Taste of Cyn

Tolkien And Supporting Writers

By Cynthia Sax on June 30, 2020

I resisted watching the movie Tolkien until yesterday.

Why?

1. I didn’t know it was an absolutely wonderful romance and the romance (with a happy ever after) is the heart of the movie.

and

2. Many movies about writers get this wonderful career so very wrong. They give us what non-writers think writers do and that can be frustrating to watch.

I was a dumb a$$. Tolkien is a wonderful film. I smiled. I cried. I highly recommend it, especially to other writers and people who love writers.

One of the things I absolutely LOVED about the movie was it shows how one person emotionally supported her writer.

Edith, Tolkien’s love interest, gives him a safe place to talk about his stories. She supplies him with story prompts, often starting the story for him. She is super okay when he takes the story in his own direction. She pushes back when she thinks he isn’t reaching deep enough (the discussion about language being important because it has meaning). She points out when he’s being Mr. Grumpy Pants and not writing the stories inside him (Oh boy, did I feel that one! The Dear Wonderful Hubby often has to push me into the writing cave as I become very grumpy when I’m not writing.).

This relationship isn’t without errors and mistakes ARE made. But Tolkien is articulate about his feelings and he points out when he doesn’t like the way she supports him. For example, Edith tells him to tell her a story and he gets huffy, replying he can’t perform on demand. She then switches to another tactic. She starts the story for him and he takes over that story, makes it his own. THAT works for them.

The movie shows that a supporter can be an important, often essential part of a writer’s team. Would Tolkien have become a great writer without Edith? I don’t know. I DO know his stories would have been extremely different.

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I have a very similar Supporter-Writer relationship. He is the person I tell ALL my story ideas too. When I have story issues, he’ll suggest different solutions and that usually allows me to find my own solution. And he’s okay with that. He knows simply by listening, he’s being a valuable part of the writing team.

But our relationship was and still is a work-in-progress. He tries different tactics to support me. I tell him what works for me and what doesn’t and he adjusts his ‘tool box’ accordingly. Well over two decades of trial and error later, he is skilled at supporting me. I don’t know what I’d do without him. The Dear Wonderful Hubby is now a key part of my writing process.

Do you need a supporter like the Dear Wonderful Hubby or Edith to become a great writer? Of course not. You can write awesome stories on your own. But if you have someone who is willing to take on that role, it might be worth the training and the mistakes to nurture them.

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Other Chameles view him as the enemy.

She sees the warrior hero he never believed he could be.

* * *

Tolui is a Warlord in search of a planet to rule. He has been leading his fellow clones in a stealth battle, fighting for both control of the Chamele sector and the right to exist. The brave warriors he commands warrant respect, and they deserve the best.

That best isn’t the barren, dangerous terrain on Chamele 4. When Tolui crashes on that planet’s surface, he’s determined to leave it as soon as possible. The tiny human female rescuing him might be as beautiful and as wild as the land she inhabits, but her flowing words, trusting gaze, and enthralling submission won’t stop him from rejoining the war.

After many solar cycles of living alone, Lea is overjoyed when a tall, scarred, muscular warrior falls from the sky. Her savage stranger is strong and severe, and he makes her feel safe, an emotion she hasn’t experienced in a long, long time.

He also insists they must part. Before they do, she’ll show him the splendor of her home, and she’ll enjoy his big form, collecting passionate moments she can revisit when she’s solitary once more.

Every additional moment Lea and Tolui spend together increases the chance they’ll both die. Lea is being chased by female-hating fiends. Tolui is being hunted by the best bounty hunters in the universe. War will soon arrive on their threshold, and the blood spilled might be their own.

* * *

Warlord’s Mercy is based on a much shorter story sharing the same title.

It is a STANDALONE Alien Barbarian SciFi Romance featuring a villain turned hero and a brave, chatty heroine set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

Warlord’s Mercy is the fifth of six core stories in the Chamele Barbarian Warlord series.

Book 1: Warlord Sky

Book 2: Warlord’s Bounty

Book 3: Warlord Unarmed

Book 4: Warlord Reunited

Book 5: Warlord’s Mercy

Book 6: Warlord’s Return

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