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Concerning Sam  by Kara's Aunty 10 Review(s)
CandiceReviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/2/2009
Maureen, when I send emails to your ntlword.com address I get a bounce message with an msn.com address saying it's unavailable. Are you getting the emails that I send or, if not, is there another email we should use?

Thanks.
Candice

FoxRaferReviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/28/2009
I'm sorry to leave a non-review to your story; but I wanted to cover all the bases in getting in touch with you. My name is Candice (FoxRafer) and I've been assigned as your liaison for the MEFA Awards.

Three of your stories ("Concerning Sam," "Hope's Endurance," "Denial") have been nominated, and the deadline for accepting the nominations and completing the forms is close approaching.

I'm going to resend the nomination e-mail to your ntlworld address now, but please send me an e-mail (foxrafer@gmail.com) as soon as possible so we can begin the process. Even if you'd rather not compete, let me know so you're nominator, Antane, has time to use these three nominations for other stories.

Thanks so much, and congratulations on your nomination.

Author Reply: Hello Foxrafer,

Oh, my! I'm so honoured (Sends Antane a big kiss)! Sorry I didn't see this before today, but I've been taking a break from the fanfic arena for a month or two & for some reason decided this morning to log on & check my account! Just as well I did, though I hope it's not too late.

I won't be able to respond properly to this until I get home from work, but this is just a quick note to let you know I'll check my e-mails as soon as I get home ('cos I've not opened my e-mail account in a while either - disgraceful, eh?).

Will write soon...

Kara's Aunty :)

GamgeeFestReviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/3/2009
I am must finding this story and beginning to make my way through it. It's off to an excellent start. Aragorn's use of the Palantir to see his friends is belivable, especially as he limits his use of it, even going to such lengths as making the room as uncomfortable and uninviting as possible. This is wise. Sam seems to be in a bad way here. Everyone puts such emphasis on Frodo's spiritual wounds from the Quest, they often forget the impact it would have had on the other hobbits. Sam might not have carried the Ring for long, but he was with it to the very end, and it was definitely working on his mind, even if he wasn't aware of it.

I hope I have time to read more of this story soon! Welcome to SOA!

Author Reply: Hello Gamgeefest,

Thanks for the lovely welcome to SoA. Everyone has made me feel welcome! It's an honour to call such an esteemed LOTR fanfic site home.

I was surprised, but delighted, to get a review for 'Concerning Sam', having finished it so many months ago, so you have really made my day! This was my first foray into LOTR fanfiction as well as my first multi-chapter story, so it feels like my 'baby', so to speak. (Do bear that in mind if you come across any wee errors - also the Its/It's issue, you may frown in puzzlement now, but you'll undertand from chapter 5 onwards).

Aragorn is a wise soul indeed and never one to tempt fate unnecessarily. As for Sam - oh dear, my poor wee soul is in for the fright of his life!

I originally wrote this story because I'd always wanted to know what the effects of his time as Ringbearer were and nobody else had put forth such a tale. Which I've always found odd. After all, he may have carried it for a day, but he actually wore it on his finger for a good portion of that time trying to rescue Frodo from the Towere of Cirith Ungol - longer than either Bilbo or Frodo combined: and all this on the very edge of Mordor!

So I picked up my pen and basically wrote down all the questions I'd ever asked myself and then I theorised possible answers to each one and so my story was born. I hope you enjoy it (when you get a chance to read it) and I'm glad to have you on board.

Happy New Year!

M ;)

Linda HoylandReviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/7/2008
Your Aragorn is very wise to limit his use of the palantir. Welcome to SOA!

cookiefleckReviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/7/2008
Nice to see you that you are posting the story here. I very much enjoyed it. :o)

CeleritasReviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/6/2008
Yay! Fellow new author! ^_^

I'm really liking this so far; one of my pet interests in fandom is that fan fiction that fills a niche--that talks about something no one else has. And while (I think) the Visit to Annuminas has been covered, it's never been looked at from quite this perspective. Out of all the Travellers, the one whose scars people write about the least is Sam.

It would be unhealthy to forget to live his own life if he was so engrossed in those of others. True that!

I was most intrigued this chapter by the description of Sam's nightmare, particularly the part where he settled down, clutching his nightshirt. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but taken in conjunction with your summary mentioning him still being affected by the Ring, I had to raise my eyebrows at this.

I'll also be interested in seeing how you take the Sea-longing into account--the original last lines of the book rival the published ones in beauty and thought-inducing shivers.

Hurrah also for the UK English--despite being American, I set my spellcheck to UK when writing hobbit fic--though if I may have one niggle, "alright" as one word didn't enter the dictionary until the 1990's.

Your book compliance is fine, especially since you've demonstrated yourself to be aware of those things you artistically license to your purpose. ^_^

Well, this review is dragging on interminably, so I'll just cut it off by saying how much I'm enjoying this fic so far and hope you'll update soon!

Author Reply: Hello Celeritas,
WOW, what a great review! Thank you very much!

So you're a new author here too, eh? Have you posted yet? I'll have a wee look once I'm finished here...

I'm so new it's scary. I only posted last night and this is the 1st LOTR story I've done (and the 1st multi-chaptered, which was an accident as this was supposed to be one chapter long, finito!). The story is complete and has been posted elsewhere, but SoA is a distinguished site with many dedicated Tolkien fans so I'm a bit nervous at the thought of tripping up and landing flat on my face. Still, you can't fly if you don't try, eh?

