SilmarillionWritersGuild : Messages : 3453-3484 of 3524

You are right that people want the familiarity of the MEFAs, only refreshed a bit, democratized, and with some of the more annoying edges sanded down. I think that is perfectly legitimate to suggest other types of awards as well.

I basically always loyally supported the MEFAs as the only game in town. Not because I liked very much about its setup or even liked its principles or goals. What I did and do like and really want is the opportunity to give authors who work so very hard and share their work so generously some kind of credit for what they produce, something that recognizes their attempts to hone their craft, try to entertain and engage, and also explore the canon in many different ways.

I think these new awards do attempt to keep the basic premises of the MEFAs in place with some long-needed refinements and revisions. I think I will be fat less cranky with the new setup than I was with the old, because enormous effort has been expended to make them more inclusive and with a greater ear to the ground, trying to determine what people want and need which does not shut out anyone else.

But it would be someday fun to have an award system which looks at different aspects of the literature. I don't know if anonymous would be my answer necessarily. Hey, who knows what kinds of things there might be an interest in if the fandom were larger. It was already shrinking I came around (and, frankly, that was not all bad either!).

Have you seen Zhie's proposed awards--smaller and lighter in spirit.

-----Original Message-----
From: Silver Trails <silver.trails@...>
To: SilmarillionWritersGuild <SilmarillionWritersGuild@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wed, Aug 1, 2012 12:02 pm
Subject: Re: [SilmarillionWritersGuild] Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!

Hi,

I suppose many people in the new awards are here, so I'll comment here and hope it's okay with Dawn. If it's not, tell me and I'll erase my post.

I am sure my idea won't change anything because I believe you mean to replicate the MEFAS in some way, but I thought I'd say what I think anyway. There are contests where people send their fics themselves, and then all the fics are uploaded without a name on them. And people vote without knowing who wrote each fic. Of course you'll know who the author is if you've read the fic before, but if you haven't read it, you won't know and there will be some measure of objectivity in your vote.

I know it's complicated to do, and that this is not the path you've chosen, but I got three awards on 2004 with fics that were not really that good. At least one of them was bad, I think. But my friends loved them and nominated them, and it was the first run of the award, so there were few nominations. I don't mean to say that the voting system is wrong, but it has a small flaw that might be solved if the fics were uploaded without the author's names. The good authors would win anyway. :)

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
To: SWG <SilmarillionWritersGuild@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 7:19 PM
Subject: [SilmarillionWritersGuild] Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!

Hi, all,

I am passing this on behalf of Neume for the Tales of Middle-earth (ToME) Awards.

Dawn

----

“I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure.”
Bilbo Baggins: Return of the King

As you may or may not have heard, the Middle-earth Fan Fiction Awards have come to a close. Whereas the MEFA archives will remain active for general perusal, the awards themselves will no longer take place. However, a group of former MEFA participants have begun the process of building a new readers' choice awards for the Tolkien fandom.

The Tales of Middle Earth Awards present the entire Tolkien fan community an opportunity to help build an award system from the ground up, and be a part of this evolution of our collective pastime.

Those of you that would like to see how the new awards are developing may join us at the ToME Awards Planning community on Live Journal (http://tome-awards.livejournal.com/).

You do NOT have to sign up for a (free) Live Journal account to view and comment; anonymous posting is allowed in the group, though we like to know your fannish name if you enter discussion.

Additionally, Open ID will allow you to leave signed comments on our LJ community just as if you had a LiveJournal account. If you use Gmail, Yahoo!, Blogger, Myspace, Flickr, AOL, or WordPress, you likely already have an Open ID! More information on Open ID can be found athttp://openid.net/

Sound like a fun way to celebrate our fandom? We’d love your help!

To volunteer, please visit the Welcome Post at http://tome-awards.livejournal.com/24431.html, and then stop by the Volunteer Roles thread athttp://tome-awards.livejournal.com/3611.html to see where your individual talents could be of best use.

The Volunteer Pool at ToME is looking forward to your participation and questions.

Thanks for reading!

ToME Promotion Team, "Taskforce 10"

Members:
blslarner
elleth
huinare
neumeindil
surgicalsteel
thelauderdale

elfscribe

Steward:
willtherebetime

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3454

From: "surgeon_ruth" <surgsteel@...>
Date: Wed Aug 1, 2012 6:25 pm
Subject: Re: Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!

surgeon_ruth

I'm also a bit dubious about just how 'anonymous' fic review actually is. I'm a
HASA reviewer, and that review process is supposedly anonymous. However, I find
that for the more prolific authors in the fandom, I frequently can figure out
who wrote the fic just by the description - and if I can't figure it out from
the description, I know within a paragraph or two of reading, even if I haven't
read the fic elsewhere before. My guesses have been right the majority of the
time - it's a combination of distinctive style and knowing what topics certain
authors generally write about.

In a few cases, I've even Googled the first couple of lines of a fic to see if
my guess was correct and have found the story, the author, the other archive,
the date posted, etc.

Point is, it's next to impossible in the Tolkien fandom to truly blind the
reviewing process unless it's a really new author in the fandom and they haven't
posted the work anywhere else on the internet.

