Channeling J.K. Rowling

My first awareness that J.K. Rowling and I were sharing a brain came in early 2006 when one of my Other Prince readers pointed out that Orion (Sirius’ dad) and Cygnus (the Black sisters’ dad) were not brothers, but cousins according to the Black family tree. I frowned and followed the link to the newly released tree, then proceeded to point out I’d named BOTH characters the RIGHT name before the tree was released. Who could have predicted Jo would have Orion marry his first cousin (eww…) who was Cygnus’ sister. Now granted, all the Blacks have star names, and there are only so many star names that make good people names, but I named two important ones the right thing… made me feel pretty darned omnipotent!




And then I wrote a (WACKY) version of book 7 called Best Laid Plans (sometimes go awry) that oddly enough had dozens of accurate predictions. Jo actually wrote in nudity and cross dressing, SURELY in honor of me. Here’s the list:

http://www.hpana.com/forums/topic_view.cfm?tid=66406&p=63#p6529620

if anyone is curious…

What I would love to be able to channel though, what I admire most about the Harry Potter books, is that there is a different story for every kind of reader, all nestled in and not interfering with each other. There is the fantastical, magical world, complete with vocabulary for us word-geeks. There is the classic, good versus evil story (with believably flawed heroes). There is the coming of age love story. There is the search for one’s identity. There is the layered ‘can’t always trust the people in charge’ message. There is the masterful use of foreshadowing and mythology that gave thousands of people clues not even in the books as to what might happen next—a search through Veela folklore predicted disaster at Bill and Fleur's wedding, and Jo delivered. Complex characters (who could have predicted Narcissa helping Harry? erm... besides me, of course...), madness, mayhem: it’s all there.

My goal is to write something that complex, yet so simply understandable and followable. So Jo, if you’re paying attention… maybe now would be a good time to channel yourself through me again.


Anyone interested in my Potterverse exploration can find all my links here:

http://www.hpana.com/forums/topic_view.cfm?tid=84843