Generations

Passing on the wonder

We have a family-ish event coming up this weekend. All three of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies are playing at a local theater - one each evening, Saturday through Monday - and my middle daughter, also known as #1 Minion, is taking my wife and I to see them.

As the #1 Minion likes to point out, she didn’t get the chance to see the movies in the theater. Which is because she is, and I quote, “not old”.

Despite the lack of the theater experience, she’s been a fan of the LoTR movies for ages. When she was a kid, after she was supposedly in bed, she used to sneak halfway down the stairs. There she would join us surreptitiously, peering through the banister rails along with my wife and I as we watched the extended edition DVDs.

I take full credit for her fascination. When she and her sisters were little, I read them all the graphic novel version of The Hobbit. I can pinpoint exactly when their fascination with the world of Middle-earth bloomed, too; when her older sister asked a simple question…

“Dada, what’s a Hobbit?”

“Oh, they’re little people. About the same size as you.”

“And they go on adventures?”

Hooked. I have no regrets.

So when I say she’s a fan, I mean she is a fan. She makes a habit of re-watching the extended edition movies, plural, once or twice a year. She’s done that since high school, too, which means… let me see, carry the one… she’s likely watched those movies in total more than a dozen times.

Finally getting to see them on the big scree is a Pretty Big Deal.

I’m not going to lie. This is going to be fun for me, too. It’s obviously been more than two decades since I first saw these movies, and I may have re-watched them a time or two myself. For a life-long Tolkien geek, this is amazing opportunity.

Despite what she says about my age, I’m still on the young side. I’m doing my best to take care of myself, too. Maybe a few decades from now, for the 40th anniversary, we’ll be able to make it a family outing and take three generations on a brief trip to Middle-earth.

The Business of Writing

A mid-week update on my three major commitments: to write, to edit, and to read.

I did a lot of reading this past week. Critiques, mostly, which is always interesting. There’s a special kind of thrill when you finish something cool. When you realize that you are one of the few people who even knows about this whole world that someone had dreamed up. That’s a special sort of feeling.

We sent out final line and copy edits for the Tull anthology, and we have the vast majority back! Shari’s been doing an absolutely amazing job on the edits. Yes, yes, I know. She’s my wife, so you expect me to be biased. However, that’s not what I’m saying, that’s what the authors in the anthology are saying. She really is doing a bang-up job.

We’re already got the intros, bios, etc. all laid out for the first Tull anthology. I’ve been talking with Cedar Sanderson about the final cover edits. All that means we should be able to pull this together rather quickly over the few weeks. Which means there’s a good chance we will be able to have a couple of hard copies of Minstrels in the Galaxy in hand for LibertyCon. Those will be for reviewers and others who can help us spread the word about the release.

Speaking of LibertyCon, I have another project that I hope to have available for the con. I’m really kind of excited about this one. It’s a nice little story, and there should be a little something extra with it from a friend. Even if it’s not out in time for LibertyCon, I should be able to have it out the first week in July, to coincide with… other things.

Other Stuff

If you’re not subscribed to D. J. Butler’s newsletter, you can do so here.

Why would you do that? Well, first of all, Dave is a terribly interesting guy. No, I’m not kidding, nor am I exaggerating. Getting a glimpse into what he’s doing is fascinating, and he’s always got something interesting cooking.

Second, and more importantly, you’ll get announcements like this one:

So Witchy Eye is the first book of my epic fantasy series set in a magical Jacksonian America. It's about Sarah Calhoun's quest to recover her mother's wealth and her father's power while dodging the soldiers of her greedy uncle Thomas Penn and the sorcerous minions of the Necromancer Oliver Cromwell.

Witchy Eye in its second edition, which includes a bonus short story and a short introduction. The first edition, which has the identical text, without the bonuses, is now available FOR FREE. You can get it here.

I’ve enjoyed Dave’s Indrajit & Fix stories, as well as The Cunning Man, his collaboration with Aaron Michael Ritchey. Given that track record, I have the feeling that Witchy Eye will suck me in, too.

It’s an action-packed weekend for me. D&D tomorrow, a fund-raising walk on Saturday, then the aforementioned three days of LoTR movies. Editing in between, maybe a little bit of writing, layout on the Super Secret project… I am terribly, fantastically, wonderfully busy doing things I enjoy, and I love it!

I hope you can get out, get some sun, and spend some time doing what you enjoy, too. Have fun, and I’ll see you next week!