--- In SilmarillionWritersGuild@yahoogroups.com, heartofoshun@... wrote:
>
> You are right that people want the familiarity of the MEFAs, only refreshed a
bit, democratized, and with some of the more annoying edges sanded down. I think
that is perfectly legitimate to suggest other types of awards as well.
>
> I basically always loyally supported the MEFAs as the only game in town. Not
because I liked very much about its setup or even liked its principles or goals.
What I did and do like and really want is the opportunity to give authors who
work so very hard  and share their work so generously some kind of credit for
what they produce, something that recognizes their attempts to hone their craft,
try to entertain and engage, and also explore the canon in many different ways.
>
> I think these new awards do attempt to keep the basic premises of the MEFAs in
place with some long-needed refinements and revisions. I think I will be fat
less cranky with the new setup than I was with the old, because enormous effort
has been expended to make them more inclusive and with a greater ear to the
ground, trying to determine what people want and need which does not shut out
anyone else.
>
> But it would be someday fun to have an award system which looks at different
aspects of the literature. I don't know if anonymous would be my answer
necessarily. Hey, who knows what kinds of things there might be an interest in
if the fandom were larger. It was already shrinking I came around (and, frankly,
that was not all bad either!).
>
> Have you seen Zhie's proposed awards--smaller and lighter in spirit.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Silver Trails <silver.trails@...>
> To: SilmarillionWritersGuild <SilmarillionWritersGuild@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wed, Aug 1, 2012 12:02 pm
> Subject: Re: [SilmarillionWritersGuild] Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking
for Volunteers!
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I suppose many people in the new awards are here, so I'll comment here and
hope it's okay with Dawn. If it's not, tell me and I'll erase my post.
>
> I am sure my idea won't change anything because I believe you mean to
replicate the MEFAS in some way, but I thought I'd say what I think anyway.
There are contests where people send their fics themselves, and then all the
fics are uploaded without a name on them. And people vote without knowing who
wrote each fic. Of course you'll know who the author is if you've read the fic
before, but if you haven't read it, you won't know and there will be some
measure of objectivity in your vote.
>
> I know it's complicated to do, and that this is not the path you've chosen,
but I got three awards on 2004 with fics that were not really that good. At
least one of them was bad, I think. But my friends loved them and nominated
them, and it was the first run of the award, so there were few nominations. I
don't mean to say that the voting system is wrong, but it has a small flaw that
might be solved if the fics were uploaded without the author's names. The good
authors would win anyway. :)
>
> CC
>
>
>
>
>
>
>   From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
>  To: SWG <SilmarillionWritersGuild@yahoogroups.com>
>  Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 7:19 PM
>  Subject: [SilmarillionWritersGuild] Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for
Volunteers!
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi, all,
>
>
> I am passing this on behalf of Neume for the Tales of Middle-earth (ToME)
Awards.
>
>
> Dawn
>
>
> ----
>
>
> “I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure.”
> Bilbo Baggins: Return of the King
>
> As you may or may not have heard, the Middle-earth Fan Fiction Awards have
come to a close. Whereas the MEFA archives will remain active for general
perusal, the awards themselves will no longer take place. However, a group of
former MEFA participants have begun the process of building a new readers'
choice awards for the Tolkien fandom.
>
> The Tales of Middle Earth Awards present the entire Tolkien fan community an
opportunity to help build an award system from the ground up, and be a part of
this evolution of our collective pastime.
>
> Those of you that would like to see how the new awards are developing may join
us at the ToME Awards Planning community on Live Journal
(http://tome-awards.livejournal.com/).
>
>
> You do NOT have to sign up for a (free) Live Journal account to view and
comment; anonymous posting is allowed in the group, though we like to know your
fannish name if you enter discussion.
>
> Additionally, Open ID will allow you to leave signed comments on our LJ
community just as if you had a LiveJournal account. If you use Gmail, Yahoo!,
Blogger, Myspace, Flickr, AOL, or WordPress, you likely already have an Open ID!
More information on Open ID can be found athttp://openid.net/
>
> Sound like a fun way to celebrate our fandom? We’d love your help!
>
> To volunteer, please visit the Welcome Post at
http://tome-awards.livejournal.com/24431.html, and then stop by the Volunteer
Roles thread athttp://tome-awards.livejournal.com/3611.html to see where your
individual talents could be of best use.
>
> The Volunteer Pool at ToME is looking forward to your participation and
questions.
>
> Thanks for reading!
>
> ToME Promotion Team, "Taskforce 10"
>
> Members:
> blslarner
> elleth
> huinare
> neumeindil
> surgicalsteel
> thelauderdale
>
> elfscribe
>
> Steward:
> willtherebetime
>
>
>
> --
> ~oOo~
> Dawn Felagund
> http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
> http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org
>

#3455

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Wed Aug 1, 2012 9:03 pm
Subject: Re: Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!

dawnfelagund

Hi, CC,

Your post is perfectly appropriate here. This is a good place for talking about fandom-related issues. :)

The idea of having the stories remain anonymous was brought up in the ToME discussion ... somewhere. :) In that discussion, it was decided that wasn't way people wanted to go for the ToMEs. You're right that they have been generally shaped similarly to the MEFAs, i.e. with the review-based vote system.

However, as I've said in other places, the ToMEs do not need to be the only gig in town. Oshun mentioned that Zhie is setting up a fannish award as well. The format being used by the ToMEs is really one of probably dozens of possible award formats. Our fandom is on the brink of what will likely be another boom in popularity, when the Hobbit movies are released. We can certainly sustain several different awards; I think it'd be a good thing if we did.

Since I brought this up to someone else who was dissatisfied with the ToMEs, and she took it completely the wrong way and assumed I was telling her that her ideas weren't welcome and she should go set up her own sandbox, I will clarify that that is not what I'm saying here! :) I'd encourage anyone interested in the ToMEs to propose their ideas; they might catch on! :) However, I think this fandom needs more than one award, just as it needs more than one archive. When I started the SWG, it wasn't because I was dissatisfied with HASA and OSA and the other places I was playing at the time; I wasn't. But there seemed to be a need for a Silm-only archive, so I met it. It wasn't an unwillingness to work with the existing archives but a desire to do something totally new. I think that the dissolution of the MEFAs has inspired a lot of people to think about what they'd like to see in a Tolkien fandom award; I hope a few of them at least run with those ideas, as I think recognizing the effort and talent put into our fandom is a good thing.

Dawn

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:02 PM, Silver Trails <silver.trails@...> wrote:

I am sure my idea won't change anything because I believe you mean to replicate the MEFAS in some way, but I thought I'd say what I think anyway. There are contests where people send their fics themselves, and then all the fics are uploaded without a name on them. And people vote without knowing who wrote each fic. Of course you'll know who the author is if you've read the fic before, but if you haven't read it, you won't know and there will be some measure of objectivity in your vote.

I know it's complicated to do, and that this is not the path you've chosen, but I got three awards on 2004 with fics that were not really that good. At least one of them was bad, I think. But my friends loved them and nominated them, and it was the first run of the award, so there were few nominations. I don't mean to say that the voting system is wrong, but it has a small flaw that might be solved if the fics were uploaded without the author's names. The good authors would win anyway. :)

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3456

From: Silver Trails <silver.trails@...>
Date: Wed Aug 1, 2012 11:25 pm
Subject: Re: Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!

silver.trails

I seldom participated in the MEFAS because I had no time to review. I was in the "do not nominate list" for a while too. I believe that the ones who win the MEFA awards now are good writers, many of them friends of mine. But I've seen many good fiction not being nominated because nobody knows the writer. Anyway, just wanted to give some input. When I was in the MEFAs list, input was asked for, but never taken into account. I'm glad you are working on changing that. Good luck! =)

From: "heartofoshun@..." <heartofoshun@...>
To: SilmarillionWritersGuild@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 1, 2012 12:46 PM
Subject: Re: [SilmarillionWritersGuild] Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!

Hi,

I suppose many people in the new awards are here, so I'll comment here and hope it's okay with Dawn. If it's not, tell me and I'll erase my post.

Hi, all,

I am passing this on behalf of Neume for the Tales of Middle-earth (ToME) Awards.

Dawn

----

elfscribe

Steward:
willtherebetime

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/

#3457

From: Silver Trails <silver.trails@...>
Date: Wed Aug 1, 2012 11:34 pm
Subject: Re: Re: Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!

silver.trails

I am a published author in my career, and in the academic world the anonymous review by peers works perfectly fine. Of course we are not in search of an award, but trying to publish an article in an arbitrated journal. Of course you can guess who is the author many times, but that doesn't mean you'll approve something badly written. After all, we have a reputation to uphold. I am aware it would not really work for awards, no, but I believe it would be nice if it did.

