Reviews (116)

Author's reply

I know! It's hard to keep track of so many threads and so many bodies, even though they all seem to be converging on the same spot. Or most of them, anyhow. Thanks for reading and stopping to leave a good word.

Author's reply

I was thinking of Gandalf's description of Faramir as I fleshed out the chapter from the outline, actually. You hit the nail on the head. The next chapter is lovely, if I do say so myself. I'm halfway through turning the draft into a finished chapter. Even though it may run long, I don't need to split it in half to upload it - not like the old days of dial-up, when I started posting fanfic and had to limit chapters to 2k words or so to be able to upload them. (Immersing myself in fanfic is helping me keep the grief at arm's length for the moment. I've fallen apart at various points today, clearing away Panda's toys and treats and bowls and bagging up things to donate to the Humane Society, even just opening the freezer to get ice for my drinking water. She always came running when she heard me rattling around in the ice bin; ice cubes were among her favorite treats...) Thanks.

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While Merry might disagree, I think he's outnumbered. Thanks for reading and stopping to leave a good word.

Author's reply

How lovely it has been to read your reviews from re-reading. Thank you for your generosity in taking the time. What has the puppy's attention will become clear before the story ends, and I hope it makes you smile.

Author's reply

Yes, the three of them getting into trouble was a reflection of an incident with a previous dog, Clifford, the guide dog puppy we raised when Eldest was a preteen. The neighbor who lived across the street was chatting with a passerby, and Eldest came out of the house with Clifford on a leash to take him for a walk around the block. Clifford spotted PEOPLE across the street and ran to greet them, dragging Eldest along. She had wrapped the leash around her wrist... A car was coming down the street, and our neighbor instantly saw the danger and sprang into the street, quickly followed by his friend, both of them waving their arms and shouting to get the car to stop. Then they helped untangle Eldest from the leash and brought her and the naughty puppy home again. After that, Eldest worked with the dog in fenced places or inside the gym where our 4H Puppy Raisers club met. Even as a puppy, that little yellow lab had grown too powerful for an eleven-year-old to handle - at least until he'd had more training to walk nicely on a leash and ignore distractions. He got the knack eventually and grew up to become a Guide Dog. We were so proud of him.

Author's reply

Faramir is formidable when determined. He seems so mild-spoken, and yet... Thanks for stopping and leaving a good word.

Author's reply

And soon Panda will join them. I've asked Zoe, if she can hear me, to greet Panda warmly and watch over her, for Panda has ever remained something of a toddler in her attitude and actions (joy and mischief and discovery and delight), and Zoe was such a motherly soul for all her beauty queen diva-ness, I'm sure she'd embrace having another puppy to cosset. I still remember how she'd carefully place her plush seal head-first at her dinner bowl, so that Seal could eat first, and how she'd lift Seal to the windowsill so that they could look out the window together and watch the world go by, and how she'd lie down and put her head on the ground to be at the same level as the tiny dogs she adored. I had not heard of Polychrome or Thompson before, so I looked them up. I will have to look into them further, I think, for one of the not-so-wee hobbits has long been an Oz fan and (I think) has read every one of L. Frank Baum's Oz books.

Author's reply

So good to hear from you! I am (once again) retired and so have time to read and write (and the eyes to do so - editing tired the eyes and left me reading audiobooks at the end of the workday, and fanfic does not come in audio form, so far as I know). Let's hope it lasts this time. I do so love the healing facet of Elessar's gifts. Thank you for reading and stopping to leave a good word. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Author's reply

Thank you! I have been overloaded at work the past few months, but I have carved out some writing time and want to finish this one! (there really should not be many more chapters...)

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Thank you! So am I (looking forward to more). This one is so close to being done, I really just buckle down and, as they say, "just do it". Author Reply: p.s. The puppy ought to pop up again in Chapter 18.

Author's reply

It was so good to see you the other day. I have been out of commission after a shingles vaccine this week, but I'm feeling better. Taking a few days off has also reminded me how lovely it is not to work 7 days a week, so that is a definite incentive to cut down may work schedule. I'd actually be tempted to write a bit now, when everyone's asleep, but Mr. Handsome (the king of the cats) is giving me the "eye" - that means I must be off to bed sooner than later, or suffer a bite to the tendon on the side of my knee - very motivating! He is quite persuasive when he wants the "children" to go to bed so that the "adults" may have the run of the house. I have started writing again, so hopefully I'll be updating rather sooner than later. Author Reply: p.s. The puppy comes back into the picture in Chapter 18.

Author's reply

Aw, don't sell yourself short. I love your characters, your descriptions of the settings of the scenes you pour onto the page, the depth of relationship you portray, so real and rich. I am always glad to see a new chapter from you, even if I hold back from reading for a day or two because I know (as in your current story) that the reading will be difficult as the story grows ever darker. I have to keep reminding myself of the joy that emerges at the end, on the wings of an Eagle's song, if I might mix my metaphors. (Yet not all sad things will be undone. Boromir and Theodred will still be lost. Sigh.) Thank you for your observations! Part of the reason I write is to try and make sense of people's actions and motivations. If the Easterlings and Southrons were evil in themselves, there would be no peace after the Dark Lord was defeated. Yet Tolkien himself gave us a glimpse into their minds in the passage I quoted in this chapter, when the Power that drove them faltered, showing that they were under compulsion and not marching into battle of their own free will. We are well, and enjoying a respite in between heat waves. Ah, blessed rain, interspersed with gentle sunlight. I certainly resonate with Pippin's memory of cool sunlight and green grass. ((hugs)) Hope this finds you and yours well. I'm glad you enjoyed your holiday.

