Stirring the Pot(ter)

Apparently I struck a few nerves yesterday with my post mentioning Harry Potter.  I knew that Potter fans were fanatical, but I suppose I didn’t take into account the vehemence with which they defend their fervor.  (If Christians were as fervent, they could make a true difference.) I left some of the comments up if you care to read them, but had to delete many, the vulgarity of language did nothing to substantiate their claims of why Harry Potter rules the known world.

The suggestions of where I should put my crutches were, of course omitted. I won’t even begin to go into the ones that had sexual overtones; thanks for the invitation but no thanks!

As “powerful webmaster”, a term one of my commenters used to describe me (really? maybe I should break out my wizardly robes after all) I have the power to post or not post comments that I find offensive like the aforementioned offers, or post those that I feel contribute intelligent thought processes.  Yes, fear the all-powerful webmaster Ellie!  Hmm, somehow it just doesn’t have that sense of awe does it?

Anyway, moving on . . . Potter fans have expressed their outrage at my faux pas of not having read the books and daring to share my opinion of my favorite author.  Ever heard the garbage pail theory?  Opinions are like garbage pails and they all stink!  It’s my blog, my opinion and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me.  Even if we don’t agree, can’t we just be civil here?  “Can’t we all just get along?”

The point was brought up that Harry Potter does have dragons in it.  My interest has suddenly been piqued!  Dragons?  J.K. Rowling wrote dragons in it?  I may just have to read it then on the basis of dragons and all so that I can give a more objective view next time.  ROFL!  Seriously?  Do you come here to my blog for an objective view?  Do you think I’m going to remain serious at all times?  NOT BLOODY LIKELY! (And yes Raymond, I yelled that!)

Amidst the comments I have to give a rundown of an assessment I’ve made.  Twelve rather rude comments and um, invitations  came from the southern United States.  I’m glad you’re reading, but just because I don’t share your passion is no reason to be rude!  Three comments came from other locations in US, and were fine.

Two comments were made from Pakistan, and honestly you need a better translating tool!  My friends in the UK are the most objective and made intelligent comments, although most didn’t actually apply to the current post.  One was very eloquent in his defense of why Rowling should rule the free world and my American idiocy should be cut short through some reference to HP that quite frankly I didn’t get, because – pay close attention here – I haven’t read the books!  Therefore the very eloquent insult was completely wasted.  The art of insult is that the person whom you are insulting at least comprehends the insult even if the full impact of it hits them in a delayed reaction! (at 2 am: Tomato juice!)

If you’re going to hurl insults at me, do it right!  Which although the very eloquent dissertation was in fact well written prose and snappy dialogue, apparently insult is an American talent.  No, we’re not talking about my momma either!  As one commenter mentioned I miss out on some of the jokes because I don’t get the Potter references.  Hurling Potter insults at me is like bringing a knife to a gunfight!  Of course, that’s an American reference as well.

I don’t believe at any time I dissed Harry Potter or the subculture that it has become, I simply admitted that I missed it.  I chose other books, other avenues of entertainment during this wave of Potterism.  I did reference that many of the people I know haven’t read classic materials.  It was a blanket statement interpreted as every person that read Potter isn’t widely read.  That’s just crazy because we all know that absolutes are never absolute.

Just imagine the turmoil I will create when I start discussing the faults of plotline in Star Trek, and the lack of creativity in the alien races that appear throughout the Trek universe.

I guess I am regressing to my  opinion column days.  One of the reasons the editor liked me is that I managed to whack the hornet’s nest and stir the pot regardless of the topic, usually in 500 words or less.  Sarcasm, it’s a true talent for some of us, and unfortunately not something that can be taught.

To Potter or not to Potter that is the question.  I will take it into consideration if someone can prove that it does indeed have dragons in it. Or, are the Potterites actually Borg in disguise, sort of pod-potters and I will be assimilated?  Maybe it’s a bacterial infection on subcellular level of tiny nanoborgs that are implanted during nano month, screaming through the veins that resistance is futile!  Attack of the podBorg zombies, quick throw the Twinkies!!!  Run for the hills – no wait, those have eyes.  Kittencalendar, kittencalendar, kittencalendar, kittencalendar. Shh, shh, shh. . . ok, what were you saying?

