Words cannot describe how happy this makes me.

If it weren't for J.R.R. Tolkien, I don't really know if I'd be an author today. It was 30 years ago this summer that my cousin Diedre gave me a copy of The Hobbit to read. To that point, I hadn't been much of a reader. I read when school forced me to, but not for fun. The Hobbit changed all that and completely shifted the course of my life. So today, I hear the news that Sir Peter Jackson has officially begun shooting the two Hobbit movies…well, I couldn't be happier. So much about this photo resonates with me. How about you?