The Gentle Ways of Natural Wizards

I did a little writing last week, though not on The Novel. I was in the bathtub, and my mother-in-law was staying with us, so I was taking even longer than my usual inordinate amount of time in the bath, when an idea for a children's story materialized in my mind. This may have happened because of the children's stories I've been reading to Belle from time to time; but at any rate, the whole story played itself out as I sat there, and so I got out and got to typing as quickly as I could. I was able to set nearly the whole thing down in less than an hour, with only two or three pages left to finish at this time. It is called "Rosie and the Ruby-Red Dragon of Yalobusha," and it is very silly, and probably no one will get it but Belle and Adrienne and those who know us well. It needs illustrations, too, to work to its fullest potential. But I had great fun with it, and it is comforting to know that, even at this slow stage of my writing life, I can still become inspired and can still get something significant done in my artistic field.

Beyond that, I have been considering setting up a separate blog for all things related to Middle-earth role-playing, but so far it is only an idea. I have also been wondering about the possibility of the formation of a permanent role-playing guild, if you will, for those in my close circle of role-playing friends. (You know who you are.) It has been an idea I've toyed with for years, but nothing formal ever materialized; but as Life pulls us off in different directions, such a group may actually become a valuable tool for keeping us in touch, and keeping our collective dreams of Middle-earth viable. I think a good name for such a group would be The Guild of Venturers, after the seafaring Numenorean explorers' group founded by Veantur, and made most famous by Tar-Aldarion. If any of my role-playing friends -- and again, you know who you are -- are interested in this, please let me know your thoughts on how to make such a group functional, or if you think it is even feasible.

As an aside, if you haven't yet visited the Other Minds online magazine for Middle-earth role-playing, you really should. The first issue is available for download, and issue #2 is coming by February, I believe. There is also some information regarding the content of issues #3 and 4, and #3 is going to be focused primarily on Dwarves. That should be of especial interest to my gemologist and educator friends...