It's time for Ardor in August!

From the Years of the Trees through the Fourth Age – it’s time once again to make your Tolkien FPS fanfic dreams come true…

Have you always wanted to read a certain pairing or scenario, but couldn’t write it yourself? Have it written for you – specifically and especially for your own sweet self! And share your own fic gift in exchange!

That’s right, it’s time again for the Ardor in August Fic Exchange! brought to you by the same folks who sponsor the renowned Slashy Santa and My Slashy Valentine Fiction Exchanges.

The exchange focuses solely on the Elves, Men, Valar and Maiar of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. Maybe it’s Gildor and Glorfindel you love, or perhaps Boromir-on-Theodred strikes your fancy... or maybe Manwë is your main man – from the First Age to the Fourth, from sultry tales of the Silmarillion to romances in the Ring Wars – spread the word, recruit your friends and fellow authors, and have some fun!

Critical Dates:

• Sign-up period: May 6 - May 20
• Assignments to be distributed no later than May 27
• Deadline for first-time participants: July 22, 2012
• Deadline for returning participants: July 29, 2012
• Archive opens: August 5, 2012

~ * ~

So, are you ready to sign up? Good! Click Here!

We're back on schedule for the newsletter after B2MeM, so May's edition has been posted on the website:

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/may2012.php

We have news from within and outside of the SWG, a list of stories posted to the archive in April, a new set of challenges, and a character biography of Vaire the Weaver. (I didn't think there would be much to say about her when I started this one, but I found quite a bit that I found intriguing and surprising!)

Many thanks to my comods Rhapsody and Angelica for their invaluable assistance putting this month's newsletter together.

Enjoy! :)

I posted two weeks ago about a bug that suddenly appeared on the archive that seemed to affect Firefox users who were using the rich-text editor. This bug didn't allow you to enter text into some of the fields, including the Story field. (The original bug report can be read here.)

SWG moderators Russandol and Rhapsody have been working hard in the meantime to figure out how to correct this problem. Lo and behold, the latest Firefox upgrade to version 12 seems to have solved the problem!

If this problem affected you, please upgrade to version 12 of Firefox. You can do this by clicking on Help and choosing About Firefox. This will display the version you are currently running, will check for updated versions, and prompt you to run an update, if necessary.

I also checked the archive in Internet Explorer 7 this afternoon and didn't have any problems, nor have problems been reported with Chrome. Please be aware, if you use Internet Explorer 9, that there is a different problem with this browser that requires you to run it in compatibility mode in order for it to work with our archive software. (You can learn more about how to run IE 9 in compatibility mode here.)

At this point, we are considering this issue resolved. If you continue to have any problems with the archive, please report them to me or one of the other site moderators. I can always be reached by leaving a comment on this post or via email at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org.

Many, many thanks again to Russandol and Rhapsody, who actually had a fix in place and were in the process of scheduling it when Firefox solved the problem for them.

ETA: This bug has been resolved. If you continue to experience any problems, please comment here or contact the mods at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org. Read more about the fix here.

A mysterious bug has crawled out of the woodwork and is causing some problems on the SWG archive. My comods and I are working on getting the problem solved, but since it will involve either (or both!) the software creators and our webhost, it may be a few days before we get it fixed.

Here is the problem: When you open the story form to add a new story/chapter or edit an existing chapter, the form will not allow you to input text into the Story Notes, Chapter Notes, and Story Text fields, if you have the rich-text editor (TinyMCE) turned on.

This problem has been reported in Internet Explorer and Firefox. Chrome appears to be behaving normally.

Until we get the problem corrected, please use one of the following workarounds:

--Use Google Chrome to access the site when you need to add/edit stories.

--Shut off the rich-text editor (TinyMCE). You can do this via the Edit Preferences link on your account screen. Make sure the checkbox for "Use tinyMCE WYSWYG editor" is not checked.

You will need to add your story using HTML if you shut off the rich-text editor.

--Beneath each of the affected fields is the option to shut off the rich-text editor (TinyMCE) for that field alone. Uncheck that box, then tick it again. The field should work normally once you do this.

If you experience any problems aside from those that have been already reported, please let me know. If you have any questions regarding the above workarounds, don't hesitate to ask.

Hi, all,

Due to a glitch in the RSS feed that we use to compile the story list each month, stories posted to the archive between March 13 and March 24 were inadvertently left off of the list. Clearly, this amounts to quite a few stories! :) Rhapsody has kindly fixed the list for us, and the correct version is now available on our website:

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/april2012.php

All the best,

Dawn

It's late again, thanks to B2MeM and my traveling out of the country, but this month's newsletter is finally done and posted! Hopefully, next month, I can get back on the proper schedule again. :)

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/april2012.php

This month's edition contains a new comic from pandemonium_213: the next installment in Gothmog and Draugluin's adventure with Professor Thu while Melkor is gone on vacation. In addition there is news from within and beyond the SWG, a list of this month's stories, and a new challenge.

