One of the old features of the Writer's Guild, which sadly seems to have died of late, was a mailing list of voluntary Readers. Basically, it was comprised of people who enjoyed reading the stories others in the group had written, and perhaps commenting briefly on them. At its peak a couple of years ago, around fourty people were part of the group, and it gave budding writers within the group the opportunity to air their stories and poems to a group of like minded readers.

If there is sufficient interest, I would like to resurrect this group. If anyone is interested in joining in either as a reader or writer, please let me know. In the past volunteers just posted their nickname and email address below, but for security reasons we found some of the younger members were reluctant to post their email addresses in public. If you wish to join this group, therefore, either post your details below, or PM them to me. I can then build a mailing list to send any stories to. I am particularly interested in attracting writers to this group too, so if you feel you are a budding writer, and would like others to read your work, please don't be shy about joining in.

I love reading stories and commenting ont hem, and occasionally I write one myself. But just occasionally.

shpecklesh@hotmail.com

I will join as an occasional writer. I can always do with some more feedback. I assume that the material does not necessarily have to be Fantasy or Tolkien related?

Do you have a tune in mind?

We could form a choir...... sing me up as well, please.

Me, feel bad? No way! I just love your typos.

Hahaha! I was just typing the same thing Vee said (on the page before) about V-goddesses and Queen of Typos! I just thought I should refresh the page before I posted. Good thing I did. Great goddesses thinks alike.

Now come on and join! You know you want to!
Free stories and poems straight to your e-mail inbox for you to read, enjoy and comment as well as comments and help on your own works, perfect if you are a bit shy of posting and/or you want to make sure you get honest replies.

Pah! I can sound like Gollum if I wantssssssss to!
And you are not Vee so you are not allowed to tease me. It will only spread and you'll all make fun of me in public and I'll begin to cry and I would be forced to delete you all. I'm a very sensitive Goddess you see. And what kind of Typo Queen would I be if I didn't carry my typos with pride? All you people with fingers which get a life of their own and don't obey the brain, UNITE!!!!

*cough* Another rant from me, also quite usual... Umm... yes... Reading Groupe! Join! Fun!

Welcome on board, Gildor inglorion. I'll add you to the mailing list.

Like I mentioned earlier, things are likely to be fairly quiet at first because with so few members, not a lot will be written. Who knows, though? One day you might open your email to an unexpected masterpiece of literature written by one of your fellow members.

If anyone has a piece of writing, prose or poetry, that they would like to share with members of this group send it to valedhelgwath@planet-tolkien.com with your details and I will circulate it around the group.

Hi Rhapsody, welcome to Planet Tolkien and this group. It will be great to have someone circulating some of their writing. As we're only just getting going at the moment, no one has so far tested the waters by sending anything in.

I look forward to receiving anything you might like to share with us.

Hang on a sec!! This thing is up and running then? Hmm, nice, watch out. I might bump in on your inbox!!

The idea of the group is to share any form of writing that any of us write. It can be short stories, poetry, biographical essays, dialogue... anything you think the others might be interested in reading. Although we are all gathered here because this is a Tolkien site, I don't see why this group should be limited to just Tolkien either.

As a writer it is a way of sharing compositions with like minded people and getting a bit of feedback. For others who just like reading, it is the opportunity to read new material, and to talk with the author if they so wish about those stories. If by being part of such a group someone is tempted to begin writing themselves, so much the better.

Thank you Val. That's really cool. And about the format of the document to be sent, if I write something, I'll be sending it in PDF format for Arcobat Reader 5 or more. Is that ok? Most people have Acrobat Reader installed I think.

So, it's begun. Thank you Rhaps for kicking things off.

I've got a suggestion here. Please mention something that might make it easier to know that it's a reading group email, in the subject. I was nearly going to delete the first one, thinking that it was spam. Luckily I asked who Ron Jessop is in the chat room!! Maybe, Val, you could set the sender name to Val!! I don't know most peoples' real names here.

Another thing. When you send in a story, please mention it here in this thread. It'd help, if someone doesn't get the email for some reason. (Pah!! I never get the emails V sends me!!)

Also, it's better to keep a datewise log of all the material that'll get circulated. A database would be good. I can help with this part.

Also, if possible, it's better if the author writes a brief intro in the body of the email, about what exactly the material is about and its type. I mean, is it a story and essay, whatever. That would be very helpful.

I hope I'm not asking too much here. Anyways, I'm pleased to see this thing kick off.

Oh, and btw, how are we suppose to send in our comments or feedback? By replying to the original email? If that's the case, I think it's better to mention the name of the story in the subject line of the email. That'll help avoid confusion in the future.

Floyd,

I got them in the right order... so eum..

Anyway, it has been my pleasure to be the first. I hope it was readable.

I'll read some stories, and i'll post some of mine, as soon as I get around to finishing them.
My addy is: arwen_elessendil@yahoo.com

BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Just to remind people that it exists.... members or not!!

Yes, I've only had comments from Floyd and Jess so far. Minor alterations and additions have been made since I submitted chapter 2; chapter 3 is written but needs more work and I have ideas for further chapters. Even chapter 1 is still being tweaked. So come on Reading Group - get reading and commenting please.

BTW maybe the group's name should be changed to Writers' Reading Group to make it clear that it is about writing and reading - someone commented in chat about thinking it was just reading. I gather it wasn't clear that it is members' writings we read.

I would like to join, is this thing done by e-mail?

Send me a mail at ron.jessop@btopenworld.com and I'll add you to the mailing list Haldir.

Yes, by all means Rhapsody. Please send it to us.

Yes. Of course it's open! Welcome

Does it have to be strictly Tolkien then? Because as much as I write, I don't really focus on fan fiction... I mean, looking for feedback nowadays is almost comparable to a shot in the head, so yeah, if this group is allowed to deviate out of the Tolkien genre, then I'd definitely like to be apart of it...