Maybe I’ve had too much coffee and all my sci-fi storage units are cross-contaminated!  System overload reaching critical mass, self destruct will begin in thirty seconds!  (halon alarm sounding)

Um, I think I better get the Twinkies and maybe some sleep.  If the NanoBorg haven’t overtaken you by Monday, I’ll see you then!

Harry Potter VS Dragons

While much of the world was obsessed with Harry Potter, I didn’t read any of them.  Shocking I know and I may lose some of my followers with that admission.  I’m not opposed to reading them, it’s just that during the time that Harry Potter books were on the new release lists, I was thoroughly engrossed in a couple of other series.

Karen Marie Moning’s Fever Series was in full swing, and well what can I say.  Barrons is the bomb! http://www.karenmoning.com/kmm/novels/fever-series.html  They should be read in order to make the most sense.  Here’s a quick blurb from the author’s page:

MacKayla  Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car  that breaks down only every other week or so. In other  words, she’s  your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman.

Or so she   thinks… until something extraordinary happens.

When her  sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her  death–a cryptic  message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in  search of  answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a  shadowy  realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same   treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater  challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she  had no idea she  possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the  world of man, into the dangerous  realm of the Fae…

This is a dark, edgy urban fantasy that has some elements of paranormal romance.  I’ve read Karen’s other series, the Highlander series and I strongly recommend them to any romance readers.  We all have our favorites and Karen is one of mine.

During this same time, Christopher Paolini’s books came out.  I bought one of the self published editions of Eragon, and pre-ordered the rest when they were released.  I don’t know how many of you have read these books but they are substantial books, close to 500 pages each.

So while I was living vicariously through Mackayla Lane in Dublin, Ireland and enjoying the fantasy realm of Alagaesia with Sapphira and Eragon, most of my friends were gaga over Harry Potter.  I couldn’t discuss things with them because I hadn’t read it.  They weren’t interested in reading my stuff either, except my one faithful writer buddy Bethany!!!  Love that girl!

Bethany and I share a passion for The Fever series.  I pre-ordered us both a copy of Shadowfever when it was first released, only to find out that her mom had already gotten her a copy.  We never gave the spoilers away, but when we finished a book we were in deep discussion about  anything and everything that happened in the book.

I have several online writing friends, and many were taken aback to find out that I had not read Harry Potter. I’ll get around to it eventually. I find it ironic though that the HP obsession is so pervasive.  How many have read any of the classics?  Shakespeare anyone?   Fyodor Dostoyevsky anyone?  Can you even name one of the books written by him?  What about some Jane Austen? How about reading some Hemingway?  No, these aren’t currently popular, but each has its merits.

Many times authors give the advice to read, and write a little every day.  I’m not downing anything that someone else is reading.  Not everyone is going to like the same things.  I don’t read westerns, but Louis L’Amour has written many great books.  My tastes in reading materials aren’t any better than Joe Schmoe’s, just different.

There are so many books to read and only a certain amount of time that I can allot for reading.  When it came to choosing between Sapphira and Harry Potter, sorry but a dragon trumps a wizard any day in my book!

Speaking of my book, I don’t have a wizard in my story.  I have a mage.  In my world, the blood line of the mages are revered on nearly a god-like level.  My mage is very old, nearly 2300 years old, but then again the dragons are several hundred years old as well.  He’s rather lackadaisical, yet brilliant.  He’s the most powerful mage since his father died at 5600, from a rock slide.   The story is about dragons, legends, and of course the mage is an intricate component on every level of the story.  I think some of his quirks are quite funny, but humor is hard to convey in written form.

I put myself into this story, literally.  One of the characters is me, not in name but it’s essentially me.  Alfred Hitchcock always did it and I thought it would be fun.  I’m having a blast with it, I just hope my readers will  find it as entertaining.

Oh, and did I mention that it is set in Scotland?  Where else would my story be?

What do you think would trump a dragon?  Maybe I’ll write that into the second book.  Write on my friends, write on!