“Good Morning.”

Forgive the reference to Professor Tolkien’s The Hobbit*, readers, but you will soon see why I headlined the quote for this article. It was simply irresistible considering the unusual subject matter! Anyway, without further ado, here is Gandalf’s response to Master Baggins’ comment: “What do you mean? Do you mean to wish me a good…

Thoughts on Tactics: How History Affects Fiction and Makes It Believable

Not long ago, this author discovered the above picture, which discusses some fans’ thoughts on how the Fellowship of the Ring might have simply flown to Mordor to dispose of the One Ring rather than “take the long way around.” As the commenter explains, this would have been a bad idea narratively because the entire…

Shades and Shadows: The “Pulp” Aspects of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings

There are writers who dislike how Professor Tolkien’s magnum opus is considered the last word in modern fantasy. Most of their argument revolves around how present authors in the field of fantasy ignore shorter action/adventure tales in the “pulp” format of fantasy for epics that practically copy and paste from The Lord of the Rings.*…

The Four Types of Writing, Part One: The Way of the Romantic

This article is the first in a four part series which defines the four major types of fiction. When most of us hear the word “romance,” it is generally linked with the love story genre. This may be one meaning of the word; it is not its only definition. Merriam-Webster’s defines “romance” as: “(1) a…