HARRY!

22 days and counting...

I am such a dork, but this makes me almost tear up. Nine years ago I made Husband take me to the midnight showing of the very first movie, which just happened to fall on our three-month anniversary of marriage. At that time there were only four books, and I'd re-read them I don't know how many times. The years have flown by, and still I eagerly await each new Harry Potter release. These books and films have marked important milestones in my life over the years--getting engaged the summer I started reading the books; the release of book 5 while I lived in London; speculating over the details of the final book with two best friends, while secretly setting them up using their shared love for all things Harry (they later married, btw!). I will be so sad to see it end, but what a ride it has been!

Harry Plopper

Whether you're a fan of the Harry Potter books or not, I think it's clear that J.K. Rowling has written characters that children and teens can look up to more than the usual celebrities that they idolize. The bookish Hermione, for instance, is intelligent, witty, and never worries about her weight. The celebrities of this generation keep making the news with their drunken driving, cocaine toting, pantiless wearing ways, and though I rarely opine about celebrity happenings, after watching another story about Lindsay Lohan's second arrest for drunken driving and possession of cocaine, I couldn't help myself. There are, of course, celebrities doing admirable things, they just don't make the news doing them. Okay, rant over.

Speaking of admirable characters, the Simpsons movie comes out in two days! ;) Husband is a huge fan and I'm trying to figure out if I can take him this weekend while we're home for a wedding. I think it's going to be too whirlwind, but he would be so excited. He walks around the house singing, "Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does." Bless him. In the newest ad, Homer tells Marge, "he's not spider pig anymore, he's Harry Plopper." Flash to the pig adorned with a little lightning scar. Ha! Now that is entertainment.

Writing Right

Hello lovelies. Yesterday I was a very naughty girl and read most of the day instead of working. Husband told me he'd be shocked if I didn't read and that he wanted to start reading when he got home from work, so I obliged him and focused on finishing. ;)

*Oh, and don't worry, I won't post any spoilers for those of you who are still reading the book*

I thought it was fabulous. (You do know I'm talking about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, right? Right.) She ended it perfectly; I couldn't imagine a better ending. Happily, I was right about quite a few of my predictions, though I was equally happy to be wrong about a few of them. I'd love to hear what you all thought of the book when you finish. Leave me a note in the comments, which can be a spoiler-zone.

As for my writing....Oh, the troubles I have, the sorrows. I seem to be fighting an uphill battle with my novel every week. I like the story, I like the characters, but I can't get the writing right. Two narrators share the burden of telling the story, and I think I've just discovered the problem: The story is about Narrator 2's discoveries about Narrator 1, yet Narrator 1 is so much more intriguing than Narrator 2. She's stealing the show. The entire story is about Narrator 1, in a sense, but the crux of the novel is Narrator 2 uncovering that story. Yet Narrator 2 is just not as interesting as Narrator 1, so I need to find a way to fix that. Without Narrator 2's discovery though, the idea is just a little too bland.
Well, I'm off to wrestle more words into acquiescence. Wish me luck.

Oh deary me....554 pages....Swore I wouldn't read on a work day....More to come.

Writing Spoilers

I'm getting more work done this week than I thought I would. Last week I started gaining in the writing front after my migraines calmed a little. (Did I mention I got off the Seasonique? After 8 weeks of upwards of three migraines a week, I decided it was not in fact helping my migraines. ;) I only stayed on that long because it can take a while for your system to adjust, but clearly it should've adjusted after 8 weeks.) Monday and Tuesday I didn't get much work done, but now that I'm getting more accustomed to Little Lucy's schedule, I'm learning to steal moments for writing while she's snoozing or playing with Drew. It's a little like high school and college where I worked more efficiently when I had deadlines and was involved in a lot of activities so I only had so many hours to study and finish my homework. I'm looking forward to the day when she's potty trained so I can devote more hours to the writing, but for now I'm snatching a minute here an hour there to work.

