Going Out Your Door

"It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step onto the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to."

~ Bilbo, The Fellowship of the Ring

This is the month. The month when The Light of Arunzi goes live, the month where my book 'steps out the door' and onto the Road. But it certainly didn't begin here, now did it?

But let's back up a bit before I get too far ahead of myself. 😉

One of my favorite book quartets when growing up was Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small. I loved how Kel did her best to treat everyone with respect and courtesy, even standing up to her fellow nobles to protect 'ordinary commoners'. And while the commoners really couldn't cross the nobility, they found inventive ways to repay Kel for her stanch, unwavering defense. Even Kel's oh-so-ordinary flock of sparrows became a key component of her story in her quest to protect the Small Folk of Tortall.

It's one of the reasons that The Light of Arunzi started out as Small Beginnings. Well, that and my love of the old 'Do not despise the day of small things' quote. Every story has a beginning and those beginnings are often small indeed. As I look around at what I've built, it's still very small, but oh, how much bigger it is today than it was when I originally wrote Small Beginnings' first draft.

The Small Folk. The ordinary - so often seen as mere 'movie extras' until one of them steps up when you least expect it. The neighbor who takes the time (and effort) to mow the lawn next door for an elderly couple. The TV show 'girl of the week' who steps out of the protective shadows to talk to that week's bad guy - a desperately lonely, bullied high school kid who finally snapped and pulled a gun (but never actually shot anyone with it). The old man in The Avengers who stands up in the middle of a crowd of frightened civilians and tells Loki, "There are always men like you."

The heroes of the story can't be ordinary ~ they have to be the heroes, after all! But if it's the Small Folk of the world who make the biggest changes, maybe we do all have a little bit of 'hero' in us, after all.

So try going out your door the way Bilbo does in The Fellowship of the Ring. You never know where the Road might take you... 📖✨🐉

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can…
And whither then? I cannot say."

~ Bilbo, The Fellowship of the Ring

Until next time, Keep the Peace!

~ Katelyn Peterson

P.S. As I tell my fanfiction readers, please read and review (reply). I cherish each reply I receive and will do my best to personally respond to each one.

Please also check out my website at: www.katelynpeterson.com​

Finally, if you'd like to check out the archive of my previous Order Dispatches, please go to my Kit Creator Profile at: https://katelyn-peterson.kit.com​