Reviews (272)

Author's reply

"Rest"! *snork* And he didn't even have to drink Elf-draught to get it! I look forward to hearing if your speculations pay off. As I just got home from a meeting that ran late, and am brainless, it being late, and having seven chickens yet to cut up for the freezer, I may only post what editor-friend has sent me of the next chapter of this, after her tinkering, and put off the beta until tomorrow. Sorry about that. But you don't want a beta of little brain, do you?

Author's reply

It could be a little while. It was "common knowledge" around the Great Smials that Ferdi was waylaid on his way to pick up Farry, and so Farry is still "safe" in Whitwell and will stay there until the emergency is over. So they might not know, outside of a few high-placed hobbits, just *who* the child is, that the ruffians have taken. That the ruffians have taken *any* child at all is intolerable, in the hobbits' eyes, and rank does not matter. They're going to turn out in force and do all in their power to save the innocent. Thanks!

Author's reply

Oh, my. They definitely don't understand. Guess they're in for an education. I love it when what I read builds pictures in my brain!

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Diamond is not necessarily so much sleepy as she is trusting. Her husband told her that Farry was safe at Whittacres. With her history of having miscarried Farry's little brother, two years before, Pippin is going to keep her in the dark about this latest crisis for as long as he can, either until he can present Farry to her, safe, (of which, I'm sorry to say, he has little hope) or until he recovers what is left of their son, and brings the body home. He is going to have the dickens to pay, though, when she finds out how she was deceived... and yet, she will also understand his motivation, and thus, forgive him. Eventually.

Author's reply

No, it's not a good experience. Yikes! I love your way with words.

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Huh, missed replying to this earlier, and wouldn't want you to get the impression that I take reviews for granted. Hilly loves fast ponies... and he won't be "sparing the horses" on his way back to the Smials, knowing what he knows about ruffians and kidnapping, thanks to Pippin's briefings ahead of time. Perhaps Ferdi's family need some sort of Ferdi-insurance. Or perhaps Nell just needs to tie the hobbit to a chair. Keep him at home. That sort of thing.

Author's reply

Not bother to review? But didn't you know, the Muse runs on reviews when the pina coladas run low? Ooo, now that you mention it, I vaguely remember Aragorn saying something like that, though I don't remember where or when. At least hobbits are a lot less cruel than ruffians; the baddies will probably get a cleaner death than they deserve. Glad it's getting good! There are a few more horrific parts, but the satisfying (I hope) ending is in sight. Um. Perhaps another ten chapters. Or my guess might be way off. Had wine with dinner, celebrating someone's birthday, and it really throws me off kilter.

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Hobbitses can be *very* sneaky, and in more ways than one.

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You can say that again!

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yikes! I can't bear horror, so it is a wonder to me that I can even approach writing it. And at that, so much of it has to be read between the lines...

Author's reply

You're welcome. It might get a little grisly in the near future. Editor-friend wanted to go for maximum angst, setting things up so that the reader was left in a state of uncertainty (she's a glutton for punishment) even though one who'd read later stories would *know* what the outcome *had* to be. However, I deem it too much torture for those unfamiliar with the later stories, who might be horrified at what they read. It would be very easy to write the next part as horror, but I can't bring myself to it. So EF doesn't quite get her birthday wish. I told her to go and read Stephen King, if she really wants to screw her insides up in knots. So you get a story that's a bit milder than it might have been, though still horrific in its implications. (How I despise those who prey on innocents, those who are smaller and weaker and often unable to defend themselves, at least physically.) /soapbox In short, you're welcome! (And if any horror fans happen to read reviews, I extend my apologies for any disappointment. Perhaps you might employ your imagination, for in the draft the next few chapters were *much* more graphic and, honestly, disturbing.)

Author's reply

O those late nights. I actually had an early night last night and don't know quite what to do with myself this morning. (Actually, I slept in until 6:30. Probably needed the full night's sleep. It keeps me from being grumpy as the little hobbits cluster around, imitating all sorts of bird and animal sounds, until it sounds like a combination barnyard and forest here in the computer corner. Tolly is a sort of "best man" in this ritual, so he's slated to stay at Ferdi's side right up to the burial. I figured there'd have to be such a thing. Don't know what they'd call it now. Head pallbearer? Honorary pallbearer? Except that his role is much more than just bearing the body to the grave. And Meadowsweet is Pimpernel's closest friend, especially after the events in "Runaway" bound them even closer together, so she'll be there as well, to fill any needs that she can.

Author's reply

I figure Percy just might, with a great deal of concentration, be able to scratch his own name. He can weave beautiful patterns, he has all sorts of oral knowledge, but he never had a need to write or read in his life, and when he married Bell, she was there to do any needed spelling out. You know, the character death warning *could* apply to Ferdi, seeing as he is at the moment "dead" for all practical purposes, and in very real danger of being buried at dawn, and all the talk of preparation of the dead might be upsetting to more sensitive readers. But yes, there is a death hanging over the draft of the story, one that I'm a little ambivalent about, yet I can't say more as I'm not one to give away plot points unnecessarily.

