Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows Part I

Alright all you Muggles, aka Harry Potter fans, the movie Deathly Hallows Part I was just released as of midnight, this Friday.

Who of you out there went to see it at midnight, or are going to later?

I usually wait until all the crazy hyped-up Harry Potter fans have gotten their fill, and then I go, and there's about 5 people in the whole place. I like seeing films when I'm nearly the only one there. Sort of spooky too, but I love to be scared in a huge movie theater.

Here are some facts I've dug up for you. The Harry Potter series is the highest -grossing film franchise of all time with 5 of 6 films in the top 25 films of all time, as far as the box office grosses. We're talking a projected $60 million for this Friday's opening day alone, and then the 3-day debut weekend could be in the range of $130 million plus. I dare to think what it will rake in after it's all said and done.

I'm going to just step out of the reporter's mode, here and get my writer's/fan cap on for the remainder of this post.

I recall when the first movie came out, I admit, I was totally clueless why people were clamoring to watch the film and stand in lines to buy the books—not only children, which the book and film were aimed for, but adults.

Then, curious, my husband bought the first book. Now, my husband is not a reader of fiction. He likes articles and real stories (however, he read my first fantasy book cover to cover and loved it). So, since he was “lost” in what was going on in the first Harry Potter book, I picked it up and began to read. And I really could not put the thing down. I don't remember how many times I read the first book, and the rest of them, over and over, but I fell in love with Harry Potter, his friends, and his world of magic from that moment on. I became a Harry Potter/J.K. Rowling fan. For life.

From that point on I knew that what I wanted to write was fantasy. Fantasy was easy for me, because I love magical things, I love mystical things, I love to make things up out of my head and because I could put vampires, witches, werewolves, ghosts—anything really—into the mix, I knew that was what I was going to write about from that point on, after having tried nearly everything in between.

When you know that something works, that it feels right, that's when you just do it. Rowling had no idea what she'd done when she began writing about little Harry Potter and his world. She really had no idea that this book—and her series—would become so huge. The world was Harry's to take and by golly, he took it. Now you can go to Harry Potter World down in Florida, if you need a real fix, after all the movies are done.

And that's the way of it, really, in the world of writing a novel. We, as writers, never know that perhaps some day something of ours might hit the big time.

Although I don't see how any writer could ever beat Harry Potter, either in book sales or in movie sales, and I recall that when the first movie came out they were comparing it to The Wizard of Oz. I said, “No. Harry Potter will be bigger. Much bigger.” It became a classic within the life-time of its creator. That's hard to beat.

Oh, and by the way, there is a Madam Rosmertas Cook Book with all the things that Harry Potter and company enjoy, like butterbeer sorbet and caldon cakes, if you want to see any of this and other muggle stuff here's the link.