Production of Peter Jackson’s the Hobbit apparently steams ahead. The latest news is that Elijah Wood will be reprising his Lord of the Rings role as Frodo Baggins. Apparently there is going to be a frame that bookends the movies (remember, there will reportedly be two movies, the second one including some bridging material between the Hobbit and the Fellowship of the Ring). Frodo will be part of that structure. I would imagine, as well, that Frodo might have some role to play near the end of the bridging material, bringing us up to FotR’s doorstep.

I can’t say that I am as excited about this project as I was about the LotR series. I was a lot more excited when Guillermo del Toro was on board, but I’ve bitched about that elsewhere. I will say that I am glad that Elijah Wood is getting more work. It’s too bad that neither he nor Sean Astin were able to capitalize on their work in the LotR series to become more bankable. Both are still working, but both are very solid actors and should be getting much more. That’s true for Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan as well—Pippin and Merry—though Dominic did get some time on Lost.

Sure is quiet around here. Maybe too quiet.

I wish it was because a storm of posts was a-headin’ this way, but that just ain’t so.  No, I’ve been heavily invested in getting some stuff ready for Sword’s Edge Publishing. Two of those things are games, one is a supplement, and one is a short story compilation. If you follow the SEP website, you’ll have seen the announcement already.

I’m in the middle of writing the final parts of Kiss My Axe, which is a role-playing game set in the Viking Age. The part I’m writing now looks at different times and places in which one could run a Viking game—though, when one looks at the historical eras preceding the Viking Age, one isn’t actually playing, y’know, Vikings. In any case, I hope the section will prove of interest and give people some inspiration for running their games.

What does that mean for SE? I’m going to try to do at least two posts a week in the future. Hopefully, you’ll all stick around. The deluge of people seeking pictures of Odysseus, which really skewed my Google Analytics numbers, has passed, so I now have a fair idea who is actually interested in what I’m saying here. Frankly, I’m kind of surprised so many of you are still around.

Thanks! And I’ll see you soon.

You can find my SEP plans here.

And so 2011 is upon us. Luckily, it’s another year before those who have totally misread the Mayan calendar begin to panic. Unfortunately, the world appears to be just as messed up at the opening of 2011 as it was at the beginning of 2010.

I hope everyone has a great year. I’ll be around, and I have some exciting news to share in the near future.