B2MeM - Celebrating Ten Years

B2MeM - It's our 10th anniversary and I'm very happy that my muse has decided on a format s/he can live with. Muses are fickle creatures, always flitting about and rarely able to land and stay on anything for long. The fact that the 2013 prompts, at least the alpha letters and topic headings, if not the actual Scavenger Hunt paragraphs, are working for me this year. It's fun to be writing once again for an event that really means a great deal to me.

For me it all started by reading some of the stories of B2MeM's
Last Battle. I found the format too confusing to jump into
in the midst, but intriguing, nonetheless. 

It was back with B2MeM 2010. I didn't participate in this, in fact only happened upon it late in the month and I have to admit, I found it extremely confusing. I was just sticking my toe into the Tolkien fan-fiction universe at that time and I was reading everything I could. B2MeM 2010 was "The Last Battle" and coming in on the last week or so, it was extremely confusing, although interesting.

I loved the passport. It started me writing and I had a fully
stamped passport by the end of the month. It's really quite
pretty and I look at it every now and again - LOL. 

B2MeM 2011, however, was my entry into writing. I had been reading and editing, reviewing like crazy, but had never thought to write. I was happy as a reader and someone who, on Lizard Council, offered suggestions for other authors. But Day 2 of B2MeM 2011 caught me and wouldn't let me go. I quickly drafted something for that day and went back and did Day 1 as well. I was caught with those two Passport stamps and before I knew it, I had all 31 days and had firmly planted myself onto Lizard Council as an author, not just someone who read and commented. My muse had appeared and s/he had a full head of steam.

I'm not sure if my DH even saw me during the Bingo Bash. I wrote
story after story while I ran five cards. My Maglor in History series,
"Immortal Footsteps" was my winner and my favorite to write and
research - and some of those topics took some serious research. 

B2MeM 2012 was Bilbo Baggin's Bingo Bash - probably the most work I've ever done in a single month's worth of writing, with the exception of the partial novel for my Helyanwë character who had been developed in many shorter stories over the previous year. I ended up writing a bunch of stories for the Bingo Bash, including my Maglor in History grouping for which I won a Bingo. I'm still proud of those stories, but it was the beginning of the end for Lizard Council - a breaking of friendships and burning of bridges that I still miss, on occasion. I miss the Council a lot, but I've spoken about that in other posts. 

Even with all of the full prompts to meet the tags, I still find
the Scavenger Hunt confusing. But each day had a top
heading, and I'm using those headings as the guidelines for
my stories for 2016. It's been fun so far. 

B2MeM 2013 confused me and I was still burned by the demise of Lizard Council. I didn't participate. I'm still confused by a lot of it, but the freedom of our 2016 format has allowed me to return to it and take the parts I can work with to make it my own. It's a fun journey. 

I enjoyed the seasons, but again it was a bit weird. I made two
pieces of artwork for this year's participation. 

B2MeM 2014 I did artwork. I needed a change, my muse was beginning to pull away and move into other directions, and work was overwhelming. I didn't want to skip it, so I did artwork instead. I'm happy with it, although I didn't do anything every day as in other years. 

2015 was the Market Stalls. I purchased some topics and
wrote a few stories, but didn't participate heavily. 

B2MeM 2015 I did visit some of the market stalls, I purchased some prompts and even wrote a few stories. I still have some prompts outstanding that I never did get around to. Work, once again, was an issue and my muses were totally uncooperative. 

And here we are, ten years later, in 2016. It's been a fun ride, and
I'm having a blast writing this year - the most fun I've had in the past
few years of B2MeM. Here's to celebration! 

So here I am, in B2MeM 2016, and because I have made it my own by using the 2013 heading prompts to guide my tale, I'm having a blast. Do I really have the time to write and post? No, not really. But I'm determined to do this in celebration of the one thing that pulled me out of reading and into writing. Thank you, B2MeM, for awakening the inner fan-fiction author in me. Happy Tuesday and have a great and productive day!