Mithril Awards Forum

www.mithrilawards.com

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:25:13 GMT

The 2005 awards site appears to be down? If the domain's been lost, then I'd be prepared to host the list of winners over at the old site for completeness, if someone could forward the html file.

What's wrong with the Mithril Awards?

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 09:36:51 GMT

Before we start the 2007 Mithril Awards, I would like to know what needs fixing.

On my personal list is finding out why the web forms sometimes fail to post.

For most I suspect the biggest issue is that we took too long to finish.

Please, post your thoughts.

Alcanazar

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 13:59:30 GMT

Hullo, all.

I must say that I was very hesitant to post here, since I've seen the way some 'discussions' can go and I'm not quite sure what I can say to make everyone understand that I am not -- in any way, shape or form -- trying to start any sort of wank here. But I have a couple of points I'd like to put forward and a couple of questions to ask, and there's really no way to do it other than to just do it.

So, here goes.

First, I would like to commend those who go to the trouble to run these awards, those who give of their time and their effort and, in some cases, their money to see it continue. I have not been active in these awards in the past and, though I've heard plenty about how they are run and by whom, what I saw during my experience with them has been beyond reproach. I think these awards are run by honest people who really do operate with the intent of recognising authors who excel in their craft.

I think the only 'glitch' in the entire system that I saw up until the very end of the process was that I never got an email telling me I'd been nominated; the person who nominated one of my fics saw me on the list of those who had not yet accepted their nominations and wrote me to tell me. (And this actually was a little worrisome, because I write under two different names -- both of which had something nominated -- have two different email addresses on two different servers, one of which has no SPAM filters, so I know that the email was not, in fact, sent. I was also told last year by a friend that she had nominated two of my stories and I was never notified of those, either, though I didn't find that out until well after the deadline. This might be something the Committee should look into.)

Now, I will admit that I was a little leery of participating in these awards, just because of all of the things I'd heard about them. Mike Kellner and I had a big, long email discussion a couple of years ago, during which we exchanged opinions over why the 'Hobbit People' (of which I am one) seem to have so many problems with the process, and he told me at the time that real attempts were being made to clear up misunderstandings, but I wasn't sure if there had been any progress. Plus, my limited experiences with HA and HASA were not entirely pleasant, so I really had to sit down and think about it when I was made aware I had nominations.

But, the thing is, if no one ever gave it a chance, the 'Hobbit People' would keep believing what they believed, even if every one of their former complaints were rendered moot, right? How can you know unless you try? So, I figured that if I had the same experiences I'd heard from others, I just wouldn't participate again; if I saw nothing but honesty and a real desire to make the system work for everyone, I'd let others know. And as far as the process itself goes, the latter is exactly what I found. I don't know about others, but I believe everyone involved in this has the very best of intentions and tries their hardest to make sure it's all run fairly and smoothly.

But.

(And you probably knew there'd be one.)

I think there is actually a problem and I think the comment I received is indicative of what I saw as that problem before even accepting my nominations.

Now, I understand that judging is all on a voluntary basis and I also understand that judges are human and therefore subjective. But judging, by its nature, should at least attempt objectivity and those who put those volunteers into a position where they are asked to judge should be responsible for making sure those volunteers are capable of doing the job they've been assigned as fairly and as objectively as possible. Those judges should have a better knowledge of canon than most, a more-than-passing familiarity with the subject matter and characterisations they propose to judge, a good background in writing and a great deal of knowledge of grammar and the more technical aspects of writing. Otherwise, they really aren't fit to judge any writing, let alone what is referred to as 'The Best In Tolkien Fanfiction'.

Before I go on, let me say that I know a lot of you don't know me and have no reason to take what I say and believe it as truth; however, I would also remind you that there is also no reason to take what I say and immediately dismiss it as untruth. And I realise that you will either believe what I am about to say or you won't and there's very little I can do to convince you that I'm being perfectly frank and honest; all I can say is that I am and I hope you will hear me out:

I didn't expect to win. In any of the categories for which I was nominated. I didn't even expect second- or third-place. I expected exactly what I got, which was a couple of my nominations stopping at the semi-final level and an honourable-mention for those that made it into the finals. Please believe me when I say that even that was more than I expected and I was honestly happy with it. And truly, as far as I could tell (and I checked out the competition, because, duh) it was exactly the way it should have happened. Considering those fics of mine under consideration and those fics of others' against which they were being considered, I'd have been both surprised and maybe even a little disappointed if I'd actually won. I know I'm not the best writer out there and if I do have one, true, honest talent, it's recognising, appreciating and admiring greater talent in others. So, none of what I am about to say comes from disappointment or bitterness at not winning. Which, again, you will believe or you won't, and there's rather little I can do about that besides present my case.

