Inconvenient Inspiration
By Xara.

  They say inspiration is a wonderful thing. Some have likened it to the flashing of a lightbulb in the brain. Some have declared it a natural phenomenon. Some have even said they see a flash of light when they get one! Inspiration is certainly a strange and unpredictable thing. It comes when it pleases, and no matter how hard you try, you cannot force it if it doesn't want to be! Inspiration seems to be completely beyond our control! But this writer has noticed one rather bothersome aspect of inspiration; it tends to come at the most inconvenient moments imaginable!
  I don't know about you, but I can't count how many times I've had an inspiration at an incredibly inopportune moment. Firstly, there’s the classic inconvenient inspiration. You've had nothing to do all day and have been basically killing time. When you finally hit the sack in the evening, you're drifting off when suddenly...INSPIRATION!! One problem; it's two o'clock in the morning!! And tomorrow you will be busy all day doing something. So whilst you could have spent today feeding your inspiration, you will now be spending tomorrow in a flustered panic trying to write and do whatever it is you were planning at the same time!
  That same scenario also, in my case anyway, applies to ideas for long and time consuming fan fictions happening on the very last day before school goes back. Talk about bad timing!! Since officially declaring I wanted to become a writer and picking up a pen/keyboard two years ago, I have been victim to a long string of incredibly inconvenient inspirations; in the middle of an exam room, halfway through a relaxing motor tour of New Zealand with only hotel paper and a pen fast running out, frequent ideas in the middle of the night, the day before a huge school assignment is due and of course, my favourite, the last day of the school holidays.
  And it seems I am not the only writer who ever suffered from this inconvenient inspiration. After all, didn't the revered JRR Tolkien get his idea for The Hobbit in the middle of marking School Certificate exam papers? This would hardly help one concentrate on marking. A great Australian author, John Marsden claims to have gotten his idea for his most acclaimed series to date "Tomorrow When the War Began" whilst driving along the highway. I hope for his sake he doesn't get any more ideas in the car, or he might not live long enough to write them down!
  Whether it is a strange force that hovers around and decides to hit people, or something inside our brains just waiting to burst out, inspiration is not only beyond our control, but also possessed of incredibly bad timing. They say it is a wonderful gift, but when you're trying to concentrate on writing an exam essay analysing and comparing three entirely separate books in forty minutes, I say it is a bloody nuisance!

It's All Perian's Fault
By Lady Morrigan Shadow.

  Yes, we've all heard the little "joke" on the message boards, how things are either Perian's fault, or they're Prongs's fault...and Ivy just makes dirty jokes.  However, this...idea, this, this, thing, as it were, it's all Perian's fault.
  Look at all the signs.  They are all around...well, they're all around me, anyway.  Longing for green pastures.  Falling in love with tiny men.  A fondness for hairy feet.  And, yes, I can even stand to look at Elijah Wood for longer than 3 seconds without the urge to put his eyes back in his head.
  I love Hobbits.
  And, it's all Perian's fault.
  Ok, so it's not all her fault.  I mean, the actors' parents have something to do with it.  But, let me explain....
  When I first joined I Nili, oh so many moons ago, I was purely an elf fan.  Galadriel to be exact.  I wasn't exactly keen on the *ahem* thermodynamics of the actors in the movies, because it wasn't about what they looked like, but how well they told the story.
  Then, it started.  Between all the innuendoes, inside jokes, and just plain silliness, I started to notice things.  The twinkle in Billy's eye....the roundness of Dom's cheeks (not those ones, Ivy.  Geez, can you get your head out of the gutter for 2 minutes??)....and, yes, I even noticed that innocent-ish look in Elijah's eyes.
  I've become...a Hobbit lover.  Or, *sigh* a "Hobbit Fancier".
  I don't know where I went wrong.  I still read and respect Tolkien's work.....but, Peter Jackson hired the CUTEST boys for Hobbits.  I mean, once you get past the "I have an amazing wedgie" look that you first see on Frodo's face at the beginning of the movie, they're all absolutely, squeezably adorable.  I want to put them in my pocket, take them home, and make them my pets.  I'll make a little Hobbit Hole for them right here in my living room.
  Alas, they are real boys.  Elijah will always look better as a Hobbit, Billy will always be way older than me (even though he doesn't look it), and Dom will always be the mysterious rock guy of the bunch.
  Orlando, eat your heart out.  You've got NOTHIN' on these guys.  N-O-T-H-I-N-G.

Interview with an Artist
By Xara.

