[Niphredil Baggins]

>Are any of you writing serious fantasy?

Yes.

> If so, how have you dealt with the temptation to be imitative of Tolkien?

My story was first inspirated by some vivid dreams I had, before I had read Tolkien or any other fantasy. In these appeared the following:
A kingdom surrounded by impenetrable mountains, and
Seven magical sapphires.
Also, starting from the strange name in my dream, Jorgeyavagai, I've begun the making of a language.

I try not to imitate, but I can never be sure where the ideas come from. Nothing comes from nowhere, everything has a cause. I am not ashamed to steal from mythologies and such, indeed I use the Bible quite openly as the basis of my kosmogonia: angels and fallen angels, heaven and hell. Even God the Creator. How do I prevent imitating fantasy writers? Wish I knew. At the moment I do it by temporarily not reading fantasy, but it doesn't erase the memories.

>How long have you been working on your story, and why?

Approximately four years. I know I can write, so I want to use my gift in service to others.

> What pitfalls have you faced and how have you overcome them - or not?

I've run out of plot. Feels like I had in my hands a body without a skeleton. I have milieus and characters, but sometimes I just can't think of what to do with them.

I deal with this by writing the prehistory of my world, of writing something else and letting the ideas slowly mature in my subconcious.

As I remarked in "Kalessin's rant", I have been working on a fantasy story for fifteen years, inspired by Tolkien, trying - successfully I think - not to be imitative. It's not near being finished so I haven't even looked for a publisher yet.

Good luck (as if it had anything to do with this) and persistence!