My First Inspiration

I can't believe I've gone this long without mentioning my all time favorite book. Well, books.

The Hobbit. The Lord of the Rings. The Silmarillion. Anything touched by J.R.R. Tolkien. I bleed for Middle-Earth.

Anyone who knows me in real life, would be able to tell you that in a second. When I was in high school, someone found a lost copy of The Two Towers and every single person thought it was mine. It wasn't--mine was from the paperback box set issued before the Fellowship of the Ring movie and this one was from the box set issued before The Two Towers-- but not a single person believed me. My parents introduced me after I read through the entire Chronicles of Narnia in one day. My mother told me all about how they were friends and writing buddies. I was instantly captivated, borrowing the books constantly from the library.

When the movies came out, it was amazing. The books were everywhere, and my Christmases were filled with more books. My parents gave me The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales that year. I used all the money to buy whatever books in the History of Middle-Earth I could find. It was a rough quest, which I actually completed last year. The return of Middle-Earth to the big screen was incredible and brought back my favorite books to the front of bookstores.

Middle-Earth has always felt like my home. In a way, I struggle with writing high fantasy because I know it won't be as good. By blending it with murder mysteries, I can make it more my own. Tolkien's ability to craft this world with its own language and history always awed and inspired me. That's when I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to explore the vast unknown regions of Elsewhere.