From: surgeon_ruth <surgsteel@...>
To: SilmarillionWritersGuild@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 1, 2012 1:25 PM
Subject: [SilmarillionWritersGuild] Re: Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!

I'm also a bit dubious about just how 'anonymous' fic review actually is. I'm a HASA reviewer, and that review process is supposedly anonymous. However, I find that for the more prolific authors in the fandom, I frequently can figure out who wrote the fic just by the description - and if I can't figure it out from the description, I know within a paragraph or two of reading, even if I haven't read the fic elsewhere before. My guesses have been right the majority of the time - it's a combination of distinctive style and knowing what topics certain authors generally write about.

In a few cases, I've even Googled the first couple of lines of a fic to see if my guess was correct and have found the story, the author, the other archive, the date posted, etc.

Point is, it's next to impossible in the Tolkien fandom to truly blind the reviewing process unless it's a really new author in the fandom and they haven't posted the work anywhere else on the internet.

--- In mailto:SilmarillionWritersGuild%40yahoogroups.com, heartofoshun@... wrote:
>
> You are right that people want the familiarity of the MEFAs, only refreshed a bit, democratized, and with some of the more annoying edges sanded down. I think that is perfectly legitimate to suggest other types of awards as well.
>
> I basically always loyally supported the MEFAs as the only game in town. Not because I liked very much about its setup or even liked its principles or goals. What I did and do like and really want is the opportunity to give authors who work so very hard and share their work so generously some kind of credit for what they produce, something that recognizes their attempts to hone their craft, try to entertain and engage, and also explore the canon in many different ways.
>
> I think these new awards do attempt to keep the basic premises of the MEFAs in place with some long-needed refinements and revisions. I think I will be fat less cranky with the new setup than I was with the old, because enormous effort has been expended to make them more inclusive and with a greater ear to the ground, trying to determine what people want and need which does not shut out anyone else.
>
> But it would be someday fun to have an award system which looks at different aspects of the literature. I don't know if anonymous would be my answer necessarily. Hey, who knows what kinds of things there might be an interest in if the fandom were larger. It was already shrinking I came around (and, frankly, that was not all bad either!).
>
> Have you seen Zhie's proposed awards--smaller and lighter in spirit.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Silver Trails <silver.trails@...>
> To: SilmarillionWritersGuild <mailto:SilmarillionWritersGuild%40yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wed, Aug 1, 2012 12:02 pm
> Subject: Re: [SilmarillionWritersGuild] Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I suppose many people in the new awards are here, so I'll comment here and hope it's okay with Dawn. If it's not, tell me and I'll erase my post.
>
> I am sure my idea won't change anything because I believe you mean to replicate the MEFAS in some way, but I thought I'd say what I think anyway. There are contests where people send their fics themselves, and then all the fics are uploaded without a name on them. And people vote without knowing who wrote each fic. Of course you'll know who the author is if you've read the fic before, but if you haven't read it, you won't know and there will be some measure of objectivity in your vote.
>
> I know it's complicated to do, and that this is not the path you've chosen, but I got three awards on 2004 with fics that were not really that good. At least one of them was bad, I think. But my friends loved them and nominated them, and it was the first run of the award, so there were few nominations. I don't mean to say that the voting system is wrong, but it has a small flaw that might be solved if the fics were uploaded without the author's names. The good authors would win anyway. :)
>
> CC
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
> To: SWG <mailto:SilmarillionWritersGuild%40yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 7:19 PM
> Subject: [SilmarillionWritersGuild] Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi, all,
>
>
> I am passing this on behalf of Neume for the Tales of Middle-earth (ToME) Awards.
>
>
> Dawn
>
>
> ----
>
>
> “I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure.”
> Bilbo Baggins: Return of the King
>
> As you may or may not have heard, the Middle-earth Fan Fiction Awards have come to a close. Whereas the MEFA archives will remain active for general perusal, the awards themselves will no longer take place. However, a group of former MEFA participants have begun the process of building a new readers' choice awards for the Tolkien fandom.
>
> The Tales of Middle Earth Awards present the entire Tolkien fan community an opportunity to help build an award system from the ground up, and be a part of this evolution of our collective pastime.
>
> Those of you that would like to see how the new awards are developing may join us at the ToME Awards Planning community on Live Journal (http://tome-awards.livejournal.com/).
>
>
> You do NOT have to sign up for a (free) Live Journal account to view and comment; anonymous posting is allowed in the group, though we like to know your fannish name if you enter discussion.
>
> Additionally, Open ID will allow you to leave signed comments on our LJ community just as if you had a LiveJournal account. If you use Gmail, Yahoo!, Blogger, Myspace, Flickr, AOL, or WordPress, you likely already have an Open ID! More information on Open ID can be found athttp://openid.net/
>
> Sound like a fun way to celebrate our fandom? We’d love your help!
>
> To volunteer, please visit the Welcome Post at http://tome-awards.livejournal.com/24431.html, and then stop by the Volunteer Roles thread athttp://tome-awards.livejournal.com/3611.html to see where your individual talents could be of best use.
>
> The Volunteer Pool at ToME is looking forward to your participation and questions.
>
> Thanks for reading!
>
> ToME Promotion Team, "Taskforce 10"
>
> Members:
> blslarner
> elleth
> huinare
> neumeindil
> surgicalsteel
> thelauderdale
>
> elfscribe
>
> Steward:
> willtherebetime
>
>
>
> --
> ~oOo~
> Dawn Felagund
> http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
> http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/
>

#3458

From: Silver Trails <silver.trails@...>
Date: Wed Aug 1, 2012 11:40 pm
Subject: Re: Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!

silver.trails

Hi! :)

Just wanted to say what I think, but I don't expect the new awards to change because of it. I don't participate. I was maybe musing out loud because I feel comfortable to do it in the list. (smile)

I am perfectly fine in the SWG archive, with the challenges and the B2ME month and so on. I've been in many fandoms since 1997, and I no longer feel the need to get an award. Of course it's very nice when someone reads my stories and gives me feedback on them. It's nice to chat about fandom issues and meet new people. =)

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
To: SilmarillionWritersGuild@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 1, 2012 4:03 PM
Subject: Re: [SilmarillionWritersGuild] Tales of Middle-earth Award Looking for Volunteers!

Hi, CC,

Your post is perfectly appropriate here. This is a good place for talking about fandom-related issues. :)

Dawn

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:02 PM, Silver Trails <silver.trails@...> wrote:

I am sure my idea won't change anything because I believe you mean to replicate the MEFAS in some way, but I thought I'd say what I think anyway. There are contests where people send their fics themselves, and then all the fics are uploaded without a name on them. And people vote without knowing who wrote each fic. Of course you'll know who the author is if you've read the fic before, but if you haven't read it, you won't know and there will be some measure of objectivity in your vote.

