Riddles in the Kitchen

I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Avery Caswell from Better Books and have a chance to chat with her about my idea(s) for books.  She was encouraging of my ideas and set me off in a direction that may well help bring one of my book ideas to print someday.  I had always been of the belief that you had to know the whole arc of the story before putting pen to paper and writing was the details.  Avery dispelled that myth.  She said just write and write every day.  Make it routine and your story will present itself to you.  I have taken that to heart and am writing 15-30 minutes each day.  Some of it ends up here some of it is just being written long hand on legal pads.  This is more like how I paint.  I have some structure but the end result is unknown when I start.  Thanks Jen Jovan Walls for the introduction!  I am currently working on this project that had been parked here and stalled in the blog for two years and the other is based on a dream from childhood and will be an illustrated children's book.  I am writing daily and I am thankful for that.  Avery also told me right everyday nothing is wasted.  armed with these ideas I am working on my projects and will report in here from time to time with progress or fragments I want to put out there.

Now on to our story...

In my last post I wrote of Tolkien potentially being Gandalf.  Maybe he will be maybe he won't.  Today I explore Gandalf's impressions of Tolkien at their first meeting assuming that they are not the same person and that Tolkien just showed up on Bilbo's doorstep.

The fire was down to glowing coals in the fireplace in Bilbo's kitchen.  Bilbo and Jar Tulkeen as Bilbo had taken to calling the mysterious visitor who had appeared on Bilbo's doorstep earlier that day.  Gandalf smoked his pipe in the near dark and thought about the strange events that had occurred.  Tulkeen had appeared not knowing where he was or having any understanding of Middle Earth except that he thought the Shire reminded him of somewhere called the Cotswolds.  Through out the day and well into the night Gandalf, who had been coming to tea at Bilbo's and arrived 30 minutes after Tulkeen, questioned Tulkeen about where he came from and why he was here.  He spoke of a land called England and of the great war.  He described terrible machines of warfare and blinding chemicals and guns that could shoot projectiles from miles away.  It was truly horrifying.  he thought the wizard Saruman with fascination of mechanical devices devices would be quite interested in what this man had seen.  Gandalf shuddered at what would happen to Middle Earth if that type of warfare existed here.  Inspire of his knowledge of profane and arcane warfare Gandalf sensed kindness in this man.  In some ways he reminded Gandalf of Bilbo.  The two of them had spent many hours in the afternoon looking at maps Bilbo had drawn of the countryside.  Tulkeen was keenly interested in  the written languages of Middle Earth that he did not understand.  He did however speak the common tongue and called it English.  Bilbo had thought he said Entish and proclaimed that Tulkeen did appear a bit mossy.
Why was Tulkeen here?  Had something drawn him here from his land?  Gandalf had sensed strange things happening and heard whispers of forces gathering in the East.  He hoped beyond Hope this was not true.  He did not want to face that enemy ever again.  Gandalf sensed he could learn more from Tulkeen and and had convinced Bilbo to invite him to be his guest at Bag End until Gandalf could glean more information or the man disappeared.  Dawn was now starting to reveal itself through the kitchen window and with the new day Gandalf felt some relief from his fears.  He needed to decide what to do next....

Evolution

In the earlier posts Tolkien shows up and is an observer who turns into a counsellor to Gandalf and Bilbo... What if instead Tolkien is Gandalf, or more correctly takes over as Gandalf who has not been seen for years.  Maybe the meet later maybe they don't the wonderful thing about writing the story is I get to have it present itself to me and then I share it with you the reader.
Between the book which I have to admit to reading many, many times and the movie, most people know how the story goes of Gandalf hoodwinking Bilbo into going on the journey.  He at least re-awoke Bilbo's longing for and sense of adventure...

What if it were different?  What if Tolkien appears out of thin air outside of Bag End on that spring morning and it is Bilbo who convinces Tolkien he is Gandalf the wizard whom he has not seen since his childhood... After all if you are a hobbit and gray haired man appears before you out of thin air it would be safe to assume he was a wizard.

Maybe it would have gone something more like this.

Poof! Tolkien appears and is bewildered at Bilbo's doorstep.

