Reviews (49)

Author's reply

Thanks, PipMer. I hope "Dead Steward's Gift" gave you a nice start for 2009. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Linda! This chapter is for everyone who has ever had a cat in their life. I just couldn't wait until I finished the whole story so that I could give the audience Cirri's point of view. I read the first six books of the Midnight Louie series and "Cat in an Indigo Mood." My favorite of them all was "Cat on a Blue Monday," but it is also very upsetting. One of the characters is a cat hoarder--one of those old ladies with about 50 cats in an old house. Shudder. I will say no more. - Steff

Author's reply

Thanks for supporting me through the years, Irene. I have a couple of ideas on where I want to go next with my story. I also may participate in some challenges on other sites, which will mean I will also be posting them here. Meantime, I expect to be a big reader of fan fiction the next few months by participating in the MEFA awards as a reviewer. If you like to read excellent fiction, check out the MEFAs. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Agape - Alas, Faramir had become obsessed by the palantir and just had to use it. He became as indefatigably curious as his adolescent cat. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Larner - Thanks for keeping up with "Dead Steward's Gift." I think Cirri might have inadvertently gotten me into a literal rat hole. But my thinking is closer to Faramir's. Where does the corridor behind those boards lead to? Could Faramir have another mystery on his hands? Where will I get the time to write such a thing? Yikes. I gave myself my very own plot bunny. Good luck in the MEFAs, Larner, and everyone else who writes and reads these reviews. - Steff

Author's reply

Oh, Raksha, you can't imagine how much fun I had writing this chapter. I've been waiting for months to give everyone Cirri's point of view. And yes, this is exactly with the writer Carole Nelson Douglas does with her Midnight Louie feline character. I imagined Cirri as a typical 18 year old guy who has just realized he is almost grown, as Chuck Berry once said. He loves his Steward (surrogate Dad) but thinks Dad is a bit old fashioned, dim witted, and just plain doesn't understand. And I have it first hand from Cirri that palantirs work better than flossing! Take care, Steff

Author's reply

Hi Linda - I can't deny that i thought of some of your Aragorn and Faramir's stories when i wrote this. As far as telepathic abilities are concerned, there is no doubt in my mind that both these men have them. To what extent is left for us fan fic writers to muse about. The desperate urge to look into the palantir that both experience I imagine as a palantir version of a ringing phone. It takes a lot of physic power to hear that phone. I think Leo and Cirri might have a good time crawling all over that palantir. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Larner - Whether the kitty is getting in the way depends on the character's POV. Faramir would say the darn cat is hindering him. Cirri the cat most likely thinks he is helping his steward. Either that or he's attracted to the cold black stone. Eowyn northwest rather than northeast. I better check that out. I do have a bit more editing to do on this chapter. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Fiondil - Thanks for following the story. I guess i didn't stump you (grin). I wonder if other people realized right away that Aragorn was the one on the other end of the "communications" line. They certainly surprised each other, which makes for a fun reveal, anyway. Arnor versus Anor. Geesh, what an oopsie on my part. I've known that the northern kingdom is Arnor since 1968. I've also known that the palantir Denethor uses is the Anor stone since that time. But try typing with ultra long nails late at night on a chapter that includes the Anor stone and the land of Arnor and you get--a typo! It surprises me that I haven't found myself typing the arnor stone and not finding it when I proofread. Tolkien and his similar names :) Take care, Fiondil

Author's reply

Hi Agape - I wish I could put you in the secret room of the Observatory just so that you can spend lots of quality time with the annals. I'm sure Faramir will be glued to them after this story ends. Thanks for following along. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Raksha - Thanks for catching "okay." I'll fix it. Raksha and everyone, this story will have some revisions, especially to get rid of some of the modernisms that probably slipped in during my rush to finish the chapter. It's funny, I had the ideas for this chapter from the very start of the story. I knew how it would begin. I knew what the climax would be. But how to get from start to finish was another story. Faramir and Aragorn both searching for bad guys in their respective palantirs and instead, finding each other, is a scenario that gives me the warm fuzzies. It was far more exciting to have Aragorn find the legendary, missing Annuminas stone than have him use the still extant Orthanc stone--even if its not exactly canon, book or film. I'm really glad you liked the image of the cat crawling all over the palantir. Me thinks there is more to teenaged Cirri than meets the eye. Thanks for reading and for nudging me to complete this. Stay tuned for the Epilogue. - Steff

