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MEFA results
Got "honourably mentioned" as an author and so did "The Last Yule in Halabor". Well, it's better than nothing at all. At least some people realized I'm still around in the fandom. I was never such a big name author, so I should be grateful, I guess.
The rest is all sour grapes. *shrug*
Edit: Well, at least the comments - all three of them - are really really positive. I'm glad that there are readers who can value fics that are based on extensive research. *g*
The rest is all sour grapes. *shrug*
Edit: Well, at least the comments - all three of them - are really really positive. I'm glad that there are readers who can value fics that are based on extensive research. *g*
MEFA musings, and Madenn
(Anonymous) 2006-12-12 09:10 am (UTC)(link)I was worried, though, that it was in a sense miscategorized. The others were all single vignettes, as opposed to your long series. I'm not sure if finding an unexpectedly long story in that category could have turned some people away, or not, but it definitely deserved more recognition, IMHO.
One thing I'm not sure I like about the author rankings: The review system certainly seems to be weighted to favor individuals who have many entries in a given category. Not that I think that anyone who did win was undeserving! But it doesn't seem like it should count; in fact, ranking authors at all gives me a vaguely uncomfortable feeling.
OK, back to my original purpose in coming over: Can I find out if I'm right about Madenn's canon identity? I didn't want to put too much into your forum, just in case I gave it away for others who are puzzling it out.
Denise/dkpalaska
Re: MEFA musings, and Madenn
So, it was you who wrote that wonderful third review? I was most touched by it, honestly, and not knowing who had gifted it upon me did bother me a bit. I've known Dwim for quite some time - we have some sort of mutual respect for each other but no personal closeness - and I know Imhiriel by name, but I couldn't recognize you by that other name. I'm glad that my little things give you such enjoyment. We all write for our readers, after all. :))
Re: categories
Yeah, it's always a sorry thing with me and categories. I have a hard time to match any, particularly because I write a wide variety of Tolkienfic. Most people are interested in Elves. Or hobbits. Or Men of Gondor. Or slash. Or hate slash passionately. And when an author cannot be put into one of these categories exclusively, people have a hard time to accept him/her.
It's a sort of ghetto thinking that appears in other fandoms as well. In the Atlantis fandom, particularly, the followers of certain slash or het pairings isolate themselves in small groups and breathe fire on other small groups. In the Tolkien fandom, it might not be quite as bad, but LOTR authors and Silmficcers still count as two completely different kind, and there were times when it was really ugly.
Re: author ranking
Personally, I find it insulting, even though I got honourable mentioned there, too. IMO, popularity doesn't make anyone a better author. I only know Isabeau out of the winners, and I know she's good and deserves it, but declaring that X is better as Y or Z, just because more people seem to like their stuff is, well, a bit... I don't know what it is, but it irks me very much. I never had more than a handful of very loyal readers (you are one of those few), but does it make me a worse author than those who got more gushing reviwes for a chapter than I can hope for an entire series? I don't think so. Even though I'm struggling with the fact that I have to write in a third language.
Re: Madenn
I think you got it just right. "Kinswoman" was a give-away, wasn't it? And Imloth Melui, I think. I wonder who else will figure it out.
Thanks for dropping by. And thanks for the support you've been given me all these years. It's an encouragement I sorely need whenever I get the feeling that nobody cares for my stories anymore.
Re: MEFA musings, and Madenn
(Anonymous) 2006-12-12 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)*blush* I'm glad you liked it, Soledad. I don't feel I'm particularly eloquent, but I tried to make up for it with sincerity! One of these days, I'll even figure out when to use my login ID for things, and when to use my name... Sorry about the anonymity factor.
And when an author cannot be put into one of these categories exclusively, people have a hard time to accept him/her.
I hope that you wear it as a badge of honor. :) It means you push the envelope and think outside the box. Unfortunately, people tend to avoid things that are unusual or uncomfortable in all areas of life. And truly, no one will like everything, even from an author they otherwise really enjoy, but it's ideal if folks at least try it and let themselves be stretched a bit before making that decision...
IMO, popularity doesn't make anyone a better author.
Completely, utterly true; you put your finger on exactly why it makes me uncomfortable.
I also think I'm disturbed by the element of intimacy, so to speak. It's a bit different to comment on someone's work (although I understand that an author's stories can feel like their children, and so be wounded by any attack on those works), but there's at least some degree of separation. But ranking individuals themselves based on something as subjective as the review system feels... well, like it opens up a whole 'nother level of potential hurt. Especially because it does seem to favor prolific authors, or at least those who've been nominated many times. Again, that's not to knock anyone else - some of my favorites did get well-recognized, and I was happy about that. This was my first year of participating in the MEFAs, but I looked at the 2005 site and noticed that it was also done last year at least, so I guess that it's well-received overall.
Even though I'm struggling with the fact that I have to write in a third language.
I am almost completely monolingual, so I'm always extremely impressed by this. I could never pick out that fact based on "LYiH," for example. Even in "Young Knights" (which you are no doubt rushing in order to get it out) I have only seen a handful of minor potential indicators, like reversed words or something. Stuff like that happens with even published English authors, though, and they have ranks of proofreaders.
On Madenn: Yes, Imloth Melui & healing put me into the right book. :) I was searching the wrong chapter, though, until it occurred to me that, "Duh!" I had an electronic version. That's when "kinswoman" made it simple. *g*
And thanks for the support you've been given me all these years.
Could you be thinking of another Denise? I've only known about the Tolkien fandom for two years, and although I remember reading your superb "Face of the Enemy" while perusing the Mithril lists during that first year, I have - to my great shame - only been a good reviewer for the second year. *blushes deeply to think of all the great stories I've not yet gone back to show appropriate appreciation for, including "FotE"* I've only recently had the time to start getting into some of your other pieces.
It's an encouragement I sorely need whenever I get the feeling that nobody cares for my stories anymore.
:( Please don't get discouraged. You really are a wonderful author.
Re: MEFA musings, and Madenn
And that's about the time I started to post my stories to the TFF archive in earnest. You and someone named Rebecca were the first ever readers who hadn't been my personal friends from earlier, and yet you kept coming back to read and to comment - I appreciate that very much.
It's hard to win new readers nowadays, the fandom has grown so huge and so fractured, most people only read very specific stories or those of very popular authors because they think that would mean they're going to find good reading material, and don't even try unknown names.
I must admit that I'm not entirely blameless in that area myself. Since most of my old friends have fallen out of the fandom and don't write anymore, I kinda stopped reading altogether. Granted, Real Life is not being supportive right now, so I have to choose between writing and reading, and selfish creature as I am, I always choose writing. :(