On another note, I was shocked to discover that the New York Times published a review of The Deathly Hallows ahead of the publication date! I agree with the author and publishers that people shouldn't put up spoilers ahead of the release, especially considering it is a children's book and it could take away from the enjoyment for millions of readers. True fans want to discover the ending for themselves! Many papers have decided not to publish any of the spoilers being touted, but I thought the Times had more class than that. Guess I need to approach all news websites with caution until I've finished the book!

It's a Hairy Week

Yay! I've just come back from my first haircut in ages and it turned out exactly how I wanted it! Think Cameron Diaz in The Holiday (though not blonde, more of a golden brown). There's nothing like a good haircut (okay and a latte and chocolate chip cookies) to put you in a great mood. I haven't had a great haircut in a while, though to be fair it's not my hairdresser's fault, lately I somehow end up choosing haircuts that don't work for my face or hair type, etc. I never used to have this problem, but the texture of my hair changed when we moved to California, probably because it's humid here and Bend is bone dry. I grew out my hair last year and have been sporting it long, but the thyroid problems made it really dry and straw-like on the ends, which isn't cute. Plus it's nice to have shorter hair in summer. Lovely Kristen puppysat for a few hours while I went to my appointment. (Speaking of, go forth and read lovely Kristen's brand new poetry blog. She has beautiful poetry and finally decided to share it more broadly via her blog. As she says, she has chutzpah.) And as for my 'hairy' week, I still have the other Harry to look forward to first thing Saturday morning. Hurrah!

Harry Potter, Harry Potter, la la la!

Okay, I'm a bit of a dork, but I went to see the new Harry Potter movie with the hubby and two friends last night and it was fantastic. I really loved it. I think I'll have to see it again before I decide, but it's either my new favorite of the movies or second to Azkaban. I think David Yates, the new director, did a good job, as well as correcting a few of the things Mike Newell got wrong with the fourth (Sirius's face in coals, for one). He handled all the scenes in Harry's mind so well and I really loved the last scene between Harry, Voldemort, and Dumbledore. I wasn't sure how they would handle it since it's very much a book scene and not an action scene, but it was better than I expected.
Highly highly recommended. And now I just have to wait for the last book!

A very Harry day!

Very exciting news this morning: the book cover(s) for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows were released today. You can check out the front and back covers to the US edition and the UK children's and adult editions here. The US and UK editions almost always showcase different parts of the book, so it's interesting to look at what they both have to offer. In the US edition, it seems odd to me that Harry is standing next to Voldemort and they are both looking toward the sky and not each other, though one of V's hands does seem to be extending toward Harry. There are figures assembled in the background near the columns (possibly Deatheaters?). It almost looks as if they are in the MofM in the auditorium standing in front of the horrible curtain. Hmm. The UK adult edition simply shows the slytherin locket, while the children's (standard) edition is much more interesting and demonstrative of what's to come. It looks like Dobby is behind Harry holding the sword of Gryffindor, which is intriguing. Possibly they are in the room of requirement (there is a strange assembly of items: a suit of armor, jewels, gold coins, plates, and a pitcher, etc). What's most interesting to me is the reflection in Harry's glasses -- you can see fire, but there's not enough detail to see much else. Oh, and no one is holding a wand in any of the covers.

Mwah ha ha! And now we wait...

a book

p.s. For those of you who know and care, the Husband has finally FINALLY finished The Historian. (Okay, it was about a week ago.) I can't even remember when he started it, but we were not living here, so it's been over 5 months at the very least, and I'm pretty sure he was reading it this summer. He disliked probably 95% of the book, but stubbornly read on during bathroom visits. ;) The end especially pissed him off because he said she tied it up in a few unsatisfactory pages. I haven't read it yet, so I can't comment, but I'm proud of him for sticking it out. Happily he is really liking his next read and we have "reading time" together, which is pretty much awesome. He's reading Eragon and is already halfway through. He has to finish this book and Eldest pretty quickly because he wants to re-read Harry Potter 5 and 6 before book 7 comes out this summer. He forgot most of what happened. Anywho, that's all.