I know it's complicated to do, and that this is not the path you've chosen, but I got three awards on 2004 with fics that were not really that good. At least one of them was bad, I think. But my friends loved them and nominated them, and it was the first run of the award, so there were few nominations. I don't mean to say that the voting system is wrong, but it has a small flaw that might be solved if the fics were uploaded without the author's names. The good authors would win anyway. :)

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3459

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Thu Aug 2, 2012 2:21 pm
Subject: August 2012 Newsletter!

dawnfelagund

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/august2012.php

Hi, all,

Last night, I posted our August 2012 newsletter:

Once again, August is our annual Akallabeth in August challenge! While the First Age gets lots of love from the Silmfic community, we sometimes overlook the high drama and intriguing characters from the Second Age. During August, we encourage our members to show the Second Age a little love by either trying their hands at a Second Age story, poem, essay, or work of art or reading some of the excellent Second Age work already on our archive. Our newsletter includes a list of all the Second Age work on our archive. (I hope! We sort through a lot of stories to make this list each year, so if you spot one we've missed, please drop a line to me or my comods so we can fix it.)

In honor of Akallabeth in August, Oshun has written a truly fascinating biography of Erendis, whose story (along with that of her husband, Aldarion) is told in Unfinished Tales. This is one of Tolkien's most fascinating love stories, as it breaks the mold from his other more idealistic tales in some very notable ways. Oshun did an excellent job on this biography--I think it is one of her finest, and that is saying something given the consistently high quality of her work--so I encourage everyone to take a few minutes to learn more about this not-so-minor minor character from the Second Age.

We're also adding something new to our Around the World and Web section this month. In addition to announcements from groups outside of the SWG, we will be linking to articles, posts, and discussions that might be of interest to the Tolkien fanfic community. We have our first set of links up this month, and we would really like to expand this! We encourage you all to send us links to interesting articles, posts, and discussions that you may find online. If you write a post that is related to Tolkien or the Tolkien fandom, please let us know so that we can link to it.

And, of course, we have a list of all of the stories updated or added during the month of July. The "Of All That Remains" challenge continues, along with Akallabeth in August, and we have a new Quote of the Month as well.

Lots of hands went into making this newsletter happen, so a huge thanks to Oshun, Rhapsody, Russandol, and Angelica, who write and compile the content in the newsletter every month!

All the best,

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3460

From: "rhapsody_the_bard" <rhapsody74@...>
Date: Sat Aug 4, 2012 1:51 pm
Subject: Silmarillion trailer

rhapsody_the...

While Melkor and co are threathening to destroy my hard drive and I am in the
middle of making some epic back-ups (you don't want to know, but I do not want
to lose my art stuff)... I stumbled upon this trailer that woke up quite some
muses here (oh the irony for the timing is so unfortunate)...

it is a fanmade trailer, and the MPAA warning at the start had me chuckling, but
whoboy... it is very very epic and well done:

http://youtu.be/RT9UcZPT2DU

Enjoy!

Rhapsody

#3461

From: Jane Fink <phyncke@...>
Date: Sat Aug 4, 2012 6:26 pm
Subject: Re: Silmarillion trailer

fingolfin65

love this! posting it to LJ. great share!

On Sat, Aug 4, 2012 at 6:51 AM, rhapsody_the_bard <rhapsody74@...> wrote:

�

While Melkor and co are threathening to destroy my hard drive and I am in the middle of making some epic back-ups (you don't want to know, but I do not want to lose my art stuff)... I stumbled upon this trailer that woke up quite some muses here (oh the irony for the timing is so unfortunate)...

it is a fanmade trailer, and the MPAA warning at the start had me chuckling, but whoboy... it is very very epic and well done:

http://youtu.be/RT9UcZPT2DU

Enjoy!

Rhapsody

#3462

From: isisrising08@...
Date: Sun Aug 5, 2012 12:15 am
Subject: Re: Silmarillion trailer

live2bead

That was simply amazing. Now if it would only actually happen....

- Erulisse (one L)

#3463

From: Marta <marta.fandom@...>
Date: Sun Aug 5, 2012 5:59 am
Subject: Re: Silmarillion trailer

aure_enteluva

On Sat, Aug 4, 2012 at 9:51 AM, rhapsody_the_bard <rhapsody74@...> wrote:

�

While Melkor and co are threathening to destroy my hard drive and I am in the middle of making some epic back-ups (you don't want to know, but I do not want to lose my art stuff)... I stumbled upon this trailer that woke up quite some muses here (oh the irony for the timing is so unfortunate)...

it is a fanmade trailer, and the MPAA warning at the start had me chuckling, but whoboy... it is very very epic and well done:

http://youtu.be/RT9UcZPT2DU

The writers responsible for that MPAA warning have been sacked. :-) And, given this is Melkor, clubbed by orcs while in said sacks.�

Sorry, but I couldn't quite resist...

Marta

#3464

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Mon Sep 3, 2012 2:20 am
Subject: September 2012 Newsletter Posted!

dawnfelagund

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/september2012.php

Hi, everyone,

The September 2012 edition of our newsletter is now available on the website:

We don't have a lot of news from within the SWG this month--although we welcome several new members!--as real-life obligations and other fannish projects have been keeping the mod team hopping. We have several new things in the works that we hope to reveal soon!

However, the Tolkien fandom beyond our borders has been quite busy, and our Around the World and Web section contains news of challenges, awards and contests, a fandom get-together, and two new Tolkien-related publications. Just a reminder, we are also collecting links to Tolkien-related posts and articles. This month, we share several links worth checking out. Thanks to Samtyr and Himring for their contributions! Please keep the links coming!

This month's character biography accompanies last month's excellent biography of Erendis. This month, Oshun has written about Erendis's husband, Aldarion. One of many travel-loving mariners in Tolkien's legendarium, Aldarion nonetheless plays a valuable role in the stories, connecting the history of Numenor with the events of the Third Age. As always, Oshun has written a thought-provoking and insightful piece about a character that may have flown beneath the radar for many of us; her piece provides much inspiration for writing based on this little-discussed period of Arda's history.

Finally, if you missed checking the archive while on holiday in August, no worries--this month's issue contains a complete list of stories added or updated during the past month. We also continue the "Of All That Remains" challenge and revisit the "Another Place in Time" challenge, so if your muses need a kick in the pants, why not check out one or both of these?

Many, many thanks to Oshun, Rhapsody, and Russandol, whose contributions to this month's newsletter made my job very easy and very enjoyable. (It's always fun to be the first to read what they send in each month!)

Happy reading!

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3465

From: Marta <marta.fandom@...>
Date: Mon Sep 3, 2012 4:07 am
Subject: Re: September 2012 Newsletter Posted!

aure_enteluva

A special thanks to Oshun for the biography. It's well done, as usual, and really useful to me personally. Danke!

