Why Rienspel?
I started first officially dreaming up, drawing and writing what would eventually become Rienspel roughly eight years ago. I was a Freshman in college at the time... and I recall one Friday afternoon being invited by a bunch of the guys to go camping over the weekend. Here's the thing: I love camping. So I kinda surprised myself when I told them, 'no thanks'. I remember returning from lunch and sitting in my quiet dorm. The late morning light was pouring through the windows, spilling onto my desk in the middle of the room. Without much forethought, I tugged a couple of pieces of paper out from a notebook and started drawing. To be honest, I wasn't really paying any attention to what I was doing until I was finished. I remember looking down- it was past noon by now and there, sprawling over five sheets of lined paper was an immense, detailed map. I had no real clue what I had done, but as I stared, a bit astonished at my work, I knew deep inside how the whole thing was steeped in stories.
And so I did. (and still am)
During those first early months, I really have two people to thank the most. First is my roommate and friend Robert Dean, who was also writing his first historical fiction on the first crusades, Blood for Glory (excellent read, by-the-way... not that I'm biased or anything...). I remember watching down cup after cup of coffee as he researched and wrote at his computer, or trudged off through the bitter Missouri winds to our school's library. I witnessed his dedicated tenacity for writing and thinking and was hooked. 'Hey,' I thought, 'maybe I can do this, too!' The second person who helped Rienspel off the ground was a girl then named Stephanie Worcester. She is my current record holder for most intelligent conversation ever held about The Silmarillion. During the early days, I would make my way down to Central Christian College's cafeteria for a late brunch on Saturdays. One particularly busy weekend morning, all the tables were full. So I carried my tray into the cafe area were there was one high table chair left open next to Stephanie. I thought I remembered her from a couple of classes, so I set my tray down across from her and tried to make small talk while I scarfed down eggs. Apparently small talk that day consisted of finer points within Tolkien's epic fantasy work. I was delighted. It must have been an excellent conversation, because she started helping me co-write a fantasy story which eventually became Rienspel. Oh, and did I mention we liked talking and hanging out that we decided to marry each other after college? Now I have free editing for life!
Writing Rienspel, and creating the whole world in which it takes place is a quest in itself. And like in any great story, you need friends to help see you through to the end. Rien's Tale would have never begun if not for so many other dedicated friends who have helped along the way. The world becomes a far richer place when other friends get together and lend their imaginative power towards something. By doing this we are transported among fair world unknown... and who knows what we may discover then?
No comments:
Post a Comment