Well, Sam, tell us a bit about yourself, where are you from, what do you do, and what do your loved ones think of all this Tolkien stuff you're into, that sort of thing.

Uh, yeah.

So I am from around Bloomington, Indiana.

I am currently an aspiring novelist, uh, working on my very first novel, and, [sighs] you know, most of my family give me a lot of just, "Oh, well, that's nice," whenever I start-

[laughs]

Um, but so...

And then it was probably in fourth or fifth grade I s- read The Lord of the Rings for the very first time, and it just-It sunk the claws deeper into me.

Uh, seventh grade I read The Silmarillion for the very first time, right after reading The Iliad and The Odyssey.