Marta

On Sun, Sep 2, 2012 at 10:20 PM, Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...> wrote:

�

Hi, everyone,

The September 2012 edition of our newsletter is now available on the website:

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/september2012.php�

[snippage]

#3466

From: heartofoshun@...
Date: Tue Sep 4, 2012 1:30 am
Subject: Re: September 2012 Newsletter Posted!

heartofoshun

Thank you, Marta! I just enjoyed re-reading some stories of yours in the Tree and Flower awards for the MPTT archive, especially Spring's First Thaw and my favorite still Walking Down Narrow Streets.

-----Original Message-----
From: Marta <marta.fandom@...>
To: SilmarillionWritersGuild <SilmarillionWritersGuild@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, Sep 3, 2012 12:07 am
Subject: Re: [SilmarillionWritersGuild] September 2012 Newsletter Posted!

A special thanks to Oshun for the biography. It's well done, as usual, and really useful to me personally. Danke!

Marta

On Sun, Sep 2, 2012 at 10:20 PM, Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...> wrote:

Hi, everyone,

The September 2012 edition of our newsletter is now available on the website:

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/september2012.php

[snippage]

#3467

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Tue Sep 18, 2012 12:38 am
Subject: ToME Award Update!

dawnfelagund

http://tome-awards.livejournal.com/

Hi, everyone,

I wanted to give an update on the progress of the Tales of Middle-earth Awards, particularly because we still need input and volunteers. As we approach our next deadline, there's been a spurt of discussion, especially with respect to categorization. All input is welcome, whether you belong to the community or not, or even whether or not you're sure you're going to participate! :) Here is the community where the discussion is going on:

Also, if you'd like to volunteer to help out, a new post for volunteers is up here:

http://tome-awards.livejournal.com/43322.html

All the best,

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3468

From: Rhapsody <rhapsody74@...>
Date: Tue Sep 18, 2012 12:59 pm
Subject: Re: ToME Award Update!

rhapsody_the...

Hi Dawn!

On 18-9-2012 2:38, Dawn Felagund wrote:
> Hi, everyone,
>
>
> I wanted to give an update on the progress of the Tales of Middle-earth
> Awards, particularly because we still need input and volunteers. As we
> approach our next deadline, there's been a spurt of discussion,
> especially with respect to categorization. *All* input is welcome,
> whether you belong to the community or not, or even whether or not
> you're sure you're going to participate! :) Here is the community where
> the discussion is going on:
>
> http://tome-awards.livejournal.com/
>
> Also, if you'd like to volunteer to help out, a new post for volunteers
> is up here:
>
> http://tome-awards.livejournal.com/43322.html

argh! I typed a long comment with feedback there and LJ ate it resulting
in a blank page! *sighs* I hope I can reproduce it this evening. Bah!

Rhapsody

#3469

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Tue Sep 18, 2012 2:40 pm
Subject: Re: ToME Award Update!

dawnfelagund

Oh no! *cries* I've had that happen too many times. So much Felagundish wisdom, just lost to the ether. ;) I hope you get a chance to reproduce it, and if email is easiest (definitely more secure!), that's cool too.

Dawn

On Tue, Sep 18, 2012 at 8:59 AM, Rhapsody <rhapsody74@...> wrote:

argh! I typed a long comment with feedback there and LJ ate it resulting
in a blank page! *sighs* I hope I can reproduce it this evening. Bah!

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3471

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Thu Sep 27, 2012 2:31 pm
Subject: Contacting the Mods September 29-30

dawnfelagund

Hi, all,

I just wanted to give a heads-up that I will be without Internet access this weekend, September 29-30. Many times, I get SWG-related correspondence via my personal email. This is no problem at all (the moderator email account actually auto-forwards to my personal email), but anything urgent that requires moderator attention this weekend should go to moderator AT silmarillionwritersguild DOT org so that my comods can make sure the issue is resolved.

Thanks,

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3472

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Tue Oct 2, 2012 1:13 am
Subject: October 2012 Newsletter Posted!

dawnfelagund

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/october2012.php

Hi, all,

The SWG newsletter has been around for over seven years without missing a month. In that time, it has evolved from a few announcements and a monthly challenge to a publication that takes dozens of hours to put together each month and includes articles, comics, and collections of links.

And I think this month's might be one of the best ever!

For those of you (like me!) who have been enjoying learning more about the Second Age these past few months, our resident biographer Oshun has put together a biography about Vëantur, the grandfather of Tar-Aldarion, whom she wrote about last month. The Numenoreans' seafaring prowess not only formed their identity but led to their downfall, and Vëantur was the character who inspired their nautical wanderlust.

Pandemonium has drawn another "Gothmog & Draugluin" cartoon, continuing Professor Thu's ... observation ... of Lil Gothmog and his pal Draugluin while Gothmog's mom and dad are away. Ever wondered what Sauron's online identity would be like? Read this month's comic to find out!

Thanks to the several members who contributed links, we have quite a bit of reading--and viewing!--to offer this month as part of Around the World and Web. From Elven swords and Hobbit dimensions to videos of Tolkien reading in his invented languages, this month's collection is both inspiring and intriguing. If you've read or written something that would be of interest to our community, please remember to send us a link so that we can include it in our next newsletter!

After that, we still have news from within the SWG (we're still looking for suggestions for the Library of Tirion!), announcements from groups outside the SWG (challenges, awards, and memes), and a list of the stories added and updated during the month of September. And we have a new challenge this month, "The Circle of Life," in addition to revisiting a past challenge and a new quote of the month.

Creating the content for our newsletter is a huge effort each month that is shared among several volunteers. (I have the easy job of copyediting, coding, and enjoying a sneak preview of what everyone's been up to all month!) Many, many thanks to Oshun, Pandemonium, Rhapsody, Angelica, and Russandol, who do such an amazing job each month on our newsletter.

All the best,

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3473

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Tue Oct 9, 2012 1:13 pm
Subject: Spam on the SWG Site

dawnfelagund

Hi, all,

As some of you discovered, a spammer hit the SWG site last night, hitting us with 59 spam reviews. Rhapsody has already locked the account and deleted the spam reviews (thank you, Rhapsy! :). One of us will block the IP later; I'm at work right now. Thanks to those of you who reported the spam. We always appreciate it!

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3474

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Sat Oct 20, 2012 5:16 pm
Subject: Online Classes for Fantasy Writers

dawnfelagund

Three-Act Structure in Fantastic Fiction

Hi, all,

As the group owner, I periodically receive announcements from the Odyssey Writers' Workshop with the request to pass the announcement along if I think there is interest in the SWG. I have just received a list of online courses for 2013 that might be of interest to those of you who write original fantasy, sci-fi, and horror fiction. I'll include the announcement below.