I suppose I should do that now, eh?

*deep breath*

Okay, one of the things I was really looking forward to was the comments on those fics of mine that made it into the finals. I find objective opinions from people who don't know me and don't necessarily care how I feel about what they say to be extremely valuable, in that they tend to be more straightforward and blunt -- in other words, more useful. I know I sometimes tend towards using adjectives to a nauseating extreme -- a rather purplish blind-spot I have that I normally don't see until I pick up something that's a year or two old and cringe. I am also aware that I sometimes put my favourite character up on a bit of a Saint Frodo pedestal. So, I was really interested to hear the critique on my nominated fics and was looking forward to maybe learning a thing or two about my writing that I didn't already know.

Except this is what I got:

"Reckoning"

"Good use of detail, believable dialogue, solid characterisations."

"This is for the most part a very strong story with a few distortions of character. Why, in the 'regular warren' that was Brandy Hall, would Merry pick only Frodo to depend on as a child scared of the dark? This is never explained, nor is it necessary to justify their later friendship. During the first pages Sam comes across quite stupid, however in the (very well paced) climactic scenes he is well and convincingly written. Merry and Pippin are for the most part well drawn, however Tolkien wrote nothing to make it seem likely that Merry would insist on not being called 'Mister', as Sam's elevation to Mayor and Master of Bag End did not make him the social equal of a Brandybuck. I don't know where Merry would have gotten any idea of 'sanctified grace'; he might think of 'grace' perhaps, as that would be part of the medieval vocabulary of Rohan, in its original meaning of gratuitous kindness by a sovereign towards a subject. Sam's explanation of Frodo is (for th! e most part) brilliant, but Merry's conclusion that Frodo castigated himself for 'failure to die' makes no sense at all. Is this story a satire on Merry? Nor is it credible that Pippin, having been face to face with Sauron through the Palantir, could ever entertain the thought that a world in which Frodo had tried to 'keep' the Ring could be other than a nightmare. I like the parts of this story that I like a great deal, and wish that the lapses from sense were fewer."

What I wish is that the reviewer did not walk into this story with so many of his/her own ideas about the right and wrong ways to tell it.

I was disappointed, to say the least. And if you can't tell why, let me go through this, point-by-point, so that you can understand. I won't lie -- this is a little bit of self-indulgence and some of my responses are a bit on the yes-of-course-I'm-disillusioned side, but I think the points are valid and demonstrate what I see as a real problem with a system that's otherwise well-run with admirable intent.

"Good use of detail, believable dialogue, solid characterisations."

This is for the most part a very strong story with a few distortions of character.

-- Er… thanks?

Why, in the 'regular warren' that was Brandy Hall, would Merry pick only Frodo to depend on as a child scared of the dark? This is never explained, nor is it necessary to justify their later friendship.

--Why does it require an explanation? Is it something that's that difficult to believe? Tolkien exposed a relationship wherein Merry loved his cousin enough to watch him for seventeen years and then walk away from his home and into danger for him; why is it so difficult to believe that there was a bond while they were growing up? Does that sort of devotion come out of nowhere? And why is it necessary to give a detailed backstory that Tolkien didn't even provide in order for that bond to be believable?

And no, I don't think it was necessary to 'justify' their later relationship because that relationship is already justified by canon; it was necessary to the history Merry had with the clock and as such, it served its purpose.

During the first pages Sam comes across quite stupid, however in the (very well paced) climactic scenes he is well and convincingly written.

--I'm not sure what fic this reviewer was reading, but Sam wasn't even in the first few pages and when he does enter the story, he has a conversation during which he merely expresses to Merry that he doesn't know where a certain clock came from. His dialogue is no different when he enters the story than it is when he exits it, so how not knowing the origin of one of Frodo's personal items makes him 'stupid' is quite frankly beyond me.

Merry and Pippin are for the most part well drawn, however Tolkien wrote nothing to make it seem likely that Merry would insist on not being called 'Mister', as Sam's elevation to Mayor and Master of Bag End did not make him the social equal of a Brandybuck.

