yet to write and most likely never will.

I have just recently completed my degree and have been unleashed upon the unsuspecting world. I once was an engineer, but now I am putting my writing skills to use (or killing them, depending upon your point of view) in the wide and wonderful world of patents and intellectual property law. For security's sake, I'm not going to say anything else about what I do but keep in mind that at work, I'm not permitted to exercise my real writing abilities. So if you find my writing less satisfying than with other authors and/or containing words and phrases that normal folk wouldn't regularly use (thereforeto, wherein, one of the at least two, etc.), constructive criticism is much appreciated but keep in mind that my talents are focused on making my numbers sing and my arguments confusing!

My interests...every author I've ever done a profile check on has listed their interests. Needless to say, I'll give you a little of mine here. I am a Phantom of the Opera phan and have been one since I discovered the musical, though I do prefer the books to the musical once I discovered them.

I also adore Harry Potter, thanks to Alan Rickman and his Severus Snape. And yes, three years ago, I would never have admitted this in public!

I am also a musician and played 4.5 years with my university orchestra and have moved on to join an orchestra and community band in my city. I have performed on several instruments in the woodwind section and I adore opera and classical music of all kinds; I could not live without my decomposing composers!

I also write ridiculous song parodies for fun. It's actually quite sad when you think about it...Weird Al can make a living at it, but I doubt that I will ever be able to earn more than a few chuckles with my pieces "Thanks to the Curve", "Hooked on Phonics Worked for Me, I'm Not Afraid to Show It", and "Calculus" which can be sung to Disney's "Under the Sea", "Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious", and "Be Our Guest", respectively. And yes, the second song's title is probably spelled incorrectly, but wouldn't you know that they don't have that word in spell check! They make my work a little less stressful and slightly more enjoyable. Maybe if I can ever get someone to sing them for me (my voice is comparable to a cat being skinned...alive...and very, very slowly...) which brings up another point that I would love to sing, but am not able to given my pitiful excuse for my vocal chords!

Speaking of my fictions...they are on hiatus for the moment as I am dealing with health issues and work issues; I'm in the process of being turned into a bloodsucking lawyer and lack the time to write. It is very depressing but I do promise that these things will be back up and running when things calm down.

How Hungry Would a Woman Have to be? - You guys liked this one, didn't you? ;) To sound insane, I reread it after several months and was rather surprised by it. It is undergoing a rewrite, just to get rid of little errors and will be reposted in the near future.

The Visitor - Nice, short and sweet. Maybe there will be a follow-up piece if I ever get another 'kiss' from Erik...I've already had a dream where I've complained to him about it and he complained to me about off-ing the resident spider in my bathroom! Apparently, I'm insane, but I suppose you already knew that by reading my phics...

Patron of the Opera - My favorite one to write, not your favorite one to read! It is almost finished but is also undergoing an extensive rewrite; it will most likely be completed first (so that those four readers I've declared my 'Faithful Four' can be appeased and won't have to wait any longer than necessary).

The Benefactor - I find it completely amusing how nobody liked this (I too dislike the first chapter) and that the biggest complaint is for the complete and utter lack of character reflection in the piece.Please believe me when I say that it is completely intentional on my part. I've a good reason forit and you'll see when I finally begin posting the entire will have a great deal of character reflection in alternating chapters especially as it will be a 'supernatural' piece.I know you haven't read it yet, but I have and I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of it!

Fathers and Sons - Just a piece I whipped up when I should've been working on my research project. It basically is the only type of conversation where I think Raoul and Erik could both be civil to one another. Heavily based on Kay's work, just like 'How Hungry'.