Best regards,

Dawn

*************************************************************

Publicity Release

October 2012

ODYSSEY WRITING WORKSHOPS CHARITABLE TRUST

ANNOUNCES WINTER 2013 ONLINE CLASSES

For seventeen years, Odyssey has pursued its mission to help developing writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror improve their work by holding its annual six-week, in-person workshop in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Three years ago, Odyssey expanded its mission, taking the teaching techniques that are so effective at the workshop and adapting them to create online classes. Director Jeanne Cavelos explains, "Technology allows us to hold live online class meetings, so students can ask questions and participate in the class. Each course is designed to provide intensive focus on a particular aspect of fiction writing, and challenging homework assignments help students to improve their skills. Feedback from the instructor and from classmates allows students to gauge their progress. Each student also has an individual meeting with instructor." Courses provide a supportive yet challenging, energizing atmosphere, with class size limited to fourteen students. While courses are designed for adult writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, interested writers of other genres are welcome to apply.

Last winter, Odyssey had a huge response to the three online courses offered. Writers from all over the world applied. This year, Odyssey is offering three different online courses covering some of the most critical issues for developing writers:

Course Meets: January 2 - 30, 2013

Instructor: Jeanne Cavelos

Application Deadline: December 7, 2012

When we first offered this course in 2011, we received more interest than in any course taught before or since. So we're offering it again, to provide more writers the chance to learn the exciting possibilities inherent in this plot structure. One of the greatest weaknesses of developing writers is plot. One of the best tools for strengthening plot is the act. Plotting in acts creates a more suspenseful, unpredictable, and emotionally satisfying experience for the reader. This course will start by defining key units of structure--the scene, chapter, and act--and explore why we need acts. We'll discuss the effect of acts, the importance of acts, how acts work in short fiction and novels, and how acts are used in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. How does one identify an act? When are three acts appropriate? Why are three acts so popular and powerful? We'll learn how to plot in three acts. We'll explore what makes a strong three-act plot and what makes a weak three-act plot. We'll look at powerful methods and weak methods of ending an act. We'll explore how to create a causal chain that generates escalations and a strong climax, how subplots work within three-act structure, the connection between structure and character transformation, and the unifying role of theme.

Getting the Big Picture: The Key to Revising Your Novel

Course Meets: January 7 - February 4, 2013

Instructor: Barbara Ashford

Application Deadline: December 11, 2012

Barbara Ashford believes the most important skill a novelist needs is to be able to see the "big picture" of the novel, to understand where that big picture is lacking or weak, and to make the major changes necessary to create a coherent, complete, powerful, and unified novel. Barbara believes this skill made all the difference in her writing, transforming it from promising but unsalable to compelling and published. Writers often approach revisions as an opportunity to polish their manuscripts rather than to take a hard look at the story itself. If your plot meanders and your protagonist's goals are unclear, polishing your prose won't help. This course examines the "big picture" elements at the foundation of every novel: premise, promise, theme, world, character, and plot. Whether you've already completed your first draft, are still working on it, or are struggling with revisions, analyzing and strengthening those elements can lift your novel out of the slush pile and onto an agent's desk. Award-nominated author Barbara Ashford will examine each of these big picture elements and the ways that linking them can create a unified, compelling, powerful story. Through lecture, discussion, and writing exercises, students will analyze their premise, the promise that the novel is making to readers, the themes that arise from the novel, the world they have created, their protagonists' backstory, motivations, and goals, and the plot events they have chosen to lead the reader from the story's promise to its climax.

Bodies and Heartbeats: Crafting Character from the Inside Out

Course Meets: January 23 - February 20, 2013

Instructor: Elaine Isaak

Application Deadline: December 27, 2012

"If you will try being fictional for a while, you will find that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats."
--Richard Bach

In her critiques as a guest lecturer at the Odyssey Writing Workshop and as a critiquer for the Odyssey Critique Service, Elaine Isaak has become legendary for identifying weaknesses in character and suggesting brilliant yet simple ways to strengthen characters. This course will help you to develop a clearer sense of what makes a powerful character and will teach you the techniques you need to develop strong characters. The first duty of the fiction writer is to make the reader care about people that don't exist. In this course, we'll talk about how to create the core of a sympathetic character and bring that character to life through words so that the reader invests in the dreams and challenges of your imagined people. Students will study and discuss examples, perform exercises to practice creating sympathetic and believable characters, and write short-shorts that put these new skills into practice. Students will also provide critiques of their classmates' work.

More information about our online classes can be found here: http://www.sff.net/odyssey/online.html or by emailing jcavelos@....

If you've visited the Odyssey site recently, you may need to click REFRESH on your browser to see the new content.

PLEASE NOTE: Those application deadlines are coming up soon! If you would like to apply for more than one course, you must apply separately for each one.

Odyssey's Online Classes pack valuable content into each session, allow for significant interaction with the instructor, and provide assignments that challenge students. The classes provide the tools students need to improve their writing, along with feedback on their work that reveals whether they are successfully using those tools. Cavelos says, "If you're ready to hear about the weaknesses in your writing and ready to work to overcome them, you'd be welcome to apply to our online classes."

In addition, the Odyssey Web site, www.odysseyworkshop.org, offers many resources for writers, including free podcasts, writing and publishing tips, a writing blog, a critique service, and information about the six-week in-person workshop.

The journey to take your writing to the next level starts now!

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3475

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Sat Nov 3, 2012 5:20 pm
Subject: Two Announcements: We Now Accept Podfic *and* the November Newsletter

dawnfelagund

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/podfic/

Hi, everyone,

I post to the group at the beginning of each month, when I post our newsletter, but this month, I have an extra bit of exciting news to report from the SWG moderation team. My comods and I are pleased to announce that we now accept podfics on the SWG archive!

Some of you might now be asking, "What in the world is a podfic??" Podfics are audio recordings of stories, similar to audiobooks, that you can listen to on your computer or your MP3 player. We all occasionally find ourselves in situations where reading is less than ideal or even impossible, and now you can bring your favorite stories along with you! We hope that, by offering podfics on the archive, we will help our authors to reach a broader audience.

Making a podfic is easy. All you need to get started is a microphone for your computer and audio-editing software. Free versions of the latter exist; I use Audacity, and besides being free, it took me less than an hour to go from a complete audio ignoramus to recording my first story. Once you record your story, you can host it on a third-party service--we suggest several on our podfic page--or we'll be happy to store your file for you on our server. Complete instructions and resources are available on the SWG website.

We will also be sharing a podfic each month in our newsletter. Even if you're not ready to start recording podfics yet, we encourage you to recommend the stories you'd like to hear recorded as part of the Podfic of the Month.

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/podfic/forms/request.php

We also need volunteers who would be willing to help us record the featured podfic each month. You can have your name added to the list of people we contact about potential assignments here:

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/podfic/forms/reader.php

All you need to know to get started should be found on the podfic page linked above, but as always, we welcome questions at moderator AT silmarillionwritersguild DOT org.

Also, our November newsletter is now also available!

