Silmarillion Writers' Guild

To make up from my slacker behavior the two Saturdays that I've been trusted with birthday uploads (if the upload is done on time, you know Rhapsody has done it ;), then I am posting this one a bit early by my time by right on time for those of you over the pond. (Also, I have a few new additions and will probably forget to mention them if I don't do it now!)

Firstly, the compilation for the "Cuivienen" theme is posted.

Two new pieces have also been added for past themes. Alasse has sent a new artwork for the "Heroes and Antiheroes" theme, entitled Young Turin.

And Lyra has sent a new story for "Minstrelsy and Magic" about Fingon's musical abilities: A Minor Talent.

Finally, I received a very good question today over email that called my attention to a mistake I had made in wording the description for the "Into the Woods" theme. I was asked if only stories were eligible for that theme since the description specified "stories" and said nothing about artwork.

In fact, stories, poetry, essays, artwork, and anything else you can dream up are eligible for all of the themes, unless the theme itself requires a specific format. (For example, "The Lays of Beleriand Reloaded" is specifically for poetry.) I've changed the wording on the site, but I wanted to point this out generally, since for every person who asks, usually five are wondering. :)

Upcoming deadlines: Older works for "The Songfic That Wasn't" should be sent in by September 1, which is Wednesday. This theme asks you to use one line from a song or poem in your story (or poem or artwork ;). New works for any of the themes may be sent at any time--there are no due dates.

I have just posted a compilation and two new stories for the Five Things theme. The compilation can be found here.

We have two new works as well for this theme. Oshun has written a story entitled Five Times That Nerdanel Said 'Yes' and One Time She Did Not about one of the favored topics of Feanatic speculation: the begetting of the sons of Feanor. The first four chapters are up on the birthday page.

And I have written a story for this challenge called Five Bells, looking at the death of Miriel Serinde from five different perspectives:

Our next upcoming due date is for the Cuivienen theme, so if you have an older work that you'd like to see included in the compilation for this theme, please be sure to have it sent over by the 28th. You can either email us directly or use the form on the website.

Please remember that due dates apply only to older works. If you feel inspired to write a story or poem or create artwork for one of the themes, we will add your contribution even if the due date has passed.

Today's compilation for the "Do Something That's Never Been Done" theme has been posted! Once again, we have a nice mix of stories and art, as well as several new pieces.

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/birthday/never.php

In Lady Roisin's Opportunity Discovered and Seized, Erendis captures Aldarion's eye on the day that he is to take the sceptre of Numenor, spurring one of The Silmarillion's tumultuous romances.

In Russandol's humor piece Livinlävidä, Legolas makes a bet with Gimli that he can do something that's never been done. Manwe is not impressed!

In Lyra's Unprecendented, Fingon announces to his surprised family whom he intends to marry: Maedhros.

In Fëanaro, Idril Vanimedle puts a new twist on a familiar story: the sibling rivalry between Fingolfin and Feanor, daughter of Miriel.

The next due date is tomorrow, for older works entered for the "Perfect Matches" theme. Perfect Matches is a compilation of crossovers, so if you have a crossover that you'd like to see included, please let us know!

Also, if I could beg and plead a favor of my fellow SWGers. I am going to be away on vacation beginning this weekend. My wonderful comod rhapsody11 will be handling uploads for the birthday event while I'm gone. However, it would be most helpful if any older works for Most Sinister Villain could be in Friday or earlier. This will allow me to get the compilation completely ready so that all Rhapsy has to do is post it next Tuesday. (If you have any new works for Perfect Matches or Sinister Villain that are finished, having them to me by Friday as well would make me most happy so that I could get them ready too!)

If you can't get them in by Friday, we will still be accepting Sinister Villain entries through the 21st. But if a spare moment happens to present itself in the next few days, and they can be sent early, we'd all be most grateful!

Final note: Please remember that due dates apply only to older works. We are still accepting new works for all of the themes!

