iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 09/06/2026

A long-expected party! 🍄 Our family is so grateful to share that our newest little hobbit has arrived safely! Both of us are doing well. Thank you for all of the prayers and kind wishes! 🤎

A baby lays on a white blanket wearing blue footie pajamas

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 18/05/2026

me everyday now that I’ve won a Tolkien Society award

A screenshot from the film A Christmas Story with the subtitles “she won that. That’s a major award”

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 07/02/2026

Two weeks until my book releases! If you have been considering pre-ordering it but haven’t had the chance yet, I’d be so grateful if you did so soon! Pre-orders are apparently quite important for a book’s success so it would mean the world to me. ❤️ www.teawithtolkien.com/book

My book “Into the Heart of Middle-earth” on a table beside a tea cup

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 03/01/2026

Happy birthday JRR Tolkien! On this day, January 3 of 1892, the author of The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit was born! I am so thankful for his lifelong devotion to storytelling and world-building, and I am inspired everyday to pursue beauty, goodness, and truth because of him.

A photograph of JRR Tolkien overlaid with the words “Happy Birthday JRR Tolkien”.

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 20/10/2025

Will never forget being at a screening for the finale of The Rings of Power season two and the entire crowd erupting into applause at the Narsil reveal. 🥹

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 15/10/2025

Lord Celebrimbor wants you to pre-order my book! www.teawithtolkien.com/book

Lord Celebrimbor holds the book cover art for “Into the Heart of Middle-earth” while gazing upon it reverently.

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 27/09/2025

Kind words from Carl Hostetter, editor of The Nature of Middle-earth! 🌟 Pre-order now: www.teawithtolkien.com/book

Image of my book cover art: a watercolor painting of a landscape with mountains and two trees prominently placed in the foreground. There is a giant golden ring in the background.

Text: "On the eve of the publication of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote that in doing so he had
'exposed his heart to be shot at'.
Kaitlyn Facista here lifts that heart up, to show how it speaks to our own, of hope, faith, mercy, courage, and self-sacrifice; and invites us to ponder that heart, to discern how we might each embrace and embody the virtues it espouses in our own ways, in our lives and in our world."
— Carl F. Hostetter
Editor of The Nature of Middle-earth by J.R.R. Tolkien
Coming from Ave Maria Press in February 2026
Learn more and pre-order at www.teawithtolkien.com/book

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 26/09/2025

Kind words about my book, Into the Heart of Middle-earth. 🫖

An image of the cover art for my book, Into the Heart of Middle-earth: a watercolor landscape painting of two trees amidst mountains. A golden ring looms in the background. There is a small star at the top of the cover.

Text: "You will finish this book with your hope and courage restored, ready to tackle the adventure of your own life." - Haley Stewart
Editor of Word on Fire Votive and author of Jane Austen's Genius Guide to Life

Coming from Ave Maria Press in February 2026
Learn more and pre-order at www.teawithtolkien.com/book

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 13/09/2025

how it feels to be reading the final proof of my book before it’s sent off to the printers

Bilbo from the Hobbit movie running through the Shire saying IM GOING ON AN ADVENTURE

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 12/09/2025

you can tell me all day long that Haladriel isn’t “real” because it isn’t in the books, but you can pry their matching names being right next to each other in the Unfinished Tales index out of my cold dead hands!!

*Artanis Name given to Galadriel by her father. *Artano ‘High-smith’, name given to himself by Sauron in the Second Age. See Annatar, Aulendil.

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 08/09/2025

girl who approved her book cover design today 🏔️⭐️🌳🌳💍🏞️

Celebrimbor drinking his tea in a “girl who is going to be okay” kind of way

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 29/08/2025

Happy one-year anniversary to The Rings of Power Season Two 🤩

Adar stands above Sauron holding the crown, about to stab him

Galadriel and Sauron share a moment of prolonged eye-contact after she is pierced by Morgoth’s crown

Adar is holding Elrond by the throat in a threatening fashion

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 24/08/2025

New video: I took my Pocket Guide to Middle-earth and turned it into a video! I know I struggle to sit and read through an entire guide sometimes, so I thought creating an audio/video format would make it easier for some folks. Link: youtu.be/fkW1e4LoqZA #lotr #lordoftherings

Image of a YouTube thumbnail: two trees painted in watercolor paints with a grassy background. The text over the picture says “Tea with Tolkien’s Pocket Guide to Middle-earth”.