Author's reply

No kidding :) Thanks for keeping up with this, Larner. - Steff

Author's reply

Thanks so much, BM. I'm glad you are enjoying this tale. It's my first attempt at writing a mystery/comedy. Faramir has solved the mystery "where is it/who has it." He now gets his chance to look into it. Tolkien tells us that palantirs were not evil or very powerful in of themselves. They were merely communications devices, the iPhones of classic fantasy. Evil powers like Sauron or Saruman got their hands on these tools and used them for evil purposes. In post Ring-war Gondor, few people knew of the palantirs. And those who did equated them with the power to drive their users mad (see Denethor). Is Faramir's desperate urge to look inside the palantir due to the insidious, evil nature of the stone? Or is is it just his curiosity getting the better of him? You'll find out in the final chapter, coming up next. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Linda - You and Faramir are holding your collective breaths that I finish poor Faz' travails. Thanks to everyone for keeping up with Dead Steward's Gift. Unfortunately, right around the time I finished the last chapter, my elderly mother fell and broke her hip. The good news is, she is well on the mend and walking about with a cane. But the past few months were taking up with Mom issues and cross-country (3000 miles in the US) flights to help get her on the road to recovery. So Faramir has had to wait and wait before he gets his opportunity to use the palantir. Hang on, everyone. - Steff

Author's reply

Thanks, Antane. And I owe everyone an update. RL has been problematic the past 6 weekw, but I will have some time next week for a breather. Hang in there with me. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Obsidianj - Thanks for keeping up with the story. The staff of the Tower of Ecthelion has a mighty cleaning job ahead of them. Why can't Bes just tell Faramir where the palantir is, you ask. There are a couple of reasons. First of all, Bes is a domestic. To be sure, she manages a staff of other domestics, but giving clear instructions to her lord Steward would tie the poor woman's tongue. She had a close relationship with Denethor but doesn't quite trust his younger son yet. She and Marod deceived the Keeper of the Keys and most of the Tower staff big time to keep their trysting place safe from prying eyes. Secondly, Bes has really hidden that palantir in a secret place that would take a lot of describing. (There's a spoiler for you.) Thirdly, from a story point of view, it's much more fun to have Bes show, rather than tell, Faramir where the palantir lies. Now I just have to finish that chapter. Sigh. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Irene - There is one more chapter and possibly an epilogue. I wanted to keep this story fairly short and sweet. It's already much longer than i planned. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Soledad - That you laughed your head off at the mystery revealed is just the sort of news that makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Some reviewers have indicated that the story really scared them thus far, but i also want them to not get too scared. I love comedy/mysteries and had a few in mind when I started to write "Dead Steward's Gift." Thanks for reading. Now I need to get back to your "verse," too. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Linda - Thank you for your comments and a good catch. I had intended to reveal the circumstances of Bes' recent beating in this chapter but forgot, among all the excitement. Yes, nefarious hubby found her at some place in the city, and beat her. I think Faramir will get the Minas Tirith version of the police on him, but maybe outside the scope of this particular story. At any rate, Bes gets a bit more to do in the next chapter before I wrap up the whole story. Cirri has a bit more to do before I wrap up, as well. Thanks for following along. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Agape - I think Bes may have become the surrogate daughter for Denethor--but I haven't thought that much about their relationship. Maybe she wants her own story after I finish "Dead Steward's Gift?" Movieverse Denethor totally lost it in the end. In the Steffverse, he still had a glimmer of his old wisdom to try to save his treasured palantir, right? Even in book canon, the palantir survives the Steward, though it probably is haunted and unusable. That's a story for someone else to write. I'm filling in a Movieverse gap. Thanks for reading. - Steff

Author's reply

Hey, they could share the soup. That was probably Bes' intention, anyway. My philosophy in "Dead Steward's Gift" is there is a real-world explanation for most of the scarey elements. The palantir, though, is a different story. Which we will get back to soon. Thanks for reading, Steff

Author's reply

Only the next chapter will tell. Could Denethor have known the woman? Did her life and Denethor's ever intersect? That's enough hints for you. - Steff

Author's reply

Hi Agape - In the Steffverse, Denethor's pretty darn mad by the time he marches out with Faramir's prone body to Rath Dinnen. But not quite. He had sense enough to put the palantir someplace where it might be found by Aragorn or his heirs at some point in the future. He also had sense to do something else, which will be revealed in Chapter 5, now under construction. Re: Cirrion and his antics. Well, Dead Steward's Gift is Cirri's story almost as much as it is Faramir's. He's quite a different animal from your stately Aqualonde, whose adventures I am following closely. - Steff

Author's reply

Gee whiz, Agape. Are you one of those people who reads a mystery and knows whodunit from the get go? Let's just say, your very own comments in this review point to the resolution of the mystery. Have fun. - Steff