I have just posted the compilation for our second theme, Numenorean Queens.

In addition, Himring wrote a new story for it, Pyrrhic Wedding, so that is up on the compilation as well as its own page.

The next theme due date is Saturday, August 14, for "Do Something That's Never Been Done." Please remember that due dates apply only to older works that you want included in the compilation. If you want to write a new piece for any of the themes, you can turn that in at any time, and we will add it.

If you've sent us an entry for one of the themes and have not heard back from me that I've received it, please contact me; it possibly got lost in the [e]mail.

I am very much behind on posting and sending notifications for tokens, but there are lots of them, and I will have them along as soon as I can!

And here is the index page for the birthday site if you want to catch up on what's been posted so far.

As of last night, we stopped accepting new ideas for themes and tokens, so we now have a complete list and schedule.

But first, and very importantly, if you have sent us writing or art for inclusion in one of the themed compilations, and you have not heard from us that we've received it, please contact us to confirm receipt. We've had a few pieces disappear into the wilds of the Internet. Likewise, if you proposed a theme or token and do not see it on the list, please let us know.

New Themes

What Would Socrates Say? For stories in which characters question their own or another's philosophy or beliefs and thus challenge the status quo.

The Lays of Beleriand Reloaded. Or, "Poetry in Motion." A theme that celebrates verse inspired by The Silmarillion and ancillary works.

Into the Woods. A celebration of stories focused on the denizens of Doriath.

To My Dear ... The distances between certain characters are enormous, but they somehow maintain close friendships. Why not publish the letters they used to stay in touch?

All of the themes (plus due dates for sending in older work, posting dates, et cetera) can be found on our birthday page.

New Tokens

Most Delightful Heresy. For the most refreshing, insightful or intriguing deviation from common fanon or canon interpretation.

The Golden Vial of Oil Award. For slash that is both erotic and humorous.

Most Likely to Make a Linguist Happy. For creative use of Tolkien's imaginary languages in a story.

The Tirion Mothers Against Oath-Taking Public Service Award. For an outstanding portrayal of Nerdanel.

Is That a Strongbow in Your Pocket or Are You Just Glad to See Me? For an excellent portrayal of Beleg.

She's All That. For an engaging characterization of Luthien.

You Made Me Love You (I didn't want to do it). Awarded to a story that took a canon character you didn't care for and redeemed him/her.

It's Only a Flesh Wound. For writing involving injuries and their treatment.

First Times. The first rise of the sun or moon, the first time someone makes love, or the first time someone takes a sword in hand - this is a token for stories describing exciting, astonishing, painful or beautiful first times.

Spring and Summer; Love and Laughter. A token to honor those who write stories that cheer us up after we depress ourselves reading the more prevalent stories of tragedy and despair.

The Wordsmith. Just like Fëanor put a secret power into the Silmarils, the recipient of this token weaves magic into her or his writing. Stories, poems, and authors who receive this token show exceptional wordsmithing craft.

All of the tokens can be found on our birthday page.

Also, when sending in your choices for tokens, please don't forget to include your name on the form! Last night, we received a lot of token selections without names. We really want to give these out (and are trying to locate who might have sent them--if it was you, please let us know! :), but since each person can give each token only once, we can't give out tokens unless we know who's giving them.

Finally, the deadline for the "Numenorean Queens" compilation is tomorrow (August 9) for older work. If you're writing a new piece for this theme, there is no due date; send it in when you're finished and happy with it, and we'll add it then. But if you have an older story, essay, poem, or artwork that you'd like included in this theme, please send it no later than tomorrow.

Everything you could want to know about the birthday event and then some is on our birthday page. If, somehow, we've overlooked your question or concern, please just ask! :)

Hi, everyone,

In the past few days, we've received several new themes and tokens for our birthday celebration that I wanted everyone to be aware of. Fyi, I generally update the website with new themes and tokens within a day of receiving them. The updated list is both on the birthday page and the sidebar that appears on every page. I'll post updates here and on LJ once or twice per week only to keep from spamming the list. :)

Here's what we have for new themes:

Through the Ages. Stories or artwork featuring characters that belong in more than one age of Arda such as Galadriel or Elrond and who influence more than one age of history.