Author's reply

Guilty as charged. But I do hope it makes for diverting reading. I'd write longer chapters if I had more uninterrupted writing time... but I post what I type out, often these days, as soon as it's typed out, if I can get to a stopping place before being interrupted, for it's a "back up" of sorts. I always get these fits of caution after the latest computer woes. And posting bits helps me buy time to untangle the timeline. I'm afraid if I just let it sit while I pondered, I'd lose interest in the story and leave it to stew. I have such a short attention span... So hope the reader-torture is not too too awful. Thanks for bearing with me!

Author's reply

Oh, yes, the ruffians had a spot of bad luck there, with the note being discovered before dawn. And yet, it looks as if it might not get *read* until dawn, so perhaps their luck is holding! (O Musie, dear, do put us out of our misery. What do you have up your sleeve?) (She smiles serenely and sips her pina colada.) I wonder at this weaver fellow. Perhaps he deals mostly in yarn, and it's his wife who cards and spins the wool. Dunno. Perhaps he's sleep-walking. Perhaps the author, pushed to the limit by an avoracious Birthday Person, slipped up. Time will tell. Thanks!

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Yes, you'd think they'd be more organised about this sort of thing! But then, perhaps not.

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Ah, so you figured it out yourself. Yes, it will be some time before they discover their mistake. (Ah, for such things as telephones! What ever did people do before them?)

Author's reply

Welcome back! Hope you had a lovely holiday.

Author's reply

Goodness, I put "bow" and "music" together and came up with violins! (Reminds me of the comedy routine with the person reading an editorial on the television newscast, complaining about people who complain about "violins on television". "No, dear, that's *violence* on television." "Oh. Er. Never mind.") So you're not the only one who reads too fast sometimes.

Author's reply

Glad to have you back, and your raft of reviews brought a smile. I love to see stories through a reader's eyes. Brings out dimensions, sometimes, that I never noticed myself.

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Oh, dear, do I owe apologies? I await the next chapter the same way... will be interesting to flesh out the draft. A lot of the material on preparation of the dead was written a long time ago, when Ferdi "died" in the first draft of "Merlin", but when it was revised of course all that was cut from the story. But with the kidnapping stuff it's all new territory, and I'm having difficulty getting the timetable to behave! Hard to fit this all into the space of twenty-four hours or so. No rest for the ruffians, I'm afraid! They're pretty much on the move with only short rests, to get where the plot needs them to go. Whew. And then there's the Tooks! Talk about stirred up! The weaver and the hair is a weakness in the plot, I'll admit. All I can say is, he's just been roused from a sound sleep. He's expecting a sample of a type of fleece he's never felt before. (Sampled an amazing variety of fleeces at the county fair last week...) As for illiteracy, JRRT says somewhere (about hobbits, maybe?) that even though the Shire has a Post, not all hobbits read. It's actually an oddity for his wife to read, perhaps, living in the boonies as they do. Is Ferdi truly dead? Oh, now, how can I answer such a question? Will simply have to keep writing whenever I have a spare moment. *hugs*

Author's reply

Yes, that continuity between stories is what made me put in that author note about *this* story *not* being AU. It's a giveaway, and so the readers know something about what must happen before the end of the story. Such is life. I wouldn't want people to think I was playing around with them. This was put together at a birthday request from someone who knows I won't kill off this OMC of mine in public. She knows how he dies, in his bio, but she also knows I won't publish that story. Am gonna sort of let him live on more or less forever, at least on the page. (Am so glad Agatha Christie didn't kill off Jane Marple, even though she was sick of the character, and always regretted that she killed her Poirot, even if she did it in a very dramatic way. Not that I'm comparing myself to AC's writing. Just that I remember having a favourite character die in a story, and not being able to go back and enjoy earlier stories, because something had clicked in my brain and that character was *dead*. A brain is a funny thing sometimes.) Anyhow, I can only say in my defence that Shire medical skills were a bit limited in this time period (compared to our machines with their beeps and whistles and electrodes and such), and perhaps dim lighting and an interrupted examination might be enough to explain the current situation. One would hope, anyway. Thanks for listening! Author Reply: p.s. at least you may take heart in the fact that the Ferdi issue must be resolved by dawn, at the latest. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.

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Whew, at least *illiteracy* is not unlikely. I keep telling "someone" that the whole plot sounds extraordinarily unlikely to me, but she insists that I can make it work. Touching faith, really.

Author's reply

I shall duly pass your complaint on to the Birthday Person, who insists that this plot is plausible. I ask you, what *can* you do with unreasonable BPs? I got the impression from reading JRRT quite a while ago that illiterate hobbits were not all that uncommon. Perhaps we're lucky that Percy's wife can read, after a fashion.

Author's reply

My goodness, another night owl! (When I have too much caffeine, be it coffee or chocolate, I have trouble getting to sleep. Might as well write as lie awake.) And yes, that whole scene was very difficult to write, when it was written, a long time ago now.