Reviews (146)

Author's reply

Thank you for reading and stopping to share your thoughts! I think that when Ferdi has something important enough to say, he'll find his tongue again.

Author's reply

Lalia has a terrible reputation, and deservedly so, though few would have the nerve to say so out loud. Her spite also makes it very difficult to say no to her. Poor Eglantine. And Paladin. And Pearl. And poor Rosemary. But the hearts of most Shire-folk are in the right place, so she'll have at least some people looking out for her. Whew. Thanks! I'm glad to be hearing your thoughts as the story continues. (And I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow! Our street is all freshly paved, nice and smooth. The contractors who are keeping the roads for the King have requested that we all drive slowly, don't make sharp turns or U-turns, don't start or stop abruptly, and avoid stationary power steering turns. I'm not sure what the latter might be. I'm also pretty sure that neither of our own cars has power steering, so I'm not going to worry about it. The rest of those instructions, I pretty much do already in the interest of saving wear & tear on our tires and [regarding driving slowly] safeguarding the neighborhood children who like to play in the street in nice weather.)

Author's reply

The fire was a terrible thing, and I left it off my alternate timeline, though I haven't quite figured out the character development arc in the alternate version to bridge the gap for my characters going from the fire to Pippin's becoming Thain. So far, I've only figured out that Ferdi withdraws from Shire society after the Battle of Bywater in both timelines, and so Nell marries Rudivacar. Probably in the alternate timeline, instead of the nine-year shunning imposed by Paladin, Ferdi continues his self-isolation, but that's still under development (I'm talking about the alternate timeline introduced in The Farmer's Son, which is currently only outlined as far as Pippin's return and the Battle of Bywater.) Sorry, I'm rambling. I started thinking out loud when I read your review just now. I haven't started working on finishing Farmer's Son yet, but I'm still aiming at finishing all the WIPs over the next few months (or as long as it takes). Anyhow, thanks for listening! And thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I really appreciate it.

Author's reply

I can just imagine the children trying not to giggle and the escort suppressing their smiles at the children's reaction... Pippin can be eminently helpful – he just has to be interested in what he's doing, and/or has to be able to understand the reason for doing something. Thanks!

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In the original story, they found scraps of slightly more than fur, but that got revised to scraps of fur. While originally putting the outline together, I read somewhere that wild pigs don't leave much behind. Added to that, I've watched dogs eat (raw) meat with bones, consuming bones and all, so it is conceivable that the hobbits who came on the scene concluded that the wild boars had torn the dog to pieces and devoured everything except for the clumps of hair they left behind. Thus, whoever built the cairn probably collected as much of the scattered hair as they could, then covered it with the cairn and placed the collar on top. (And seeing how Lop slipped out of his collar when returning to the farm, I could see him slipping his collar if a hog got hold of it in the fight.) One of our herding dogs had a narrow head and could slip her collar easily. We had to use a special "Gentle Leader" or "Haltie" with her leash or, alternatively, a harness. In my experience, herding dogs are happy to herd children as well as other animals. LOL! One of my adult kids told me recently about being herded to bed when the dog decided it was bedtime and he'd had enough of the children. Daw ought to have stayed! But he probably missed the announcement, being away on his rounds, or the date slipped his mind, and he really wasn't dressed in his best. And then to see what happened to Pearl when he didn't control Lop! Lastly, I'm so glad you enjoyed the story! Actually, from the posting dates, the story was deleted and restored in 2006, a couple years after the last chapter (before the epilogue) was posted. SoA admin have been defending the site from hackers for a long time, bless them with many blessings. Thanks so much for your lovely comments! I greatly appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts and impressions.

Author's reply

Thank you for your encouraging response! I have heard some of my favorite authors talk about the same phenomenon, but it never fails to astound me when it happens.

Author's reply

Yup, it was an accident! I suppose it might have been called carelessness, though Pearl always made sure the wheels of Lalia's chair stopped at the raised threshold, sort of like wheel chocks or a brake. And if she had hung on to the chair, her weight and strength would have been no match for Lalia's weight and bulk in trying to prevent the tragedy. Once Lalia stood up and lost her balance, falling forward, what followed was inevitable. Anyhow, since JRRT made such a point of saying that no hobbit had ever deliberately caused the death of another in the history of the Shire, it had to be chance or carelessness. People are so fond of gossip. Unfortunately, it can take on a life of its own and spread like a noxious weed (and be just as hard to root out, as well). Thanks!