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 24/07/2025

If you’ll be at #SDCC, stop by theonering.net booth to grab a free gift from me! 🥰 Photo via @themiddlepage.bsky.social

Kelly holds a copy of my free booklet “Pocket Guide to Middle-earth”

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 21/07/2025

I wrote my manuscript using Dabble and I’m really happy to see them commit to keeping AI tools out of their writing spaces. 🤎 I highly recommend Dabble for anyone else working on a writing project, big or small.

An email from Dabble:

Hey there,
A week ago, we sent out a survey asking how you felt about Al in writing tools. We wanted to hear directly from you, the Dabblers, to understand exactly where you stand.
Your responses were overwhelmingly clear: you don't want
Al in your writing space.
We hear you and we care about what you have to say.
For that reason, we're keeping Al out of Dabble.

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 17/07/2025

It’s been nearly two years—and an entire lifetime—in the making and today I am finally able to share my book’s title! Into the Heart of Middle-earth: Exploring Faith and Fellowship in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (A Spiritual Journey for the Hobbit at Heart) Coming early 2026. 🤎

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 16/07/2025

Got the final approval on my book title… Announcement coming soon!

Frodo with a mischievous twinkle in his eye saying all right, then. Keep your secrets” to Gandalf.

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 11/07/2025

HI I MADE THIS LITTLE FREE BOOKLET AND it’s probably the best thing I’ve ever made. It will be available online soon. DID I MENTION IT WILL BE FREE. It so cute. I could cry.

A cover image for a booklet I created. The background is a watercolor painting of two trees in a meadow of flowers.
The text on the image says:
Tea with Tolkien’s Pocket Guide to Middle-earth
“Welcome to Arda”
The first age: Fëanor, no!
The second age: Annatar, yes!
The third age: Hobbits???!

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 05/07/2025

Reject world domination! Embrace second breakfast! The whole world doesn’t belong to you, but the “food and cheer and song” of Hobbiton is better than hoarded gold anyways. 🤎 Inspired by a comment I received on another post.

Black text on a white backgrounds, the image looks like an old newspaper:

BOOK VICH. 3 * THE ONE RING DESTROYED * 25 MARCH 3019

REJECT WORLD DOMINATION!

EMBRACE SECOND BREAKFAST

FOOD AND CHEER AND SONG ABOVE HOARDED GOLD

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 25/06/2025

Scenes of a young mother editing her manuscript. I hope they’re proud of me. 🤎

A toddler scribbling all over her mother’s manuscript (it’s fine, I told her it was okay. 🤎)

A mother holds a young baby wrapped in a blanket as a notebook sits off to the right.

A baby’s hand reaches out to grab the paper in my notebook, a printed copy of my manuscript

A baby sleeping on her mother’s lap, an open notebook sits off to the side.

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 24/06/2025

“Take off your golden ring! Your hand’s more fair without it.” - The Fellowship of the Ring

An Illustration of a hand, open and reaching towards something. On a tan background. In a whimsical font the caption reads: “Take off your golden ring! Your hand’s more fair without it. - The Fellowship of the Ring

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 23/06/2025

Our book club had a lovely chat about Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth tonight as our Morgoth’s Ring book club continues! Thanks to all who participated, whether in the voice or text chat.

A laptop open to discord where several users are present in a voice channel.

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 23/06/2025

Nearly there! Can’t wait to share this book with you all. 🫂🥰

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 16/06/2025

I’m crying I went to the UPS store to print my manuscript for final edits and I forgot to ask them to print it double-sided hahaha 😂😂😂😭 They handed me an entire ream of paper

a hand (my hand) holds approximately 200 sheets of paper in front of a book shelf

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 14/06/2025

Day 14 of #30DaysintheShire Q: Beregond saw it as both a duty and an honor for Minas Tirith to stand as a shield between Sauron and the peoples of Middle-earth. Inspired by his courage, how can you advocate for others today, this month, this year?

A watercolor painting of a light pink flower on a green background. The caption is in a whimsical font in white letters and reads: “For if we fall, who shall stand?” - The Return of the King

This is an excerpt from a longer quote that I couldn’t fit in the post text:

“‘Yet, Master Peregrin, we have this honour: ever we bear the brunt of the chief hatred of the Dark Lord, for that hatred comes down out of the depths of time and over the deeps of the Sea. Here will the hammer-stroke fall hardest. And for that reason Mithrandir came hither in such haste. For if we fall, who shall stand?’” - The Return of the King

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 09/06/2025

I feel so bad for normal journalists trying to cover The Rings of Power because Tolkien has like 8,000 different special items involved and I’m sure none of these people have ever heard of a Silmaril before. 😭

Text from a Variety article: "Particularly with regard to the family history, his grandfather made the silver oils.”

