OK now I had better finish it!
It's been another hectic week but I'm now on the Christmas break. *sighs* in relief! What with a very difficult calving the other day which was touch and go for Dori and Skip being poorly, and also trying to get the accounts to the tax people and check all my farm records for an inspection next week and never mind the ongoing hassles of the day job, time to write has been in short supply.
However, that must now change and hopefully I'll make some real progress in the next two weeks. I do have some news about my project which is both exciting and terrifying. I've been a bit reluctant to speak up as there are still a long way to go but I did tell a room full of people about it at the Smial meeting last weekend so there's no reason not to mention it here. But until it's actually finished, I think I'll just whisper quietly behind the cut.
Edit: Except that I can't get the darn cut to work so just squint at this!
Do you remember that ages ago, about two and a half years it would be, I said I wanted to set up a website about Aragorn? Well I've been working hard on the material ever since but it's increasing become apparent that a website is not the most suitable place for what has become a fairly academic piece of work. Some of the chapters are around 30 pages long and are unlikely to be read at one sitting. Increasingly, I've felt that I ought to write a book.
If I'm completely honest, while on the one hand the thought of poking my nose into the world of Tolkien scholarship where so many more experienced noses have been before me, is a very scary prospect, on the other, I've found much to say in what is, to my mind, an under explored area. I'm not only rehashing what's all ready out there either. I do have some origin ideas which I feel some at least might enjoy reading.
My two betas, Cairistiona and Estelcontar have dutifully waded through every chapter and I recently sent the latest, 'The Importance of Hope', to Ruth who was very encouraging [for those who don't know Ruth, under the name of Elizabeth Currie, she and her husband, Alex Lewis, have published three academic books on Tolkien]. With her praise ringing in my ears, I visited the MD of ADC books the other week [actually on an entirely unrelated matter] but, fortified by a glass of mulled wine, I dropped it into the conversation that I had been writing a book. Fortunately, Andy has actually read my fan fiction and immediately I was offered a publishing deal subject to his reading the manuscript but possibly best of all, he would pay all the costs. We even discussed which pieces of Ted's art work to use for the cover! Yes, my head was spinning rather! And at the Smial meeting last weekend, he confirmed that he's planning a combined Ted Nasmith art exhibition and book launch next August! Even though he must have mentioned 'Liz's book' and 'the launch of Liz's book' at least half a dozen times, I can't get too excited yet as I still have a huge amount of work to do and, of course, he still has to approve it. But it is an incentive to finally get on and finish. So please excuse me if I become even more absent than I have been but I'm going to try and get a first draft together for approval by the end of January.
Oh and the title, 'From hobbit to hero, the making of Tolkien's king'.
Wish my luck!
However, that must now change and hopefully I'll make some real progress in the next two weeks. I do have some news about my project which is both exciting and terrifying. I've been a bit reluctant to speak up as there are still a long way to go but I did tell a room full of people about it at the Smial meeting last weekend so there's no reason not to mention it here. But until it's actually finished, I think I'll just whisper quietly behind the cut.
Edit: Except that I can't get the darn cut to work so just squint at this!
Do you remember that ages ago, about two and a half years it would be, I said I wanted to set up a website about Aragorn? Well I've been working hard on the material ever since but it's increasing become apparent that a website is not the most suitable place for what has become a fairly academic piece of work. Some of the chapters are around 30 pages long and are unlikely to be read at one sitting. Increasingly, I've felt that I ought to write a book.
If I'm completely honest, while on the one hand the thought of poking my nose into the world of Tolkien scholarship where so many more experienced noses have been before me, is a very scary prospect, on the other, I've found much to say in what is, to my mind, an under explored area. I'm not only rehashing what's all ready out there either. I do have some origin ideas which I feel some at least might enjoy reading.
My two betas, Cairistiona and Estelcontar have dutifully waded through every chapter and I recently sent the latest, 'The Importance of Hope', to Ruth who was very encouraging [for those who don't know Ruth, under the name of Elizabeth Currie, she and her husband, Alex Lewis, have published three academic books on Tolkien]. With her praise ringing in my ears, I visited the MD of ADC books the other week [actually on an entirely unrelated matter] but, fortified by a glass of mulled wine, I dropped it into the conversation that I had been writing a book. Fortunately, Andy has actually read my fan fiction and immediately I was offered a publishing deal subject to his reading the manuscript but possibly best of all, he would pay all the costs. We even discussed which pieces of Ted's art work to use for the cover! Yes, my head was spinning rather! And at the Smial meeting last weekend, he confirmed that he's planning a combined Ted Nasmith art exhibition and book launch next August! Even though he must have mentioned 'Liz's book' and 'the launch of Liz's book' at least half a dozen times, I can't get too excited yet as I still have a huge amount of work to do and, of course, he still has to approve it. But it is an incentive to finally get on and finish. So please excuse me if I become even more absent than I have been but I'm going to try and get a first draft together for approval by the end of January.
Oh and the title, 'From hobbit to hero, the making of Tolkien's king'.
Wish my luck!