--Um… so? It's that unbelievable that Merry would prefer to eschew propriety -- assuming he holds with such things in the first place, which is certainly not a given -- and wish to be on more familiar terms with someone who carried his cousin up a mountain and made sure he didn't die?

I don't know where Merry would have gotten any idea of 'sanctified grace'; he might think of 'grace' perhaps, as that would be part of the medieval vocabulary of Rohan, in its original meaning of gratuitous kindness by a sovereign towards a subject.

--First of all, anyone who has taken even a fundamental course in creative writing would know that anachronism is a legitimate device of the narrative and that authors are allowed to use them in exposition; now, if a character actually speaks a word that's anachronistic, that's a different story. However, since we are in fact dealing with a fantasy world that boasted tea, silk, coffee and various other 'anachronistic' items, I'd say the term itself is pretty fluid and no one can say exactly what belongs and what doesn't. And since none of us are writing in Westron and referring to our characters as 'Maura' and 'Kalimac', we're pretty much all winging it, aren't we? I can't believe there was no Westron word for either 'sanctified' or 'grace' and for someone to not only assume the reverse but judge something 'wrong' because of it is incredibly short-sighted and biased.

All of that being said, 'grace' is circa 1100; 'sanctity' and 'sanctified' are circa 1600 -- both of these words, within the strictest constraints of anachronism, are proper in the ways I have used them.

Sam's explanation of Frodo is (for th! e most part) brilliant, but Merry's conclusion that Frodo castigated himself for 'failure to die' makes no sense at all. Is this story a satire on Merry?

--If this person had actually paid attention to the story and Merry's characterisation, I doubt they'd have the bad taste to ask that question -- superior and facetious undertones notwithstanding. Merry's conclusion is not exactly far-fetched to a reasonable and open mind, considering Frodo's words and reactions on Mount Doom in the aftermath of the destruction of the Ring and further considering his actions once he reached home post-Quest. Fanfic writers extrapolate -- that's the point of fanfic -- and Merry's conclusion was an extrapolation of what exists in the text and in The Letters; this reviewer's failure to understand or 'get' how that conclusion was made is not only anomalous but fairly indicative of the reviewer's unwillingness to allow a story to lead him/her to its own conclusions and not inflict his/her own as a guideline.

If the reviewer simply didn't believe it -- fine. That's a legitimate reaction and the risk an author takes when posting his/her work for public consumption or when allowing it to be scrutinised for awards purposes. Not everyone is going to 'get' everything and I wouldn't expect anyone to. What I do expect is that a person who places him-/herself in a position of judgement should at least entertain the possibility of doing so with an open mind.

Nor is it credible that Pippin, having been face to face with Sauron through the Palantir, could ever entertain the thought that a world in which Frodo had tried to 'keep' the Ring could be other than a nightmare.

--Again, the reviewer is inflicting his/her own preconceptions onto a story he/she is supposed to be judging as objectively as possible. How does anyone know what went on between Pippin and Sauron in the Palantír, besides what was exposed in the text? And what is in the text is so slim that one really can't take what was -- yes -- probably a horrific experience and declare it fact, because it's not exposed in the text as horrific.

But again, that's a little beside the point, because what Pippin says and does here is not the least bit unrealistic, despite whatever past experience he may or may not have had.

This reviewer has obviously never put him-/herself in the shoes of one watching a loved one die in great pain and still wishing for a few wild moments that the person remain here, regardless of the consequences; this reviewer has obviously never entertained the notion that when one is faced with losing someone he/she loves desperately, amazingly selfish, irrational thoughts can sometimes flit through that person's mind, with no real intent of follow-through.

Pippin's mouth runs away with him for a moment and he says something he doesn't mean -- he even says he didn't mean it and immediately regrets having said it at all. One doesn't need to have lived a similar experience to understand how someone might blurt something of this nature in a moment of stress; one needs only to look at it objectively and acknowledge that different people have different reactions to different situations and none of those reactions are the 'right' ones.

This is a person who is neither qualified nor objective enough to be placed in a position of judgement. And if the person who wrote this review is out there and reading, I'm sorry and none of this is meant to be mean-spirited, but you really aren't. Because too much of the above review is based on assumptions that are factually wrong. And to be perfectly frank, I expected a lot more from this experience than to have my work judged by someone who knows less about it than I do.