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 08/06/2025

towards the beginning of the chapter there’s a dialogue between Frodo and Sam and the hobbits who have cooperated with Sharkey’s takeover of the Shire that I find very poignant —

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself having anything to do with such nonsense, said Sam. 'You used to like the inside of an inn better than the outside yourself.
You were always popping in, on duty or off.'
'And so I would be still, Sam, if I could. But don't be hard on me. What can I do? You know how I went for a Shirriff seven years ago, before any of this began. Gave me a chance of walking round the country and seeing folk, and hearing the news, and knowing where the good beer was. But now it's different.'
But you can give it up, stop Shirriffing, if it has
stopped being a respectable job,' said Sam.
'We're not allowed to, said Robin.
'If I hear not allowed much oftener, said Sam, 'I'm
going to get angry.

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 03/06/2025

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake baker's man Bake me a cake as fast as you can Roll it, and pat it, and mark it with "B" CAST IT INTO THE FIRE!!!ISILDURRRRR!!!!!

Elrond looking at Isildur in terror as he has decided against destroying the Ring. Of course this did not happen like this in the books!

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 02/06/2025

“Something Tookish woke up in him…” - The Hobbit Q: Adventure is calling! How can you carry the spirit of Hobbiton with you along the way? #30DaysintheShire / Day 2

A whimsical illustration of a white duck looking up cheerfully, paired with the caption" "Something Tookish woke up in him..." - The Hobbit

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 01/06/2025

Day 1: “I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size).” - The Letters of JRR Tolkien, 213 Q: In what ways do you feel like a Hobbit? #30DaysintheShire

An illustration of mushrooms on a yellow background. A quote written in a whimsical script:

“I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size).” - The Letters of JRR Tolkien, 213

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 30/05/2025

While I may always be watching The Rings of Power, I’m thankfully not having to host this lol I think Web is hosting I do have it streaming in my kitchen though…

Tea’s kitchen where an instant pot sits along with a bread box and an echo show playing the rings of power

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 29/05/2025

the greatest gift I’ve ever received 🥲 thank you @cornyonmain.bsky.social

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 27/05/2025

maybe I do though, now that I think of it

Image from the LOTR movies of Galadriel tempted by the one ring. She is covered in a dark green light and making a tense expression with her arms outstretched

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 27/05/2025

Today is my 33rd birthday! 🎂 As per Hobbit tradition, I’m finally an adult! Here’s to entering my Frodo era, very specifically hoping for a Frodo-sitting-in-a-tree pre-War of the Ring type of era and definitely not inheriting any evil magical jewelry. 🤎

Image of Frodo lounging in a tree, a still from the LOTR movies, captioned “in my Frodo era.”

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 26/05/2025

Did you know JRR Tolkien chose St. Philip Neri as his confirmation saint? The young John Ronald took 'Philip' as his confirmation name when he was received into the Catholic Church at the Birmingham Oratory in 1903. Today, 26 May, is St. Philip Neri's feast day!

Image of a painting of Philip Neri - he wears red and white, holds white flowers and looks up to the side of the portrait.

Full caption: Did you know JRR Tolkien chose St. Philip Neri as his confirmation saint? During his lifetime, Philip Neri was known for his gentle and friendly disposition and love of humor; he would would later be called “the Apostle of Joy.” The young John Ronald took 'Philip' as his confirmation name when he was received into the Catholic Church at the Birmingham Oratory in 1903. Today, 26 May, is St. Philip Neri's feast day!

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 26/05/2025

reminder that cooperating with evil “for the sake of doing good” is still… cooperating with evil. don’t be like Saruman!

Saruman: “We can bide our time, we can keep our thoughts in our hearts, deploring maybe evils done by the way, but approving the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order; all the things that we have so far striven in vain to accomplish, hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends. There need not be, there would not be, any real change in our designs, only in our means."

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 22/05/2025

me when I got my book draft back from my editor 🥳

“No admittance except on editing business”

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 21/05/2025

dying over this giant Hobbit movie poster my husband found at Goodwill. where will I display it???

Giant poster for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Bilbo looks towards a small hole in the mountainside which is illuminated by an ominous red orange light.

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 19/05/2025

Last year at San Diego Comic-con I had ordered a few grocery items to be delivered to my hotel and I accidentally ordered six BUNCHES of bananas instead of six INDIVIDUAL bananas… I ended up sharing with our whole group and was renamed Bananas with Tolkien… well, today I accidentally did it again 🙈

banana incident of 2025 - 30 or so bananas

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Tea with Tolkien @teawithtolkien.com · 17/05/2025

My library is having their own little comic-con with vendors and a book sale, and I found a Tolkien book I didn’t already own!

Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo

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