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/november2012.php

Aside from news within and beyond our borders, we also have a list of October's new additions to the archive, if you're looking for something to read. We're continuing last month's "Circle of Life" challenge and revisiting the "It's Magic!" challenge, if your muses need a little coaxing. And we have a list of links to articles that our members might find interesting, in the Around the World and Web section.

As always, the highlight of the newsletter is the character biography. Oshun has written this month about Elured and Elurin, the twin sons of Dior who were abandoned to die in the forest by Celegorm's servants. It's Oshun's particular talent to take characters who are barely discussed in the text and connect them in meaningful ways to literature, folklore, mythology, and history beyond Tolkien's world, adding depth to characters who otherwise risk becoming mere names listed in the index. This month's biography is no exception, and Oshun explores connections between the story of Elured and Elurin and real-world folktales and history, as well as discussing how their story enhances the complexity of characters who receive more page-time. Oshun has done a fabulous job once again--and in the middle of a hurricane at that!--and I highly recommend her article.

Many, many thanks go out to those who contribute every month to our newsletter: Oshun, Rhapsody, Russandol, and Angelica. I also want to give a shout-out to my co-mods, who have made the podfic feature on our archive possible. These are big, many-faceted tasks--we've been working on this one sporadically for months--that would be impossible without their contributions, expertise, and endless patience (mostly with me and quite often with eFiction as well ;). Thank you Rhapsody, Angelica, Tarion, and Russandol, who I honestly believe make up the best team of comods a website owner could wish for!

All the best,

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3477

From: "Red" <red.lasbelin@...>
Date: Sun Dec 2, 2012 9:34 pm
Subject: My Slashy Valentine 2013 - Signups beginning today!

red_lasbelin

Sign up now for My Slashy Valentine 2013: a Tolkien Slash exchange! From the
Years of the Trees through the Fourth Age � it's time once again to make your
Tolkien FPS fanfic dreams come true�

Have you always wanted to read a certain pairing or scenario, but couldn't write
it yourself? Or have a plot bunny that's been rolling around in your mind, but
just can't see yourself writing that particular story?

Have it written for you � specifically and especially for your own sweet self!
And share your own fic gift in exchange!

That's right, it's time for My Slashy Valentine brought to you by the same folks
who sponsor the renowned Slashy Santa and Ardor in August Fiction Exchange.

Fhe exchange focuses solely on the Elves, Man, Valar and Maiar of J.R.R.
Tolkien's legendarium. Maybe it's Legolas and Haldir you love, or perhaps
Aragorn-on-Halbarad strikes your fancy... or maybe Manwe is your main man - from
the First Age to the Fourth � spread the word, recruit your friends and fellow
authors, and have some fun!

Sign-ups begin Sunday, December 2, 2012 and will close at midnight (GMT-5:00) on
Sunday, December 16, 2012. For first time participants, stories will be due by
January 31st, and for returning writers they will be due on February 7th. They
will be unveiled on SlashySanta.com <http://www.slashysanta.com/eFiction> on
February 14th, 2013.

How does a fiction exchange work? It's simple. READ THE RULES posted in the
Slashy Santa LJ community (link here
<http://slashy-santa.livejournal.com/70061.html> ) and you will find a link to
the sign-up page where you may specify a pairing, rating, and the plot elements
you would like to read, as well as the elements you are willing to write, and
someone will write a story for you. In exchange, you will write a story for
someone else using the specifications they provide.

Even if you don't want to take part in the exchange, you can still elect to be a
reserve writer to be called upon in case of an emergency. Just say so on the
signup form.

All we ask is that you adhere to some basic rules - If you sign up, please make
sure that you can follow through and write at least 1,200 words. Please note
also that this is a SLASH only FPS exchange (no RPS or het, please).

PLEASE NOTE: If you have defaulted in previous years, you will NOT be allowed to
participate this year! These stories are gifts for your friends and fellow fans,
and it is incredibly disappointing for a participant who has worked hard to turn
in their own story only to find that we have nothing to give them. There will be
no exceptions to this rule.

Visit the Swap Rules and FAQ <http://www.slashysanta.com/rules.html> for the
full set of rules and Frequently Asked Questions.

Here are some important dates to make note of:

* Dec. 2nd - 16th : Sign-up period
* Dec. 23rd: Assignments delivered
* Jan. 31th: Stories due from first time participants
* Feb. 7th: Stories due from returning writers
* Feb. 14th: Archive opens

Come check out SlashySanta.com <http://www.slashysanta.com/eFiction> and peruse
some of the past entries - they're terrific and will give you an idea of what's
in store!

Hope to see you there!

The Slashy Mod
"'Tis Always the Season for Slash!"

#3478

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Fri Dec 7, 2012 3:44 pm
Subject: December Newsletter--Belated Announcement!

dawnfelagund

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/december2012.php

Hi, all,

I rushed to get the newsletter done last week and then forgot to post to the group to say that it was available! You can find the December newsletter here:

Oshun wrote a biography this month on Nessa that fleshes out one of the most minor of minor characters into someone who almost begs to be written. (Any takers?) We also have a collection of links to interesting articles and discussions around the web, plus our usual news, challenges, and links to stories posted in December. Many thanks to Oshun, Rhapsody, Russandol, and Angelica for their contributions this month.

On a personal note, as anyone who is waiting for a reply from me for weeks now can attest, I am a bit in the weeds due to juggling work and grad school at the moment. One of my classes will be ending soon, so you should get your usual attentive group owner back then. :) I very much appreciate everyone's patience with me.

Enjoy!

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3479

From: "Red" <red.lasbelin@...>
Date: Sun Dec 16, 2012 7:38 pm
Subject: My Slashy Valentine 2013 - Last call for sign-ups!

red_lasbelin

My Slashy Valentine 2013 (Tolkien fandom, all Ages, FPS only) sign-ups end
tonight at midnight. If you would like to receive a special fic tailored to your
prompts and write a reciprocal fic for someone else, sign up now while it is
still open!

Important Dates:
Sign-up period: December 2 - December 16
Assignments to be distributed no later than December 23
Deadline for first-time participants: January 31, 2013
Deadline for returning participants: February 7, 2013
Archive opens: February 14, 2013

Head on over to here for the rules and sign-up link:
http://slashy-santa.livejournal.com/70061.html

We'd love to have you!

Slashy Mod

#3480

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Fri Jan 4, 2013 1:39 am
Subject: January 2013 Newsletter Posted! And Proposed ToS Change

dawnfelagund

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/january2013.php

Hi, all,

I just had to add a 2013 section to the newsletter archive. How crazy is that?! Time flies.

Our January 2013 newsletter is now available! It's a little bit late, but that's partly because we have lots of good stuff to offer this month.