Now, again -- there is subjectivity because humans are subjective and there's no way around that. And there will be those who don't like something (or even everything) I write or will disagree with bits of it and so forth. And honestly, it can be informative and educational to receive intelligent critique from someone who doesn't like something I've written, and when that's happened, I really enjoy the debate aspect of the whole thing.

But there is no debate here and there is no critique -- none of what this reviewer says is helpful to the writing process, except that I now know that this person knows nothing about these characters, yet still has his/her own very set ideas on what their morals/beliefs/reactions/behaviours should have been, and has a stringent set of plot-points he/she might go along with. Which would only be helpful if I planned on writing everything I do from now on specifically for this reviewer. I don't even know what this person thought about the writing, and isn't the writing the whole point? The only thing I've learned from this is that this reviewer thinks he/she is a lot more educated than he/she has exposed him-/herself to be and not only did they discount words and points based on that lack of education, they didn't even bother to check their own facts and canon first to make sure they were right.

And really -- shouldn't we all expect more from an organisation that says it represents 'The Best'?

Thank you for listening.

Carole
(Aratlithiel/Daffodil Bolger)

The 2005 Mithril Awards are Complete!

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 09:32:43 GMT

The final results are at http://www.mithrilawards.com/mithril_awards_2005_final_results.html

We wish to thank all the judges for their time and all the creative people who made this possible.

Alcanazar

ComiCon San Diego, July 20-23, 2006

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 06:22:06 GMT

In case you are going to ComiCon in San Diego this week, Khazar Khum
will be there. She will be at The Rakish Blade booth, number 1116.
Drop by and say hello.

Alcanazar

Semifinal Status

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 18:25:05 GMT

Fellow Fans;

To help track the progress of the Semifinals phase, I have added a counter of the number of scores we still need to finish the semifinals judging.

See http://www.mithrilawards.com/Submissions_Status.html

Alcanazar

Semifinals Started

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 05:45:47 GMT

We have begun scoring for the semifinal phase of the 2005 Mithril Awards.

Alcanazar

Scoring Error Fixed

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 03:21:49 GMT

The error in the score averages has been corrected. The semi-finalist list includes the additional entries that are eligible due to the corrected averages.

Error Found in Quarterfinals Scoring

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 10:07:06 GMT

An error has been found in the program that averaged the scores from the quarter finals. We are in the process of correcting this error.

The Quarter Final Scores Are IN!

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 03:46:42 GMT

We now need to tabulate and review the results.

Some authors may be contacted to clarify issues such as category
preferences. Numerous submissions had been nominated for several
categories. The rules concerning submission limits needs to be
applied now to determine the semi-finalists. This will need to be
done manually and may take some time.

Alcanazar

Quarter Finals are started!

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 07:30:48 GMT

The quarter finals stage of judging has started.

Got da Goods!

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 21:31:18 GMT

Thanks for the information! Will jump on it. I've calculated that, with two of us in a category, I should have 19 fics to read *g*

Is there any chance that Hajira's on this community (or has an LJ)?

help

Thu, 17 Nov 2005 22:42:26 GMT

I am looking for a fanfiction that is broken up into named chapters like: A river in Egypt. I remeber the background was light blue and at the top of the main page it had the words "Don't Panic". The character (Penny) was a modern girl who suddenly found herself in middle earth and the main problem is she speaks English and they speak common. she knows a few words in Sinidian(SP?) but not enough to clearly talk to them; but she knows alot of names and some personal histories which is a shock to everyone. Frodo is known as Maura. And she was helped by Halabad (SP?)
I would appreciate any help anyone can give me.

Today's Responses

Mon, 07 Nov 2005 05:06:40 GMT

I heard from the following authors today:

Victoria P.
Maura Mellon
Ghyste
adn_heming
sian
Sphinx
M. Sebasky
Ben

Alcanazar

MIA Authors

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 07:07:49 GMT

The nominations are now closed and we're trying to contact the
following authors.

adn_heming
Ariel Tachna
Arthien1188
Ben
Camellia
Ellisande
Elven Kitten
Gecco
Ghyste
gravothermalcatastrophe
Itarille
Jenni
Katt
Lindelea
Losseniaiel
M. Sebasky
MauraMellon
Naerinda
Sian
Sphinx
Sueb
Tenshi Androgynous
TreeHugger
Victoria P.

