Harry Potter: Ramblings

Just finished the last Harry Potter book. Very well done. Fabulous. Bittersweet sad to be at the end of a story you’ve loved for years.

I finished it in about 24 hours (including the minor distractions of work and sleep), but before I got my hands on it, I had some time to think about it. I already knew it was a success; other Potter fan friends had told me so.

As I waited my turn for our family copy (and finished a story I had due), I got to thinking about JK Rowling. As a fairly new writer I feel pressure to write well, to make every story and every book a bit better than the last one, to reach upwards so I don’t lose this career that means so much to me. To reward the people who have beleived in me and helped me get this far. I often find it quite a lot of pressure, even though I know a lot of writers who have the same internal demons with even stronger voices. Worse, I don’t always succeed. It’s impossible for every story to be better than the last, every character clearer, every setting more vivid. Or even for every story to have fewer clunky lines. :)

But how much pressure must JK Rowling have have been under? How hard was it to belive in yourself enough to make every book better? How scary was finishing the last book, ending the story, and knowing that the end of the whole tale would form the final opinion of hundreds of thousands of readers? How the hell did she do it?

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Books

Reading the Wind by Brenda Cooper

Reading the Wind cover image

Audio promo:

"Brenda Cooper's newest novel is a feast of character and concept. She depicts the devastation of war on microcosmic and macrocosmic levels, and even more so, the driving motives of young men and women caught in deadly conflict. Cooper is a master explorer of the interaction of society and individuals. She probes the psychology of her genetically enhanced characters with both rare depth and fidelity to scientific plausibility. Moral conundrums drive the plot in this unforgettable narrative. Don't miss this compelling work by a major new talent." - Mary A. Turzillo, An Old-Fashioned Martian Girl.

"Brenda Cooper tells a tale of a powerful brother and sister in a fight for their lives, offering insights along the way into the nature of courage and the hunger for community that burns in every human being. This is a lively book, full of colorful images and a memorable cast of human and animal characters, a worthy successor to The Silver Ship and the Sea." - Louise Marley

Available in July, 2008, from Tor Books.

The Silver Ship and the Sea by Brenda Cooper

Silver Ship and the Sea cover image

Audio promo:

"The first solo novel by Larry Niven's Building Harlequin's Moon (2005) coauthor portrays the thoroughly convincing human colonial society on Fremont, a dangerous planet rife with vicious predators, frequent earthquakes, and falling meteors....Distinctive characterizations, well-limned interrelationships, and the vividly realized Fremont contribute to an exciting coming-of-age story with a strong message about the evils of prejudice." - Sally Estes, Copyright American Library Association.

Mass Market Paperback, July 2008.
Included by Booklist as a "Best Adult Book for Young Adults."

Building Harlequin's Moon by Brenda Cooper and Larry Niven

Building Harlequin's Moon cover image

"Fans of both hard and softer, psychological SF will welcome veteran Niven and newcome Cooper's well-written tale of a 60,000 year layover in space, in which physical challenges of world building are matched by the social challenges of collaboration among disparate groups." - Publisher's Weekly

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