  Anyone who has read an illustrated copy of Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit or the Silmarillion, ever owned a Lord of the Rings calendar or simply stumbled across some Tolkien art browsing on the net cannot help but be amazed by the vision which Tolkien artists such as John Howe, Alan Lee and Ted Nasmith display, capturing Tolkien's epic works of fantasy. It is truly a gift to be able to portray on paper what you see, be it in your head or your surroundings, and today I have been lucky enough to catch up with one of the most promising up-and-coming Tolkien artists, as well as a bit of an editor in her spare time I might add. ;)

Xara: When did you first know you wanted to be an artist? And what were some of your first works, once you were taking it seriously?
Leila T. Wood: Truth be known, I'm still not certain I want to be an artist. Professionally, that is. I always want to work on bettering my art. I teeter back and forth between visual and literary arts like a diplomat taking both sides of a dispute.
  I think the first time I considered it as a profession was when I was researching paintings for a project on Greek mythology and came across the pre-Raphielites' paintings, particularly those of John William Waterhouse. They so inspired me that I immediately wanted to be that good. Needless to say, no flash of light filled the room and suddenly imbued me with artistic ability. (Don't trust the movies! Sometimes they lie!) It was about a year later that I began working with oils (I will attach one of my first attempts), which was not the brightest idea, and I went on from there.
  I have always had inclinations toward being an illustrator. When I recently found my math textbooks, I realised why I near failed that subject... they are filled more with green-ink sketches of Frodo and Sam, characters from Brian Jacques' Redwall series, dragons from The Harperhall of Pern, and so on, than they are with numbers...
Xara: Haha! I wish I could find maths that inspiring! ;) Is there any pattern to how you get your inspirations for artworks or is it just completely random?
LTW: Generally inspiration, for me, comes when I am reading. That is why I am so often drawn to depicting Tolkien's world. The descriptions he gives beg for visual representation.
  I am drawn to depicting emotion (no pun intended, I swear it!) It's quite a challenge, but it is what gives me the most drive to create a scene.
Xara: Ahh I see...what was the pun? I've always wondered, with portraiture, how you manage to see a person, and be able 2 represent them so accurately on paper, no matter how close to the real facial features my drawings are, they never bear any resemblance to the person. Do you have any tricks?
LTW: Hmm, good question. Well, I think that one thing to remember when you are a beginning artist is that a face is not made up solely of the "features". They are actually a very small portion. The contours of the cheeks, chin, forehead, and so on, are just as important as the shape of the nose or the length of the eyes.
  But once that is in the mind, don't think too hard on getting that right, either. Even being geometrically perfect will not convey the essence of the person into a drawing. Personally (and I have heard the same from many other artists, amateur and professional,) the painting or sketch most often comes to life when I don't think about what I am drawing, but let my hands (or the muses, if you prefer) do the work for me. Music to distract the mind but create the mood wanted in the picture is a definite help.
Xara: Ah well, I suppose I'm just not an artist. Lol. Well, all my favourite pictures of yours are always the most colourful ones. How do you think colour contributes to a painting/drawing?
LTW: Colour brings a life, a third dimension, which black and white or greyscale media can only hint at. I'm sorry if that is more brief than my usual answers, but it is how I feel and I can think of little to say which would add to it.
Xara: Concise, I like it ;) If you become a professional artist, do you aim to become an illustrator, a portrait-er (sorry, I don't know the right word) or something else?
LTW: During the early stages of professionalism one must take any commissions they can, whatever the subject be. I suppose it depends on which requests happen most frequently...
Xara: That makes sense. Do you think it is important for an artist to respect themselves, in order to succeed?
LTW: Absolutely. As soon as an artist of any kind ceases to believe in hi/rself, s/he loses first enthusiasm, then the will to create at all.
Xara: Are there any other comments you'd like to make to all the aspiring artists out there?
LTW: Only to keep at it. Even if it does not become a profession for them, it is a wonderful pastime. Beyond that, the world is in need of more skilled artisans. Take one look at the creations of a few hundred years ago (or as imagined in The Lord of the Rings) as compared to the barren cities of today and you will see what I mean.
  Everyone is an artist, even if they haven't realised it yet.

  Dear Prongs,
  Och, that article had been written so long before, I thought I already had edited it when I added it to the issue. Apologies to yourself and all our readers. I will gladly (not gladly, but you follow me) share the embarrassment.
  Thank you for your commentary on the article. I have one question yet flitting about in my mind. Would you please define definaly? *Wink.*
  Perian.

  Dear Editor,
  Nice one!
  Eowyn Evenstar.

  Dear Eowyn Evenstar,
  Mercy me, how ever will I respond to so consise and poignant a message? What reply could ever be worthy of it? I'm positively flummoxed. I'm not used to summing up opinions in two words. It's not part of the job description! SOMEONE SAVE- Wait. Aha, I have it!
  Thank you.
  Perian.