If you know how to contact anyone on this list, please direct them to
our website (http://www.mithrilawards.com/) to check their entries.
They should send an email to me at admin@mithrilawards.com to accept
or decline the nominations.

I want to have a response back from every author before we start the
quarter-finals.

Alcanazar

Breakdown of Eligible Nominations

Thu, 03 Nov 2005 00:54:17 GMT

The breakdown below is for all the accepted and nominated eligible works. Declined, ineligible, and recused nominations have been
removed before counting.

Now that the nomination phase is complete, the hard part starts.

Count of Nominations by Category
Created on 02/11/2005, at 16:43:26.

Action/Adventure 19
Best Alternate Universe or Crossover 32
Best Characterisation - Minor Character 30
Best Characterisation - Original Character 24
Best Characterisation - Tolkien Character 70
Best Fourth Age or Beyond 36
Best Gapfiller 49
Best Lord of the Rings 34
Best Novel/Serial 25
Best Silmarillion 17
Best Story by New Author 15
Best The Hobbit 10
Best Vignette or Short Story 57
Concerning Elves 20
Concerning Hobbits 36
Concerning Men 31
Concerning Other Races 20
Critical Essay 6
Drama 48
Humor 39
Long Poem 19
Romance/Erotica - Het 24
Romance/Erotica - Slash 31
Short Poem 16
--------------------------- ----
TOTAL 708

Alcanazar

Four days to go!

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 22:12:25 GMT

There are just four days left to nominate works of fanfiction for the Mithril Awards 2005.

Please come and nominate your favourite works, or read through the submissions so far. Lots of fantastic pieces have already been nominated, but is your favourite story among them?

Nominations close at midnight EST on 31 October.

Submitted and author approved works

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 10:38:49 GMT

We've reached 200 works submitted and approved fro the 2005 Mithril Awards.