The Songfic That Wasn't. This theme is for 'songfic' in which you use a line from a song once in your story (it may be the title, in the dialogue, in the description - wherever you like). You are expected to credit the original song or poem, of course, but you may not quote the entire song in your story.

And new tokens:

The Box of Tissues. To honor stories that manage to be even sadder than the original.

Straight to the Heart. This token can be given to any story or poem that affected the reader in any way possible. Maybe it made you start writing, it gave you thought about something, or just simply touched you deeply.

Not That There's Anything Wrong with That. The most unlikely slash pairing that actually works.

I will attach a complete list of current themes and tokens at the end of this message.

Remember, you can still suggest a theme, suggest a token, send in work for an existing theme, and recommend a story or author for one of our existing tokens. That's lots of options! :) More details on all of the above and forms to send in your suggestions and entries can be found on our birthday page.

And please do contact me or one of the other mods if you have any questions or need any help. Many, many thanks to everyone who has sent in stuff so far!

All the best,

Dawn

( Complete List of Themes and Tokens )

Hi, everyone,

Thanks to everyone who emailed or posted on LJ yesterday expressing support for the birthday event. We've decided to go ahead with it, since there is interest, but we've extended the deadline for sending work for themes two weeks to give everyone more time. So our birthday won't happen exactly on our birthday, but it will mean that we all have time to put together something that really represents the range and talent of this group--definitely worth the wait! :)

The deadline for submitting ideas for themes and tokens will remain the same. This deadline is August 7, and you can send ideas for themes and tokens on the birthday page, or email me or the mods directly with your ideas.

Work for the first theme will also be due* August 7, and the first theme will be posted on August 10. We might rearrange the schedule a bit depending on the number of themes we receive, and I will update the schedule in the next few days, but this will definitely be the start date.

* Please remember that due dates apply only to older work that you are sending in for the compilation! If you are creating something new for one of the themes--"new" meaning that it has not been posted publicly anywhere before--you can send it in at any time during the birthday event, and we will add it to the birthday site. We are doing this so that those of you to inspired to create for the earlier themes are not punished by having less time to work than those working on the later themes.

I will be working to get the site updated today with the new information, along with some other admin stuff, so I will probably take a bit longer than I would like to acknowledge receipt of themes, tokens, and work sent in yesterday. If you sent something yesterday and don't hear from me by Tuesday, please let me know! We've already had our avid spam watchdog try to gobble one legitimate email. Many, many thanks to those of you who sent in things yesterday! :)

As always, please let me know if there are any questions. I hope that everyone has a lovely weekend! :)

Dawn

I just wanted to send a reminder that the due date for work for the first compilation for our birthday, "Most Sinister Villain," is due on July 24. That's just two days away! If you have stories, poems, artwork, or essays that fit this theme, we invite you to send them in for inclusion in this theme. We will be putting together a compilation on a hopefully lovely webpage of all of the work we receive.

New entries will be accepted at any time during the birthday event, but I know that some of you have done excellent work in the past with villains, and my comods and I are really hoping some of those pieces will be entered!

More details on the whole shebang are up on our website:

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/birthday.php

As always, if there are any questions, please let me know.

The SWG is turning five at the end of the month! Because we are always looking for excuses to celebrate the creativity of our talented membership, then we asked everyone for ideas for how we could celebrate this milestone. You all generated lots of ideas, so we asked for feedback on favorites, intending to poll the group about what everyone wanted to do. However, we were able to fit all of the favorite ideas into a single event, so that's what we did. Thank you again to everyone who shared ideas and feedback on ideas!

( Full Event Guidelines )