What to do when the writing's going slow? Post an "oldie-but-goodie", I suppose.

From the original "Author's Notes":

This is one of my first fanfics; I think I wrote it when I got bored in the middle of "Jewels" and needed a change of pace. I find if I work on at least two stories at a time I don't get writer's block, odd, eh?

Anyhow, this is different from what I usually write in that it is AU. (Jewels is unintentionally AU, in that I mis-read Estella's birthdate and made her the same age as Diamond and don't feel up to the challenge of fixing all the parts in Jewels I'd have to fix to make her the proper age-- so she gets to live every? mature woman's dream, and is ten years younger than she ought to be.)

The premise, to get back to my point before it eludes me forever due to chocolate overdose, is that Hobbits are not invited to sail with the Elves. Uh-uh, sorry, so long, it's been good to know you, I've got to be moving along. (Paraphrase of Elrond's last goodbye, didn't know he listened to Country Western music, did you? Neither do I, usually. Come to think of it, I'm not sure that *is* CW music, but it could be. Or perhaps it is folk music, the great love of my life. But let us not diverge...)

It does not help that a peevish Alsatian (German shepherd) weighing 120 lbs keeps trying to climb into my lap because the children are playing outside and she was not invited.

Anyhow, Frodo and Bilbo stay in Middle-earth, without the option the Ring-bearers had in Professor Tolkien's work. Oh, and there's another little plot twist, but I wouldn't want to give it away too soon.

Much of the text in Chapter 1 comes from the original work, probably from "Scouring of the Shire" but there may also be some from "The Grey Havens", I put the book down earlier and cannot find it at the moment. The plot twist is my own little invention. At least I think it is. At least I think I think. Chocolate can be so muddling. Bear with me.

From the original summary: AU story: Premise: Frodo does not sail West with the elves, and there's a little plot twist in the bargain... but the characters are still as true to Tolkien as I could make them.