The Hobbit Hole VI - And Whither Then? I Cannot Say...

[ecurbh]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

And Whither Then? I Cannot Say...

• First thread: New Zealander builds Hobbit hole
• Second thread: The New Hobbit Hole
• Third thread: The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads! (Congratulations, we filled it up!)
• Fourth Thread: The Hobbit Hole IV - The Road Goes Ever On...
• Fifth Thread: The Hobbit Hole V - Where Many Paths and Errands Meet...

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

[Fedora]

Not the guitar! Rosie played her mando while Mug played the fiddle and Bilbo played his smaller pipe. They were wonderful!

So there's a Hobbit Hole band! :) Do they have a name yet? How about "the Halflings"? Also the other day "Balrogs in Fuzzy Slippers" was brought up as a good potential name for a band :)

[Fedora]

Cheese curls.

Eeeeeeevil things! They squeak!

They do! You know those squiggly pieces of styrofoam they use as packaging material for shipping stuff? Cheese curls remind me of those. Still taste good, though--just a little weird when they squeak as you bite into them :)

[Ramius]

See the stag... do you feel its heartbeat, Highlander?

[Ramius]

Time for me to go now...

[Rose in RoseBear]

Women want to read about men who are true, and upright, and do the right thing, even when it's difficult. And they should be competent, perhaps with an edge (or more) of danger.

I have another book for you, Fedora --- Dangerous Men & Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance, edited by Jayne Ann Krentz.

[Fedora]

Wow, thanks! That information is very useful to me. That book sounds good, too--will add that to the list of historical romances from the other night.

While we're on this topic, let me toss this out to see what insights you or others may have into this. How would you define your ideal of a female protagonist? To explain why I ask, let me describe how I'm looking at it:

I see two extremes in many female characters that I'm trying to find the happy medium between. On one extreme is the damsel in distress who serves no other role in the story than to provide a pretext for the hero to rescue her (an example would be the way Lois Lane was often handled in early Superman stories). On the other extreme is what I'll describe as female characters who are so in rebellion against traditional concepts of femininity that they often take on the same negative traits as antihero type of male characters (here I'm thinking of any of a number of recent female characters who are basically female action heroes that are good at martial arts and shooting things but have little character depth apart from a bad attitude). In my novel I'm trying to develop a heroine who is both feminine in a traditional sense yet also an independently-developed character that is interesting in her own right apart from her relationships to the male characters. What do I have to do to achieve this?--and what should I avoid? I'd especially appreciate any female insight into this. I'd also be interested in what male readers would like to see in female characters, if any guys care to comment on this.

[Rose in RoseBear]

Well, then!

It's kinda late for me to get into this one, but some thoughts ...

In my experience, very, very few women in real life or in print represent the extremes you describe. Even the old Lois was smart enough to pinpoint and confront the villian Superman eventually had to round up; and the modern bad-girls --- Sydney Bristow in Alias, Trinity in the Matrix movies, Storm and Phoenix/Dark Phoenix/Marvel Girl/Jean Grey and all the modern comic-book chickies --- still have feminine characteristics (though Trinity is perhaps the most masculinized of them all).

I constantly fight my heroine's masculine "creep" --- she's good with a gun, she loves using her swords and knives, she's revolutionized her field of endeavor, she can be an analytical automaton. So she also has a tender heart she hides from a cruel world, she loves to cook, she's amazed that the hero loves her despite her physical and emotional flaws, she has a little pet that has, at times, been her only friend.

My hero is a superior warrior with a sidearm, or with a steel blade, or in the cockpit of his space fighter. He's cranky, and tempermental, and always gives the impression of being about ready to boil over at any moment. He has a mother he adores who's not at all sane, a sister he adores who's the biggest social snob on thirteen planets, and a best friend who's pulling away from him for no reason he can determine ... and he's quite an accomplished artist.

Make 'em people. Look at what Heinlein did with Deety, or with Friday, or with Star in Glory Road.

I have an interview tomorrow, so I have to go to bed. I'll get back to you on this ... it's a topic I have interest in, as you can see.

[RosieCotton]

Good night! BTW, didn't know you fenced--I always wanted to try that. Is it fun?

Oh gosh...well, I'm starting the day with a laugh!

I know you've been corrected by now...but too funny!

I'm sure Hair and ecurb can arrange for you to try fencing...their way...

[RosieCotton]

Who is narrating the Harry Potter books on tape?

Guy named Jim Dale. I don't know who he is, but he does a good job.

[Lil'freeper]

Good morning! Izzit Friday yet?

I have another super busy day. The last few have been great because I've been able to get so much stuff done! (this is rare so I'm very excited)

The key, I think, is to sign out on the white board then hide in the office with the door closed. If no one knows you're there, no one can bug ya and stuff gets done! (I'm gonna break my arm patting myself on the back. :) )

[RosieCotton]

She lies, Fedora! Don't forget, Rosie, the Entmooters have heard you play!!

Yeah...and I'm not that great. I can play a decent melody line, but I spend every Friday hanging out with mandolinists who are wayyyy beyond where I'll ever be.

But I have fun, and that's the most important thing!

See tagline...

[RosieCotton]

Okay, fess up, Rosie!--you were the Fifth Beatle, weren't you? :)

Heh...I wasn't born yet.

I think my little brother would LIKE to be the fifth Beatle, though.

We had to laugh this Christmas when allll the music we got was "old"...Carpenters, Beatles, Perry Como...the newest thing we got among us was a CD I got of jug band music...old music, but recorded recently.

[RosieCotton]

Not the guitar! Rosie played her mando while Mug played the fiddle and Bilbo played his smaller pipe. They were wonderful!

The instrument Bill was playing was a whistle - tin whistle.

[RosieCotton]

Cheese curls.

I hated those growing up, the puffed kind, that is. Thought they looked like deep fried slugs. Ick.

OK, gotta run to work...I'll finish catching up there!

[Lil'freeper]

What do I have to do to achieve this?--

"Think of a man... and take away reason and accountability"...

Just kidding.

But seriously though, real women are complex and full of surprises. They can be a frail damsel on the surface but a crisis reveals her true strength. And vice versa.

I know a gal who's career Army. She's built like a man, stands like a man, is rude, crude, abrupt, physically intimidating. She is every negative stereotype you might have about NCOs. But she's a soldier, and given the appropriate opportunity she wouldn't think twice about killing an enemy. And yet, I know this gal through my quilt group. She quilts, crochets and knits. She loves bright colors, 1930's-era pastels and lace. She makes dolls (and talks to them while she's at it). Oh and she loves manicures. Complex! And I love her to pieces.

[g'nad]

mornin' all... sorry we haven't been around much, we've had house guests... a Marine and his family that were travellin' cross country on their way to Japan... dear Christian friends... they're leavin' this mornin'... gotta lotta werk done 'round the hometead...

gotta teach a welding class at the Vo-Tec today... will try to check in from their...

osage, gotta package slip in the mailbox yesterday...

[2Jedismom]

Yes, my mom has a removeable handicap tag. She has psoriatic arthritis...that's psoriasis that attacked her joints. She takes injections twice a week for it and has a softtub in her sunroom and a treadmill that she walks on to keep moving. So she can go along pretty good.

I'll tell ya a secret...

She can move 60 miles an hour during a good sale at Kohls...has left me in the dust before! LOL They oughta bottle it and sell it!

[2Jedismom]

Morning, g'nad! I'm glad you got to heap a little love on your friends before they go!

[JenB]

Are you there yet? I'm at work. Actually ate some breakfast today, I think my metabolism might be happier if I ate before noon...

[RosieCotton]

I'm here! Breakfast is good for you.