Newsfeed #89 October 20, 2017 (20 Narquelië)
YOU HAVE NO IDEA: THE REAL SAGA OF THRANDUIL
I know it seems to take forever to get here or to post an excerpt–as if the research isn’t hard enough, the demand for this story is no longer ever so often: it’s now every day and all day. Between the demand and dealing with my father who will get an obsession once and awhile and end up calling at all hours sometimes five times a day for three days, writing is hard.
1) Fan girls. I didn’t know they existed–rather, I didn’t know they would be so mesmerized with “my” Thranduil. His only edge (and the edge with his grandfather, father and son) is they tell their own story from their point of view. The fact that I’m a girl writing seems to go over the head of some people–he’s got male fans on Instagram that call me “dude”. I’m just getting used to love notes on a regular basis.
2) October 13, 2017–Friday. After a night of no sleep, I answer a message on the books Facebook page from someone that had read excerpts from somewhere–not hard anymore, this thing has its own Google Search these days. She asked me the usual question: Where is this book? Is it really a book? So I told her about it and she conveniently told me that she had been looking for awhile and even sent a message to The real-life actual TOLKIEN ESTATE asking about when this book is coming out. Aside from being liked on Twitter by Jason Voorhees, that was scary. She thinks they may ignore her question and I’m praying they do because I wouldn’t be hard to find as the widow of a friend of J.R.R. Tolkien knows who I am and what I’m doing. So does Netflix. So, yeah–no pressure whatsoever.
3) My laptop decided to die nearly losing half my work–that luckily was retrieved from my iPad Pro from the iCloud. Then my dad became obsessed I couldn’t work without a laptop and called all day the day before he bought me a new one and still calls now asking me if it still works–it’s the latest version with Touch Bar–yes, it works very well. He’s got Alzheimer’s. His Alzheimer’s is special because it has yet to affect the part of his brain that remembers how much my Compaq laptop cost back in 2000. He’s doing pretty good, I can report–except for his latent obsession with whether or not Lee Pace shaves.
It’s gotten so busy, one of my doctors suggested an assistant to stay on schedule–and a housekeeper (only because she’s already asked for an autographed copy). It’s probably a good idea because if things keep going at the pace they have been, I won’t have to call my family to tell them about what I’ve been doing for the past 22 months. My sister was mad at me when I had 100,000 search results–she’ll pass out with 900,000 and close to at least 2300 estimated readers all over the world–and one of those readers (thank you for reading–none of this could have happened without you) brought me to the attention of the Tolkien Estate. There is no going back now.
I’m at that crossroads where it’s now or never; will I or won’t I? Choosing is harder than you think, but deep down, I know the answer–find a really good hairstylist first.
I can safely say that all is pretty good in spite of writing around so much activity. I don’t know what will come of the “now” very real Tolkien Estate situation. Book II have fans in the already-published world of authors–it’s probably only a matter of time that I find myself on the other side of the pond for some reason other than going to University for my PhD.
The past few weeks have been harrowing but exciting. It’s one of those gifts you don’t give back. It’s a once in a lifetime thing–I told the Mythopoetic Society about it: no one acted surprised. I was compared to an “Inkling” after all.
To be a non-British woman of color considered good enough to stand with the likes of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis doesn’t happen every day–neither does having your “fan fiction” confused with the father of High Fantasy to the point where people are asking his estate when the new book is coming out. I never thought I’d get here–and while my father is still around to witness what little he may remember of it. Whatever happens, it already has become life-altering and historical.
I never thought I could write a book–I was afraid of it since Creative Writing in college. I thought I was horrible with narrative. But Tolkien once said, “A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it.” You can only run so far before fate makes it impossible for you to run any longer. I’m not the same person I was when I started this journey in December of 2015. I can’t go back to what was–I can go forward to what will be: no matter where the road takes me.–J.M.M.
Images: ©2012, 2013, 2014. Warner Brothers Pictures. The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies. All Rights Reserved.
Images: ©2001, 2002, 2003. Warner Brothers Pictures. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. All Rights Reserved.
Thranduil has done what many people thought impossible–in 924 pages (and that’s just Book II: The Saga of Thranduil).