Sam and his nightshirt... Yeah. It seemed such a clever thing to put in at the time... I should have changed that perhaps, too Frodo-esque I think. It should still work out okay though, just gives a general hint at the overall trouble he's in for (I'm thinking out loud as I type, so ignore me if I ramble on indiscriminately).

I've always wanted to read a story which specifically addressed the effects of the Ring on Sam, as well as his resultant Sea-longing and the way that may have influenced his family life. But I could never find such a story, so I decided to try and write it myself. I'm not a very experienced writer and my knowledge of ME isn't as broad as others, but I've worked with what I've got (the LOTR books and some good Tolkien websites) and hope that I've not made any glaring mistakes...

Well, the entire story is finished and the Sea-longing was one of the main details I wanted to explore, so that's all done and dusted and waiting for you to read....

I'm Scottish, so UK English is all I know. I'd like to do a Star Wars fic at some point, but am daunted by the thought of tackling US vernacular and US English, so I might just leave that to my American cousins. Plus, I'm rubbish at all that technical stuff (X-Wings, Permacrete, flying duels - gulp). Anyway, I digress. If I see any further entries of 'alright', I'll change them to 'of course' or something similar. That way, when you come across 'of course' you can smile and know I was thinking of you!

Your review did not drag on interminably (I relished every word), but I fear this reply might, so I'll pop off now. I'm posting another two chapters this evening (after I tweak them), so I hope you have an opportunity to read them.

Bye!

Maureen.

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/6/2008
How wonderful to see this posted here! Very nice introduction to your work!

Author Reply: Hi Larner,
you are the best! I'm beyond thrilled that you reviewed - but don't worry, I don't expect this for every chapter when you've done so once already.

I applied to post here three weeks ago, but only got the okay last night because they're doing technical stuff on the site or some such thing, so I was happy to finally be able to post on a J.R.R. Tolkien-only orientated site.

I'm tweaking each chapter as I put it up here to (hopefully) erase any errors, but will need to wait and see how much success I meet with (I'm fairly sweating at the thought of trying to clean up my punctuation!). Still, these things are sent to try...

I'm off now to tweak the next 2 chapters, so take care of yourself and all the best!!

Maureen.

Agape4GondorReviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/5/2008
Excellent beginning. I'm glad you put in the little disclaimer about the Palantir - it's not a big thing, but it can take one away from the tale. With the disclaimer, I'll be able to read without lightly gnashing my teeth.

As I said, excellent beginning. Can't wait for the next installment.

Author Reply: Hello Agape4Gondor!

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to review, I'm a happy woman because of it!

I know what you mean about the disclaimer bit - if I read something that is a bit OOC but has been 'advertised' as canon, it can ruin it for me (to an extent). I didn't actually realise the mistake with the Palantír in the first chapter until someone pointed it out to me (though in the nicest possible way) so even I'm not as infallible as I'd like to think! But now that I'm posting on the wonderful SoA site, I have a chance to try and address some of the errors I made the first time.

Of course, I'm sure I'll still let something slip through by accident - I'm not as knowledgeable in Middle Earth as many people, but thank goodness for the books I do have & the Internet.

I do love Sam and I had an unbelievable urge to write this story or combust, so I thought it might be easier to write and research as I went along. Combusting is too messy a business.

You won't have to wait for the next instalment - I'm so happy with the lovely reviews that I'm posting 2 chapters this evening (GMT - it's 18:32 here just now).

Hope I hear from you again!

Maureen.

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/5/2008
An intriguing beginning and I look forward to more! I hope indeed Aragorn can provide some relief for our beloved hobbit, indeed one of the world's saviors. It hurts to see him like this.

Namarie, God bless, Antane or Aunty Anne :)

Author Reply: Hello Joseph's, Margaret's, Stephen's, Peter's, Berndette's, John Paul's, Dominic's, Joan's, and Elizabeth's Aunty (I've been dying to do that ever since you replied to my review for your story 'Memorial Day'),

I am chuffed to bits (thrilled and delighted) that you reviewed my first chapter.

The story is complete and I will post 2 chapters this evening so feel free to give them a wee read if you like.

Sam may indeed get some relief - but his problems have barely started yet...


See you soon!

(Just) Kara's Aunty :)

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/5/2008
A little "artistic license" is fine--it just makes the story very slightly AU, as all fics are to one degree or another. Besides, I'm sure so canny a Ranger as Strider could read lips. I'm sure his mind supplied the words...

I like this--I could see by the events that this is a preliminary to his canonical visit to Annuminas. I look forward very much to seeing more of this.

Welcome to SoA! It's always lovely to see a new hobbit-writer in our ranks!

Author Reply: Hello!!

Thank you SO much for the review and the welcome. Stories of Arda is great - I only posted this last night and already the warmth of the reviewers has made me feel like a family member. You can't buy a feeling like this!!

I've actually finished this story (13 chapters) and was going to post a chapter every two days, but I'm so thrilled with the responses so far that I may not be able to contain myself and will probably put 2 up this evening (Got some tweaking to do on them though) as a sort of thank you.

Hope you enjoy the next chapters as much!

Maureen

Author Reply: Hello!!

Thank you SO much for the review and the welcome. Stories of Arda is great - I only posted this last night and already the warmth of the reviewers has made me feel like a family member. You can't buy a feeling like this!!

I've actually finished this story (13 chapters) and was going to post a chapter every two days, but I'm so thrilled with the responses so far that I may not be able to contain myself and will probably put 2 up this evening (Got some tweaking to do on them though) as a sort of thank you.

Hope you enjoy the next chapters as much!

Maureen

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