silwritersguild | October 2016 Newsletter Posted

Our October newsletter has been posted over on our site!

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/october2016.php

We premier a new challenge this month with "Companies, Clubs, and Cliques," which asks writers to imagine character groups, both formal and informal, that might have existed in Arda. To get into the spooky seasonal vibe, we revisit the "Halls of Mystery" challenge and offer a quote from Tolkien's eerie poem "The Mewlips." Citizens of Middle-earth from near and far are invited to journey to next summer's Mereth Aderthad for a week of feasting, fellowship, and fandom next summer. Hop over to the

mereth_aderthad community to learn more, and to take part in a survey about the event.

This month's character biography is on Ungoliant. With spiders crawling throughout the legendarium, Tolkien seemed to have an arachnophobic streak. Just in time for Halloween, this month's biography features Ungoliant, one of Tolkien's earliest characters whose mysterious presence peopled (spidered?) his stories with creepy, eight-legged nemeses.

After the summer holiday lull, this month we bring you a long list of new and updated stories, short works, and poems, if you're looking for something to read in our archive. Around the World and Web is bursting with featured articles and publications about all aspects of the Tolkien legendarium and fandom, from the Not Oxonmoot-moot to Lúthien as Tolkien’s Badass Elf Princess.

Many thanks to our contributors this month. We all hope you enjoy our October newsletter!