Yes, I started writing because of J.R.R. Tolkien, but also because of C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams. All three were members of The Inklings, a group of friends and writers who got together once or twice a week to drink beer and read their stories to each other. They spent their time either in Lewis' rooms at Oxford, or at a back room at "The Eagle and Child", nick named "The Bird and Baby". All three have a powerful influence on my story. From Tolkien I tkae the need to evoke Wonder, and of "feigned history"; from Williams I take the rituals of light and dark and the idea of the supernatural thriller; from Lewis, not so much anymore as it used to be. My used-to-be favorite work of his, which is the least favorite of many, is "That Hideous Strength", which is the work most heavily influenced by Williams. My current favorite of Lewis is Till We Have Faces. It IS is best.
I don't have Elves because I have the gods and goddesses (and their children) of the mythologies of the world (well, SOME of the mythologies of the world, namely the ones that most interest me AND are most useful to my story).
I do have a post-creation story, very heavily King James style, that never got finished, but lays out the whole basis for my mythos.
Uh oh! Nar is not going to be happy with you, guy who be short. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] One of her primary standards for judging a story is, "how does the writer treat his minor characters?" Are they there just to prop up a bit of plot, or does the writer show that he cares enough to give them at least a character trait, even if he doesn't use it? Something worth thinking about....
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