To one that has read JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit", "The Lord of the Rings", "The Silmarillion" and other affiliate works; the sheer introduction to the wondrous world of Middle Earth-its history and characters seem to suggest powerful allegorical overtones on such matters as the gender issue, race and religion. ...

Why do people read fantasy?

The typical answer is that people are searching for 'escape.' Fantasy represents, many would say, a retreat from the harsh world of competition and commerce. Another answer is that fantasy provides, like much fiction, a specific kind ...

On July 1st, 1999 I had retired from the Hammonton, New Jersey Public School District as a middle school English teacher after thirty-four years of service. I knew there would be an eight hour daily time-void in my life, so I decided to fill it by making my avocation (writing) my vocation. The task of becoming a successful Internet author was much more formidable than I had originally anticipated. ...

Once there were elephants in America.

There were elephants all over the world, in fact, save for Australia and Antarctica. There were many kinds of them. Today the existing elephants are warm-climate animals, but in the past there were mammoths -- hairy giants adapted to living in the ...

Chances are that I'll be at work when the newsflash comes. I'll be standing there at my tank, up to my elbows in water and paint, shaking my head in contempt and disbelief as the DJ mispronounces Shanie Twain's christian name yet **again**, when he will interrupt his inane drivel and say those words that always get my pulse racing: "Er... we're going over to the newsroom for a newsflash..." And ...