1 A Gift From Oromë
2 A Habit and a Hobbit
3 A Little Thing
4 A Long-expected Visitor
5 A Short Rest
6 A Simple Change of Heart
7 A Small Favor
8 A Soul's Sorrow
9 Absence of Fear
10 Across So Wide a Sea
11 Adamant
12 Adraefan
13 Aid Unlooked For
14 Alas, for the Singing of the Trees
15 Alqualondë
16 An Empty Saddle to Fill
17 An Extra Ordinary Life
18 And In The Darkness Bind Them
19 Back to the Valley
20 Beast of Burden
21 Belowlands
22 Benison
23 Beware the Sea
24 Beyond the Borders
25 Boromir's Journey Amon Hen to Minas Tirith
26 Both Beholden
27 Broken Arrow
28 Brown Spirit
29 Burden of Guilt
30 Burdens Unjust
31 By The Light of Earendil's Star
32 Childhood Dreams
33 Colours of Lothlorien
34 Comfort Me Not With Cookies
35 Coming Home to Crickhollow
36 Dandelion in the Wind
37 Dark Elf
38 Death Doth Come
39 Devoted Book 1– Into Darkness
40 Died Singing
41 Distant Lands
42 Dolor Meus
43 Dreamin' of Home
44 Dwarven Dreams and Stranger Things
45 Elements of the Resistance
46 Elves and Potatoes
47 Endurance Beyond Hope
48 Enter In
49 Entulesse
50 Eyes like the Moon
51 Far over the Fields
52 Fear
53 Fell Deeds, Awake
54 Fire and Water, Rage and Tears
55 Flawed and Fair
56 Foolish Hobbit
57 For Every Evil
58 For Tirion
59 For You, Fair Light
60 Forlorn Hope
61 Freak Show
62 From the Ashes a Fire
63 Futile
64 Gossip and Greetings
65 Grasping at Moonbeams Glistening
66 Grima Goldentongue
67 Haldir
68 Handmaiden of Lorien
69 Have You Got Any Stamps, Legolas?
70 Heart of the Dream
71 Hearth and Home
72 Hero
73 High Flight
74 Homecoming
75 Homecomings
76 Hope Unquenchable
77 Ignorance is Bliss
78 Imladris Interpreted
79 In Defence of Gollum
80 In Defense
81 In the Giving
82 In Umbar, at the Docks
83 In Valinor
84 Interrupted Journeys: Journeys Begin
85 Interrupted Journeys: Journeys Perforce
86 Interrupted Journeys: New Journeys
87 Into Darkest Night
88 Just In Case
89 Last Rites
90 Last Steps
91 Leader of the Pack
92 Leaves of Gold
93 Letter from Elladan
94 Light Passing Between
95 Liquid Ribbons
96 Lotheluin
97 Love Divine - Conception Day Gifts
98 Love Me and Despair
99 Lover's Day
100 Lucky Star
101 Magweth Pengolodh: The Question of Pengolodh
102 Midsummer's Eve in Tookborough
103 More Than Friends
104 Mortals in the Undying Lands
105 Moving Mountains
106 Mushroom Lore
107 My Two Dads
108 Narn Niben
109 Never and Always
110 Night Course in Pet Care
111 Noble Jewel
112 Not WIthout Hope
113 Oak and Willow
114 Oath Renewed
115 Object Lessons
116 Of Balrogs and Battles
117 Of Elves and Dwarves and Late Night Philosophy
118 Of herbs and stewed rabbit
119 Of Hope, Stars, and Fate
120 Old Wives' Tales
121 Out of Stone
122 Passages
123 Phantasm
124 Playing for Keeps
125 Preparing The Way
126 Pride and Despair
127 Return to Middle Earth
128 Return to Mirkwood
129 Rime
130 Roots and Branches
131 Sand and Flame
132 Seeds of Old Trees
133 Settling Claims
134 Seven Scattered Scrolls
135 Sheild-Maid’s Dance of Death
136 Shield-maid's Dance of Death
137 Silence
138 Smiting Ruin
139 Something Wicked This Way Comes
140 Song of the Noldo
141 Sorrow Song
142 Spellbound
143 Spring Challenge: The Great Year of Plenty
144 Stock and Stone
145 Sun in the Stone
146 Taking The Journey
147 The Age of Men
148 The Calling
149 The Colors of Passing
150 The Confused Elf
151 The Creation of Horses
152 The Day After
153 The Days Now Are Short
154 The Drunkard of Bag End
155 The End of All Things
156 The Farbanks Folios
157 The Greatest Torment
158 The Healer and the Warrior
159 The Heart of Lamedon
160 The King's Commission
161 The Lilies of the Gladden Fields
162 The Making of Boys
163 The Making of Samwise
164 The Mark of A... Warrior?
165 The Minstrel's Quest
166 The One and True Dark Lord
167 The Queen's Orc
168 The Sentinel
169 The Serpent's Lure
170 The Seven Deadly Sins
171 The Still Point
172 The Taking of Vanelosse
173 The voice of the ruins
174 The Winds Tale
175 The Wind's Tale
176 The Witness
177 There is always hope
178 Thieving Magpie
179 Thrice Returned, AU version
180 To Face The Wolf
181 To Hope's End
182 Tongues of Gondor
183 Traditional Recipes for Disaster
184 Twilight
185 Twilight Tales: The Captain's Guerdon
186 Twists of Fate
187 Two Rings to Bind Them
188 Unearthed
189 Until the King Returns
190 Vigil
191 Walk No More in the Shadows
192 What Has It Got In Its Pocketsss?
193 When All Lights Pass
194 When Last We Met
195 When One Door Closes...
196 While We Dwelt in Fear
197 Who Watches the Watch-Stones?
198 Wicked Creatures Challenge: Sunrise on the Sands
199 With Friends Like These
200 You Will See Them at Night

Alcanazar

"Missing" Authors

Sat, 22 Oct 2005 09:10:49 GMT

I need to hear from the following authors:

Alawa
Carolyn
Cuthalion
Deborah Judge
Ellisande
Elven Kitten
Eresse
GamgeeFest
Gentle Hobbit
gravothermalcatastrophe
Itarille
Ithiliel Silverquill and Erestor
Katt
Lackwit
Lamiel
Larner
lovethosehobbits
M. Sebasky
maddy051280
Miriel361
Nillia
Nol
Noldo
Sphinx
Tehta
The Bookbinder's Daughter
Werecat99

If you know them, ask them to check the submissions status page (http://www.mithrilawards.com/Submissions_Status.html) and to contact
us about their story.

Alcanazar

Contacting The Mithril Awards

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 07:13:07 GMT

Several submitters and authors have commented that they have tried to contact us several times without response. If this happens try emailing to admin@mithrilawards.com. I try to reply to every author request. Otherwise try my personal email at danjbyrne@verizonmail.com.

Please let me know if you are having problems.

