Liam B. Hershtale Introduces himself

Hello as you may already know my name is Liam B Hershtale. I got started writing in the 6th grade when it was common to find my engrossed in a novel. I often struggled with dyslexia as a child which is why I began reading more and more. As time advanced I became more confident and began writing poetry along with my friend Micheal D. Ballard. We often drew inspiration from video games; however we really did not get into fantasy style writing until I returned from Afghanistan. We have co-authored a book as a beginning of a series entitled Scrolls of Armathose.  In order further "toot our own horn" the first installment is the book titled The Haunted Forrest where our main character William is faced with adversity. In this fun filled adventure there are dragons and mystery as William does battle to save his beloved Kaleen. Before you think that our book is just another fantasy novel cursed to follow in the footsteps of Tolken and his beloved evles first understand that this book is far from the boy who cries wolf. We will further talk of our book along with the genius of others in posts to come so stay tuned for insight and wisdom as we share fun new topics with you the reader. oh and if there are any topics you would like us to cover please comment below.

Introduction

Hello. I am Michael D. Ballard. My enjoyment of writing led me to dabble in poetry at a young age. By the time I had graduated high school I had written poems beyond count and tuned my writing skills a bit more towards essays and story books. Shortly after highschool some of my works were published in the book "Look I Think I See A Martian" and I began to look into publishing a novel. My friend and I wrote for a good long time on a fantasy novel which is in it's last stages of publishing as this blog is being posted.

My friend is Liam B. Hershtale. I know the website above says "William B Hershtale," but I assure you that that was a mistake. Liam was in the army stationed in Afghanistan somewhere when he took up writing more seriously. Since he got back we have been working together to write some of our best works yet. Right now he is away at a family reuinion, but when he returns I will have him give a proper introduction as well.

Hello all and welcome to our blog! Feel free to comment or ask questions about anything. Have a good one!

-Michael D. Ballard

The Fathers of the Fantasy Genre

In honor of Fathers day this first post will be dedicated to who I believe are the fathers of modern fantasy mythos.
Is it not true that all forms of media influence eachother in some way? If you believe so then you will understand why I include not only an author of books, but games as well.
I will start with J.R.R. Tolkein. He is considered by many to be "the" father of modern fantasy because of his well known works such as "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings." Tolkein was also a professor of the Anglo-Saxon and English language and literature. Tolkein was an avid fan of the Old English epic poem "Beowulf." By the end of his life he had fully translated the text and given a lecture about it titled "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" which argued that "Beowulf" was not simply a monster tale trying to display history and make enemies seem ghoulish, but instead was outlining what they believed as human destiny as a whole. Much of this understanding can be seen in his writings.
On the subject of creation of mythos and games there is much to be said for Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax who together first created "Dungeons & Dragons." Dave Arneson out of a love of board games and role playing combined the two elements in a game called "Blackmoor." Dave Arneson showed the game to Gary Gygax who co-founded the company TSR, inc. with a different friend of his in order to publish board games. They worked together setting the guide-lines and creating creatures, items, weapons, characters, and story for the game "Dungeons & Dragons" before publishing the books of official rules. After four years of working together Gygax began publishing a new series of books called "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" to which Gygax claimed he owed Arneson no royalties. It went to court and they found that Arneson was not owed royalties. I would take it that that was the end of their friendship.
These are who I would have to say are the Fathers of modern fantasy. Do you agree? Who else would you have added?

-Michael D. Ballard.