Author's reply

Y'know, I think Pearl might have encouraged Ferumbras to stand his ground, and it would have been easier for him to do so if his mother moved away to a retirement home (though it would be tragic if that happened to be Paladin's farm, and it would also have been tragic for Pearl and Isum if Pearl had actually married Ferumbras). I hadn't connected the Hobbit blessing with the Elvish blessing... that's cool! (I was actually thinking of the Irish blessing at the time I wrote that part.) Pearl's tricks come out of an old book (or more than one, probably), possibly one of L.M. Alcott's, though probably not Little Women. Fashionable young women who had ruined their complexions (i.e. late hours at balls and theater performances, poor diet, little exercise, confining clothing, and societal expectations) used tools like rouge to give their cheeks a healthy glow and something in their eyes (belladonna, maybe?) to make their eyes more luminous or mysterious or something (belladonna drops dilate the pupils, for one thing) and something on their lips to add color, moisture and/or shine (in the days before lipstick, though I don't remember the details). By contrast, "country" girls or farm girls were described as having naturally rosy complexions, bright eyes, and relative good health from eating fresh farm food and getting exercise by working at farm chores. While an idealized picture, there's some truth in it (especially in the context of Hobbits as Tolkien described them). Hopefully I wasn't too obvious in my plotting. (I hate to be too predictable!) Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts! You've made my day today.

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I actually stopped and thought about this the first time I wrote about a doll in the Shire. Eventually, I realized that of course a hobbit child would expect a dolly to have woolly feet, or it wouldn't look like a hobbit child's child! Thanks!

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Isum is both wise and understanding. I like him more the better I get to know him. (Does that statement make sense? It looks odd when I read it over.) Poor Ferumbras. He has his moments, but he never really had the chance to develop any kind of independent spirit over his lifetime of being dominated by Lalia. It's too bad Fortinbras paid more attention to watching over the Tooks than raising his son instead of leaving Ferumbras to Lalia's tender mercies. Thanks for reading and stopping long enough to share your impressions.

Author's reply

You said it. Unfortunately. She must have been awfully hard to live with. At least, that's how I've imagined her. JRRT didn't describe her in complementary terms, as I remember. Old habits and patterns are hard to break, and I'm sure Lalia made Ferumbras pay dearly for that moment of defiance. I'm sure she was convinced that he was in the wrong and she was in the right, and it was all for his benefit and for the best. Thanks!

Author's reply

The part about the dog made me very sad, along with someone very dear to my heart who pleaded with me to rewrite the story in order to save Lop. For me, rewriting is tricky because major changes can blur my mental picture/movie/whatever you'd call it, and then I get stuck. It took me a long time to figure out what happened to Lop if he didn't die (since the story was already written to the end). But recently, I had the idea of writing an epilogue that could explain Lop's absence and provided a happy ending for him. Whew. Thanks so much for letting me know you're reading and taking the time to share your thoughts.

Author's reply

They have several versions, actually. Another is something like, "We'll ice that cake when it comes out of the oven" or "We'll ice that cake when it's cooled." (The Tooks tend to avoid referring to rivers and bridges, as it were...) Oh how interesting that you mentioned that disappearance along with this one! It seems as if Pippin got in some practice at disappearing before the grand event, at that! And yes, it's always made sense to me that hobbit appetite would be a reliable gauge of health. (Very much like a certain furry-footed family member of ours...) Thanks!

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Now there's a thought worth pondering... I hadn't heard that idea connected with her before! Thanks!

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I'm relieved to hear my rambles don't bore you when they break out. Whew. And thank you for your encouraging words! You're right, it finally came true at the end! (I don't know why, but whenever I revisit this chapter, I can hear Chevy Chase in the back of my mind, intoning, "General Francissimo Franco is still dead." That's from the very old Saturday Night Live days, in case the reference was too obscure. Oddly enough, the go-to around here when dealing with infirmity or illness is "I'm not dead yet! I'm getting better!" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, so I'm not sure how SNL crept into the background in this case.) And now I shall go whistling to the housework... with any luck at all, I'll be able to knock it all out ("Spit-spot!" as Mary Poppins used to say, though I never quite knew what she meant by that) quickly and come to the end of the day with spare time to read a few more chapters on my want-to-read list. "Too many stories" someone said? May it never be! Author Reply: (and I might have got Franco's name wrong in the quote above, come to think of it. Maybe it was "Generalissimo" rather than "Francissimo". In any event, the pertinent part of the quote was "is still dead".)