Author's reply

I know how happy you are! I feel much the same. They were stuck under that fallen beam just about for-ever! (I almost wrote "for an Elf's age", but I don't know if Elves have Ages or if that is more of a Man thing.) It will be such a relief to clear up the Haradrim's confusion and begin a new age of peace for Gondor. That chapter is already written, along with the last chapter in the story; I'm just making my way there... here's hoping life doesn't get complicated again for the next few weeks. (Really, there are only a handful of chapters left in the draft, so we'll see how it goes.) Thank you so much for stopping to leave a good word. ((hugs))

Author's reply

Thanks so much for your encouragement! The new meds seem to be working, and the old one has worn off to the extent that my brain is once again on speaking terms with me, so I'm back (like a bad penny, as they say). I hope to resume regular updates again this week Hope this finds you well!

Author's reply

MM! I am so looking forward to the Haradrim making that connection between Healer and King! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and thanks so much for your encouragement. I haven't had much of a brain to speak of over the past couple months, but my doc finally said, "This isn't working," and switched some things around, and I've come out of the fog, so I'm hoping to rejoin the stream of reading and writing and conversing again. ((hugs)) and I hope this finds you well.

Author's reply

I love hearing your thoughts, and what parts you like. Very helpful and encouraging! It will be very interesting to see their reaction when they finally realize who this Healer actually is, I hope! ((hugs)) and thanks. Hope this reply finds you well. Author Reply: p.s. the Mystery of the Dark Crack will soon become clear. And make sense! (it is to be hoped...)

Author's reply

Goodness, I haven't answered any reviews for this chapter! My apologies. I went through a rough spell since posting this, and I'm just getting my balance (or is it my bearings?) back. Thank you so much for your thoughts. I do find it interesting to consider what a situation might look like to someone who's working on limited information, as well as how their very perceptions and sensations change based on what they know (and don't know) about a matter. ((hugs)) to you, and I hope this finds you well.

Author's reply

Thank you! I love it when I can get a glimpse inside Sam's head. Such a practical hobbit! Being elevated (rubbing elbows?) among the Great certainly didn't spoil him at all. So good to hear from you! I hope you and yours are well.

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Well, at least one healer is on the spot, as it were. I'm sure others must have grabbed up supplies and started jogging down from the Sixth Circle once the runners brought the urgent news. It's amazing (and heartening) how disaster can bring people together. Thanks so much for stopping to leave your thoughts.

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Thank you! It has been interesting to explore a culture based on the hints JRRT gave us, along with the views he expressed in his letters about the people he wrote about. Now that Strider has arrived and taken matters into his own hands, and Faramir is there, and Éomer is soon to arrive, I think things are going to happen fairly quickly. Whew! (I do hope that Éomer sounds in character. I seem to remember the cadence of Rohirric speech being slightly more formal than Gondorians' (and way more formal than the way hobbits talk!), though I might be mistaken. The draft of this story was written a while ago, so hopefully I'm remembering correctly the thought process that went into it...) ((hugs))

Author's reply

Thank you! I gave the subject a lot of thought when I did the research to write a story about hobbits in Harad, trying to work out a logical culture. I sort of got the feeling from reading various sources (maybe JRRT's letters among them? I don't remember clearly now) that "near Harad" was rather Arabian in nature, while Middle or Far Harad were characteristic of regions and peoples further south in Africa. It's amazing, the sandbox JRRT gave us to play in, isn't it? Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts! ((hugs))

Author's reply

Indeed! [You have such a way with words... :) ] Thanks!

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Ah, yes. And what a storm it will be! Thanks so much for reading and stopping to leave a good word. ((hugs))

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Thank you so much for the smiles this morning! Much appreciated. Why are some days so much harder than others? (Rhetorical question, no need to answer.) We know, from hard experience, of puppies' need to chew (seemingly incessantly!), especially when losing their milk teeth and growing in their adult teeth. Poor Pippin, missing breakfast entirely, and having no intention of going into the ruins. Best laid plans... The bit you quoted from Chapter 4 does seem to fit to current events, even though this chapter was written and posted years ago. I get that same disoriented feeling when I re-read old chapters of mine about infectious fevers going around the Shire as a plot device (I am back to writing on a story set in Pippin's early years as Thain; plenty of potential for character development there). If I had been writing those in the time of Covid... I probably wouldn't have but would have had to find some other plot device. Maybe. Fevers are a time-honored tradition in the fanfic world. I'm so glad I've found time to start reading fanfic again, and glad too that the writing is flowing. Here's hoping it keeps on. I'm so pleased to see people posting new chapters here! ((hugs)) hope this finds you and yours well.

Author's reply

Thank you! Poor Sam must have experienced some culture shock, considering he "knew the land well within twenty miles of Hobbiton, but that was the limit of his geography"! I imagine that Hobbits are much more straightforward in their bargaining back home in the Shire. So glad you are enjoying this story! We are doing our best to be careful and safe, at least until we all get our second jab. (And even then, waiting on what the news has to say about the variants...) Blessings to you and yours, and ((hugs)) back.