In News, we actually have an announcement that we'd like to draw our members' attention to. We mod-types are proposing an addition to our Terms of Service that would require a valid email address upon registering on our archive. We are accepting comments on this proposal through January 17. You can find the proposal and leave a comment here:

http://silwritersguild.livejournal.com/209196.html

Our News section also contains our annual New Years' letter, a welcome to our new members, and a reminder about podfic because we will be starting up the Featured Podfic very soon!

This past month was a big month for the Tolkien fandom, as the first Hobbit movie was released. In honor of that occasion, Scarlet has written us a wonderful biography about Thranduil, one of those characters who spans the ages. Her biography collects information from many sources to provide a full portrait of Thranduil, a fan favorite and oft-subjected to fanon, as well as analyzing the truth behind some of those fanon claims to reveal a character deserving of a place among the great Elvenkings.

We have a new challenge this month as well! "The Things We Never Said" asks you to choose one of those moments when a character could have achieved forgiveness or closure and rewrite it so that she or he does. If you've ever wanted to give your favorite character a happy ending, now's your chance! If writing adventures is more your speed, we also revisit our "Great Journeys" challenge this month.

In Around the World and Web, we have collected announcements and articles that might be of interest to our members. This month, we have a collection of challenges and classes on offer--and of course, today is Tolkien's birthday! We've put together several interesting articles and other links worth checking out, including a list of Hobbit movie reviews by our members. If you're interested in joining a discussion about the movies, this is a great place to start!

We had lots of stories added and updated this month on our archive, so if you're looking for something to read, our monthly story list is a great place to start. We have a number of new authors this month, so why not welcome one of them with a review?

That's all for this month. Writing the New Years' letter always makes me a little sentimental, so I want to thank everyone for all they do to keep this group alive and well. Even though it was a little scary to add "2013" to the newsletter archive, it was also quite awesome to see going-on ten years of SWG happenings documented in our newsletter. We've been at this a while and still going strong! :) Thanks to all of you for making that possible.

Best wishes for a great 2013,

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3481

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Wed Jan 9, 2013 12:38 am
Subject: Back to Middle-earth Month 2013 Is Coming!

dawnfelagund

http://b2mem.livejournal.com/198061.html

Yes, that time of the year is drawing near again, and the organizers behind Back to Middle-earth Month, or B2MeM, have begun to discuss what we'd like to do for this year's event. We've opened a thread on the B2MeM LiveJournal community for sharing ideas for possible events. We also encourage people to share feedback on past events that they liked or that didn't work as well for them. If you'd like to share an idea or an opinion, please stop by our post and leave a comment!

For those of you who may be new to B2MeM, it is an event held every March as a way to encourage participation in the Tolkien writing and art fandoms. It is a collaboration between several Tolkien groups--the Silmarillion Writers' Guild, Many Paths to Tread, and Arda Inspired--and we welcome all creative works inspired by Tolkien's world.

As in years past, we also welcome other groups who'd like to join us as affiliates, so if you run a Tolkien-based fan group and would like to help host B2MeM, just drop me a line at DawnFelagund AT gmail DOT com and I'll begin including you in anything that goes out to our group leaders. Affiliate groups get early access to challenge materials so that they can share them on their groups. Please also feel free to pass on this message to other groups that might be interested in B2MeM (with permission of the admins of those groups, of course. ;)

Looking forward to seeing many of you at this year's B2MeM!

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3482

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Sat Jan 19, 2013 4:31 pm
Subject: Upcoming Tolkien Courses

dawnfelagund

http://www.mythgard.org/academics/spring-2013-courses/

Hi, all,

A few courses are on offer this spring for those interested in delving deeper into the academic side of Tolkien's works. I wanted to share these links in case anyone is interested! :)

The Mythgard Institute has two Tolkien-related courses coming up this spring: "The Story of the Hobbit," taught by Dr. Corey Olsen, and "Tolkien's World of Middle-earth," taught by Dr. Verlyn Flieger. Both courses are entirely online. Registration ends in just over six days, so don't delay if you think you might be interested.

I audited two Mythgard courses over the summer: Latin I and a course about Arthurian literature taught by Dr. Flieger. Audit fees are very reasonable for graduate-level coursework, and I highly recommend Dr. Flieger as an instructor. I'm trying to talk myself out of her course this spring, as I am already taking six credits toward my MA and really can't handle a third class. In six days, I guess we'll know if I'm successful. ;)

Finally, if you'll be in the Oxford area this spring, Oxford University is hosting a lecture series about Tolkien's works on March 21-23.

http://www.english.ox.ac.uk/news-events/upcoming-events/201303/oxford-tolkien-spring-school

All the best,

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3483

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:30 am
Subject: B2MeM 2013 Decision Poll

dawnfelagund

http://b2mem.livejournal.com/198271.html

Hi, everyone,

My comods and I have gathered and compiled that almost-200 comments worth of feedback on 2013's B2MeM challenge and put together a poll to determine community preference for what event we should run this year. If you're interested in participating in B2MeM this year, please stop by this post and vote!

If you do not have a LiveJournal account, please leave your vote as a comment on the post. (Comments are screened, although we appreciate if you sign your fandom name so that we know we're receiving votes from real people. :)

I will gather poll results on Friday evening EST (GMT-5), so make sure to vote before then.

Best regards to all,

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org

#3484

From: Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...>
Date: Sat Feb 2, 2013 11:04 pm
Subject: February 2013 Newsletter Posted!

dawnfelagund

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/february2013.php

Hi, all,

I have just finished and posted our newsletter for February:

Our biggest news this month is that we have begun the Featured Podfic! For our very first Featured Podfic, Elleth has kindly allowed me to apply my Baltimore accent to her haunting and deeply symbolic experimental piece "Five Fires." A link to listen to or download the podfic can be found in the newsletter or in the Podfic section of our archive!

A friendly reminder that, as part of the Featured Podfic, we will share a new podfic recording each month of a work of fiction, poetry, or nonfiction from our archive. Anyone can recommend a podfic for this program, so if there's a story you'd love to hear read out loud, please use our podfic page to let us know: http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/podfic/. We'll do the hard part of contacting the author for permission and setting up a reader. Any SWG member can also add their own podfics to the archive; instructions can be found at the link above.

Also in the newsletter this month, I have written a character biography for Mahtan, a character who doesn't get a lot of page-time in the published Silmarillion but whose fuller development in the HoMe books makes him an appealing character to write about and especially intriguing in his role as a vehicle for Tolkien's oft-used theme about the potential of knowledge to corrupt.

February is Valentine's Day, so let's put some love in the air for our characters! This month's revisited challenge, "One True Love," asks you to write the non-canonical pairing that toys with your imagination and that you never thought you'd dare to write. We also continue the "Things We Never Said" challenge if forgiveness and redemption are more your speed.

In SWG news, Back to Middle-earth Month (B2MeM) begins in March, and we are once again a host group. Outside of the SWG, we link to a bunch of different challenges, as well as interesting reads from beyond our group.

I hope you enjoy this month's newsletter!

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org