I would like to draw attention to an important announcement from Angelica, our Library of Tirion moderator, in this month's newsletter. We are once again running low on stories to add to the Library of Tirion. For those of you not familiar with it, LofT is the section of our archive for stories published prior to the opening of the SWG archive in 2007. We rely on our members to suggest their favorite pre-SWG authors so that we can ensure that this era of fandom history is represented on our site. Please email us with your requests or use the request form on the site. There is more information here:

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/library-of-tirion.php

Thank you to Pandemonium, Rhapsody, and Angelica for their contributions to this month's newsletter!

Due to B2MeM being massively successful this year and therefore monopolizing my time in a big way, the newsletter is dreadfully late. I do apologize--but here it is at long last! :)

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/march2012.php

This month's edition contains news from the SWG, from groups beyond our borders, stories added and updated during February, and the current challenges on the site. In honor of Back to Middle-earth Month, Oshun has contributed the first part of what promises to be an informative and insightful biography of Gandalf. This part considers how he appears in LotR and The Hobbit (compared to the very different character we see in The Silmarillion and related works) as well as the archetypal roles he plays. The biography is also illustrated by Pandemonium_213.

Pandë has also contributed another in her series of brilliantly funny Gothmog & Draugluin comics. This month, Melkor prepares to whisk his wife away on a romantic getaway, and Lil Gothmog heads off to Tol-in-Gaurhoth with his babysitter (sorry! observer!), Professor Thû.

Many thanks to Oshun, Pandemonium, Rhapsody, and Angelica, who contributed to this month's newsletter. (And got their stuff in on time! :) Enjoy!

Title: All Goes Onward and Outward | Read on AO3
Fandom: The Silmarillion (sort of)
Word count: 4,500
Beta:: Thank you, hhimring, for such a great beta job!
Characters/Pairings: Fingon (Finn), Maedhros (Russell), Maglor (Laurie), Mortimer (Caranthir) , Fingon/Maedhros
Warnings: Trauma, off-screen mentions of torture, doomed relationships, and a wholly expected character death.
Disclaimer: I am really sorry for this, and own nothing of anything.
Note: I thought to myself, what could make this pairing even sadder? Oh, I know, if it was an WWI AU. I’m not sorry. (I am a little sorry.) The quote in the beginning from Walt Whitman.

(all goes onward and outward, nothing collapses)

For those of you who are participating in B2MeM this year but are not members of that community, swing on by b2mem or the B2MeM page on the SWG site; there have been two sizable releases of new BINGO cards this weekend!

With my BINGO card backlog cleared (for the moment, anyway!), I am back to working on my own cards. One I'd like to do is a Silmarillion Fanon card where the goal is to create a piece that thwarts that particular fanon. I *heart* fanon just as much as the next fanperson, but it's also cool to see an author brilliantly turn fanon on its head and smack it around a little bit. So what say you, fellow Silmfolk, to a collaborative BINGO card? What are your favorite fanons, the ones you couldn't live without? Which are the ones you can't stand? Let me know in a comment and I'll put them together into a card!

No, your eyes do not deceive you--the February 2012 edition of the SWG newsletter is on time this month! And it has lots of new stuff worth a look.

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/february2012.php

Of course, you will find news from within the SWG and beyond our borders. Back to Middle-earth Month (B2MeM) preparations are in full swing, as we have close to three dozen BINGO cards created by participants and many people signed up to play in this year's event. I will be releasing another round of new cards shortly, probably tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Oshun has written another bang-up biography on Rochallor. Wait ... Fingolfin's horse? Yes ... but do not let Rochallor's beastly nature deceive you; yet again, Oshun has gifted us with a well researched and thought-provoking biography, as she looks at Rochallor's canonical role in his master's defiant and impetuous (totally Finwion!) final stand against Melkor. She also points to the significance of horses in heroic literature. Oshun does a consistently fabulous job on these monthly biographies, and Rochallor's joins her impressive list of biographies well worth a look.

For those who have missed the Funnies section, we have excellent news--Pandemonium's clever Gothmog & Draugluin comic is back this month! Professor Thû and his Orcish assistant have just taken over Tol Sirion and need to take stock of the place. Welcome back, G&D crew--you have been missed!

Many thanks to Oshun, Pandemonium, Rhapsody, and Angelica, our newsletter contributors who help keep SWG members informed and entertained!