Aearwen's Corner

I can't tell you exactly what happened to cause me to skip posting my weekly fics last Saturday - maybe it was the excitement of knowing that we were going to get our new carpet in just two days, maybe it was the apprehension of having to finally move completely out of the two largest rooms in the house to clear the way for the new carpet. But the upshot is that I have a total of four things to post today - two stories (a short story and a vignette) and two true drabbles that will bring my posting in here up to date with my postings in the archives.

This first was, as were many of my offerings lately, as responses to the Back to Middle-earth Month prompts. This particular story was intended for Day #18 - Wilderlands

( No More )

A little while ago, I wrote a short story as a birthday gift for randy_o. With his permission, I am now sharing that gift with you. This takes place in my I Dhaerlend Dadui story!verse, for those familiar with my two distinct storylines.

( Birthday )

Here's the next part of this. Hope you enjoy...

( The Elvenking's Lady - Chapter 3 - Talking Points )

Well, this week saw the end of the peace and quiet in my house for a while. Son & daughter-in-law will be moving out of the apartment and into daughter's bedroom, while she will be taking over the apartment (finances being a key issue in this necessity) and so stuff shifting from one end of the place to the other is going to be quite unsettling for a while. It's a good thing I'm not seriously being pushed on anything at the moment.

Daughter definitely wants me working on Original Fiction (or O-fic, in the jargon) and I have a novel about 3/4s done in first draft that she gave me five hours worth of concrit on, including extensive brainstorming aimed at helping me finish the darned thing. Yes, I do need to do this. No, I'm not certain my Muse wants to cooperate. But everytime I start skimming those 12 pages worth of hand-written notes, the Muse perks up her ears a little. We'll have to see.

All of that as prelude to today's offering: the second chapter of The Spoils of War. Enjoy!

( The Spoils of War - Chapter 2 - Chains )

If yesterday was "Black Friday", is today "Mostly Grey Saturday"?

No, I don't go out at the wee hours of the morning to go shopping. My "big" holiday at the end of the year is New Year's, and there are sufficient sales after the 26th of December that I need not battle traffic, lines and checkout clerks to get bargains.

As for Thanksgiving, we celebrated with our turkey dinner this past Sunday. My new daughter in law was leaving to head north and help her mother pack up to move as of the Monday before the holiday, and also had her birthday that preceding Saturday. So we just moved the turkey and the birthday celebration to Sunday. For the actual Thanksgiving, we had our traditional "feathers" cassarole, which is cubed leftover turkey meat, leftover mashed potatoes, leftover dressing (I make an herbed wild rice dressing with the giblets that is very good - my mother's recipe), leftover gravy (made from the drippings of a bird whose only "stuffing" is white zinfandel wine), some cooked white beans, cubed carrots, and bread crumbs for on top. FWIW, we always plan the size of the bird we buy on just how many leftovers besides the "feathers" we want to have. When Mom was alive, she'd make turkey foo yong as well, but I don't do so good standing over a stove anymore, so... Ah. The memories!

My main story for you today is a sequel to another one-shot that I posted a while back entitled "Return". I hope you enjoy it.

( Sacrifices )

This is the second of a set of three related drabbles.

( Reciprocation )

Yet another in my series of drabbles. I'm seriously thinking of going back to writing these little things as a way of getting my Muse up and moving in the morning. Maybe if I tell myself that often enough, I'll actually sit down and do it? Ya think?

( Losing Something Precious )

This story sat 3/4s complete on my hard drive for almost eight months, during which time I joined my online writers workshop at the Garden of Ithilien. By the time my Muse decided she wanted to finish the thing, I had learned a lot as a writer. But, that said, it was the "Machete Drill Team" at the Garden that helped me turn this from a run-of-the-mill tale into a much deeper exploration of some issues rarely touched in fan fiction. My gratitude to them runs very deep. Enjoy this encounter between Gimli and Thranduil.

( You Take My Heart )

Here, at last, is the other half of this episode in my Thranduil/Elara saga.

( The World is Changing - Part 2 )