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“I do not really think that I am frightfully important.” So wrote J.R.R. Tolkien in a letter to the poet, W.H.Auden, on 7 June 1955. This was despite the fact that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings had already been published. The Hobbit, especially, received wide critical acclaim when it was first published. I think it’s safe to say, that people who love fantasy literature feel that Tolkien was hugely important. One of my favourite family stories is that of my late father, David, reading The Lord of the Rings to his pregnant wife Ann every evening. My…

I want to be a published author. I declared that intention online by setting up this author website and changing my Instagram handle to gemmafranksauthor. As my name as a standalone Instagram handle was already taken, I debated whether to append ‘author’ or ‘writer’ to the end of my name. I am a writer and have been one for years in various capacities: as a public relations consultant and journalist. But am I in fact an author? I have written a novel, and while a few people have read it, it is not yet published. I typically associate being an…