B2MeM 2019 Is Coming To An End

We're coming into the final week of B2MeM 2019. I started the month thinking "Oh, it's Bingo. I love that format. I'll give it my best shot and see how I do," to ending it with "Oh darn, I only have Sunday's prompts left and then Bingo will be over." That should make it clear to my readers that I have thoroughly enjoyed the month's worth of challenges, writing stories, reading the stories of other writers, and commenting. It's been totally awesome. 

It was a lot of fun to write within the Tolkien universe
once again. It's been two years since I allowed myself
to play in this sandbox. 

I do write every day - I blog six days a week, and I often write in my own fiction, but I hadn't played in the Tolkien universe for quite a while. Although I have wonderful friends over there, many of whom I am in touch with through my blog, I have also had some unpleasant experiences within the fandom that caused me to pull back a bit. But, I'm getting older, my skin is thick and quite resilient, and I just don't care any more. So, if I see something on LJ or DW regarding something I want to write about in the Tolkien universe, and I have the time, I'll probably do it. 

The previous B2MeM challenge I wrote within was 2017's
"Night and Day" B2MeM challenge. That challenge had
a variety of pathways that could be followed. I took the
longest pathway (because I like a challenge) and was
successful at the end of the month. Lots of fun. 

Time is the question. My Bingo entries were relatively short. My personal criteria for participating this year was two-fold: (1) I had to write short - ficlet or drabble length only, and (2) I had to combine all of the daily prompts into a single tale. Those were my personal rules. I could have written as long as I wanted, and composed an individual story for each prompt, but I set my boundaries. For me, the challenge was in melding the varied prompts into a single story that had focus - that could be told in entirety, with minimal words. 

I don't know that I'll have the time to do other writing challenges within the universe. Many of the other writing events and exchanges that run throughout the year either require longer word counts, or restrict to only drabbles. Those are both good boxes to work within, but summer is coming up and we have SO much to accomplish to be able to retire at the end of the year. Crazy busy - that's what we'll be. 

My very first B2MeM challenge was the Passports challenge
of 2011. It's what brought me from being a reviewer, editor and
commentator, to being a writer within the fandom. Again, I
succeeded in completing the challenge and I got all of the
varied passport stamps on my Visa. It was a LOT of fun and
a good intro to B2MeM. 

So, I'll probably post a big "Thank You" on Monday to the moderators and other authors for a wonderfully entertaining month of writing fun, and then I'll return to my current primary focus - making my house a place where I can merge the items for my workspace into my current home. That's rather like a shoehorn and a tightly-fitted shoe. It's going to work, but it's not going to be comfortable. 

Have a wonderful weekend, and I'll be back on Monday. Remember to be kind to others and to animals, and try to finish the month up on a good and positive note.