Bilbo - Hullo! What's this now?  Who are you?
Tolkien - Who am I you say.  Who are you?
Bilbo - Why I'm Bilbo Baggins of course everyone around these parts knows who I am.
Tolkien - I beg your pardon.. Yes of course you are Bilbo and I am... I am...
Bilbo - Goodness gracious me why you are Gandalf the old wandering wizard aren't you?
Tolkien - I'm I'm Gandalf?
Bilbo - Well of course you are.  Care for a pipe of tobacco and some tea?
Tolkien - Beg your pardon?
Bilbo - Well yes you've asked for it twice and as you are not a wandering button salesman you shall have my pardon.  Now about this pipe of tobacco will you join me and have some?
Tolkien - Yes all right he said.  Tolkien was quite confused and needed to gather his wits.

at the same time down the hill the dwarf Thorin Oakenshield saw the flash of Tolkien's arrival and thought so it is true then.  The old wizard is alive and may have the key my father left in his keeping. I must gather the others.

From there Tolkien now Gandalf is involved in the quest to retake the mountain from the dragon all the while knowing nothing of the land he is in.  He listens intently and says little...
So the story of the Hobbit can be merely a retelling of his first time in Middle Earth with out mention of him or his roll...

I am not sure which plot line I will pursue... Tolkien as Gandalf or Tolkien as the mysterious visitor who Bilbo names Jar Tulkeen.  It will all reveal itself as I write and plot the story.  I do want to get back to Oxford and the Eagle and Child pub soon too but I feel I need to answer the riddle of Tolkien's roll in the Hobbit first as it will determine much of the future part of the story.  One idea is that CS Lewis sees Tolkien's Middle Earth first hand and that Tolkien goes to Narnia as well.  Lots to be sorted out.  For now I will write each day and see where this takes me.

Carl

A soggy night in the woods

Tolkien sat aways off from the fire under a tree.  He was wrapped in his cloak around himself fend off the cold rain.  Not for the first (nor the last) did het like Bilbo Baggins and longed for a pipeful of tobacco and a warm fire in the grate.  For him it was his office at Oxford or the dark, smoky backroom of the Eagle and Child where he traded stories and new writings with his friends.  His mind snapped back to his present situation.  He was with a party of thirteen dwarves and one hobbit on a mission to win back the dwarves ancestral home.  Here in Other Earth as he had taken to calling this place he found himself dropped into they called him Gandalf and seemed to think he was a wizard of all things.  Since he could not figure out what the mechanism was that brought him here or how to go home he figured the best thing to do was help the dwarves and continue to be 'Gandalf' until he knew more.
Bilbo sat down next to Tolkien and produced a bottle of Old Winyards (an excellent vintage) that bilbo had grabbed on his way out the door from Bag End, his home back in Hobbiton.  Bilbo may have forgotten his kerchiefs on that fine May morning last spring, but he had not left home with out at least a few comforts and this bottle was the last of the wine from home.  The hobbit offered it to Tolkien and said "What troubles you Gandalf?"  It is warmer by the fire and the Dwarves now that they had had a little to eat have taken out their instruments and begun to play.  Tolkien decided in that moment to share his story and all that had happened with Bilbo.  He needed someone to talk to and the diminutive hobbit showed a kind intelligence and honesty so far on the journey, besides he was the other member party pretending to be what he was not because even though he was hired as the group's burglar he was the least likely burglar in the world and that decision had selfishly been Tolkien's nearly six months ago back in the hobbit's hole when the dwarves wandered up to the green door with the yellow nob.  Back then Tolkien thought this all to be a kind of game or maybe a bad pint served up at the Bird and baby in Oxford...

I am writing about the Secret of the Inklings on most days now.  I am writing brief glimpses of the story in little vignettes while I figure out the plot.  These blog posts are a further distillation of a couple of days of writing long hand.  I expect to to post two or three of these little story sketches each week.  So Gentle reader if you are interested in an alternate tale of Middle Earth where Tolkien is actually Gandalf then join me on this quest and we shall see where it leads us.

Carl

I'm Back!

Hello!

After an almost two year hiatus I have decided to start working on my Inklings story again.  Friday night I went to an event to meet a publisher and talk about writing arranged by my friend Jen Walls.  In the course of chatting about a children's book I have wanted to write for many ideas I mentioned this idea as well.  While I may never publish it working out the story and doing the actual writing has value.  "Nothing is wasted" was the thread of all of the discussions Friday night.  So I am committing to spending 15minutes a day on the "Secret of the Inklings" as well as 15 minutes a day on my children's book.  I am also committing to setting my alarm 1 hour earlier so these projects do not become productivity killers for the rest of my work.  right after I hit the snooze bar and have a cup of coffee I'll get started....

Carl