Alcanazar

Submissions Status

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 06:24:12 GMT

I've updated the submissions status page at http://www.mithrilawards.com/Submissions_Status.html to highlight works from which we have not received the author's confirmation. Please encourage the authors to check this page and contact us.

Alcanazar

Volunteering

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 06:22:23 GMT

There is now a volunteer form available at http://www.mithrilawards.com/volunteer_form.html

Alcanazar

Nominations open and volunteers sought

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 18:49:09 GMT

Nominations are now open for the Mithril Awards for Tolkien Fanfiction 2005 – and enthusiastic volunteers from across the fandom are sought to help in the running of this year’s competition!

Nominations are invited from now until 31 October 2005 for this year’s Mithril Awards, a competition which seeks to reward some of the best Tolkien fanfiction online. To ensure the Awards run smoothly, we are looking for volunteers for a variety of roles.

The Awards Committee: Real Life commitments have swallowed up members of the Committee from previous years, creating a need for two new Committee members. Volunteers will need plenty of time on their hands between now and November, and will be involved at all stages of the Awards process. Good organisational skills, good English and critical judgment are important, as is an abiding love of Tolkien’s works. Works written by Committee members are excluded from the competition.

Readers: Required to help reduce the number of works from those nominated to the finalists, readers will be looking primarily for basic quality criteria such as spelling and grammar in the nominated pieces. Ability to read quickly is paramount, as there'll be a lot to get through. Excellent English skills are also important. Knowledge of Tolkien's works is essential, although we don't expect anyone to be a walking encylopaedia of Middle-earth.

Judges: Panels of three or more judges will read the finalists and grade the works to produce winners and runners-up in each category. Good English skills and knowledge of Tolkien's works are essential, as is the ability to read the finalist works closely and critically.

Volunteers can act as readers and judges, although will be assigned different categories for the different stages of the competition. Works written by readers and judges will be ineligible for competition in the categories those volunteers are reading.

If you can help in any way, drop us an email at mithrilawards AT yahoo.com. Please state if there is any category you are unwilling to read (for example slash, poetry, or novels). You can also volunteer by filling in the simple form at the website: http://www.mithrilawards.com/volunteer_form.html.

For more information on the Awards process or to nominate a work, please visit our website, http://www.mithrilawards.com. Information on previous years’ Awards can be found at http://www.viragene.com/tolkien.

Bride of It's That Time Again

Mon, 22 Aug 2005 06:57:55 GMT

Yeah, I realize that this is an information dump, but LJ limits the size of the comments. I think. At least, that seems to be how it works for me.

Some have wondered why we took so long to get started this year. Well, Eledhwen has been extremely busy with both her work and recreational pursuits: she's a fabulous rower. In our household, things grew interesting when our mare presented us with a lovely black colt. They got even more complicated when I tore my rotator cuff. And I don't even have the excuse of a decent slider doing me in, nor was I hurt with the horses. I went to bed with a healthy shoulder, and woke up with a torn one. It's only the last few days that I've been able to even use the keyboard for more than a few minutes at a time.

I had my booth at the San Diego ComicCon this year. We spoke about the Mithrils with many fans, and met the wonderful people from Council of Elrond. I though for sure that was Frodo wandering around our booth! There was disappointingly little for the Tolkien fan (or, for that matter, the fantasy fan in general). It was almost as though they were saying, "You had your LOTR; now go away and let us get back to the SERIOUS stuff."
They don't seem to understand that people can be interested in more than one fandom, sadly enough.

So, to wrap this up:

Yes, the Mithril Awards will be happening this year.

Return of the Son of It's That Time Again

Mon, 22 Aug 2005 06:34:34 GMT

They say confession is good for the soul. Here's mine:

LiveJournal and I are not bosom buddies.

Now, in fairness, I must point out that I have worked around computers since the days of Univac and wax tablets. However, I do not particularly care for programming, even though I can do it. Alcanazar is quite happy to put the machines through their paces.

My issues with LiveJournal stem from its non-intuitiveness. I find myself clicking all over creation just to get to the beginning. And I'm less than thrilled with the LJ FAQ.

For example, I'd like to archive all of the 2004 comments in an accessable manner. That is apparently an impossibility. I don't want to delete anything; I just want to put them away. Having a bunch of year-old posts hanging around looks messy. The Memories function apparently only works on an individual's comments, not on those of a community as a whole.

If anyone has an idea, I'd love to hear it!