The Girdle of Melian

oday is Tolkien Reading Day ! "Tolkien Reading Day is held on the 25th of March each year. It has been organised by the Tolkien Society since 2003 to encourage fans to celebrate and promote the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien by reading favourite passages. We particularly encourage schools, museums and libraries to host their own Tolkien Reading Day events." The best part is, "To celebrate this year’s Tolkien Reading Day, the Society is hosting an event a day of events at the Story Museum. As part of the day, the Society has obtained the permission of the Tolkien Estate for live storytellings of Mr. Bliss ." Why is this exciting? Because a certain someone has just discovered Mr. Bliss for the first time, and we are now reading it every night! And now... The A to Z Challenge ! Back in 2011, I held a week-long contest to celebrate the fact that I'd reached my 500th post , after nearly four years of blogging. At the time, I sorted many of my p

an Francisco! I've spent a few hours researching the city in 1859--1860 for the upcoming writers' houseparty ! Among other things, this has involved perusing newspaper articles of the period. I'd forgotten that 1859 was the year that Emperor Norton first declared himself “Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico”... Items directly related to my assigned research topic will appear in the related thread on the Forum. In the meantime, here are a few other related tidbits I discovered: 1860 was a leap year! The telegraph connection to New York only began operating in 1861, but the Pony Express began its first run on 3 April 1860. The San Francisco Olympic Club was established in May 1860, making it the oldest athletic club in the country. “23 charter members founded the San Francisco Olympic Club, turning their informal gymnastics training sessions held in the backyard of Arthur and Charles Christian Nahl into a lasting institution. The by-laws s

elp! As I try to edit two novels at once, I have a few random questions I've started research on, but the more information I can collect the better. If you have any nuggets you'd like to share, please do so! Druid's Moon What's a good word for a female Kraken that forces you to do her bidding? I've been calling her The Mistress, but is that servile and forbidding enough? What are some introductory texts on archaeology? I've watched Time Team, read their book Archaeology is Rubbish and also read a few scholarly articles, plus Agatha Christie's Come, Tell Me How You Live , but what else should I read to help me immerse myself in that mindset? The Charm of Time What's a good midlife crisis sort of car for a recently divorced man in his late 30s? He's Scottish, living in Switzerland... This is a bit darker, but I need some details on surviving a basal cell carcinoma surgery -- is there any radiation or chemo in the follow up? What are t

ow did it get to be March already? It seems like only yesterday it was January, and I was starting out with some fresh writing goals, and getting things done... I'm actually still editing, not being as lazy as usual, but I feel like I've slowed down. This is why I like being accountable to ROW80 and on the blog -- I feel like I'm moving at a snail\s pace, but when I look back at the end of a month or six months, I can see some forward momentum! All that to say that my latest revised list of goals by monthly schedule looks like this: March: Draft personal statement (for a university course I'm applying to) Writers' houseparty ! Draft Druid's Moon synopsis I'm also getting back into knitting! Haven't done anything since December, but I just started a wee baby hat for a gift. April: edit Druid's Moon and submit May: edit The Charm of Time Today's IWSG Day Question is: Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Di