My Three Songs: 07/13/11

1. Dio - Last in Line
2. Alice Cooper - School's Out
3. Heart - Magic Man

Theme: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2). The final installment in the Potter film series has Harry picking out a Wizard college and getting his diploma. Or some giant wizard war or something. I'm not sure.

Hillarious Harry Potter Trailer

For you Harry Potter fans out there, you have got to watch this!

Banned Books Week

Everyone and their grandma have been blogging about banned books lately because of the Banned Books Week. I wasn't going to take part in this, because I didn't have time, but then I looked at the list of banned books and my eyes nearly popped out! Instead of doing a review of the books I've read, I'm going to gush my amazement and bewilderment of why these books were banned in the first place! A lot of those are books about changes in the body when growing up. What kid couldn't use this information from a book? We had education on this at school, but I'm sure that not all kids get that very embarrassing privilege (I still remember all the blushing and giggling), and some kids might want to sneak into a library and secretively read more about those changes. 

Harry Potter! Come on! I do remember that JK Rowlings books were banned amongst Catholics some years ago. I remember how silly I thought it was. I don't know if others banned the books as well, but I think it's just mean to keep kids away from my favourite series of all time! It's not like people can go to London and find a secret passage to Diagon Alley! It's fiction!

The Earth's Children series!? Honestly? What was offensive in those books? I read them as a teen and I loved them. I seriously can't imagine what made those book be banned. Was it the interspecies mating? The Neanderthals? They existed, you know.

Lord of the Flies? What on earth could have made people want to ban that book? I read it in High School and it was one of the few books that I actually loved. Was it the development from kids being lost on an island to kids building a hierarchy and becoming violent? I'm guessing it's because of Piggy's death, but it's an excellent story of how a society can go wrong.

The Color Purple? I read that as a teen as well. I loved it. I suppose that Uncle Tom's Cabin must have been banned as well in its time. Ignorance. That's what it is. Thi book is amazing.

Harry Potter Deathly Hollows Movie Trailer

We are so excited for the first movie of the last Harry Potter book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It will be one of the biggest movies this year and definitely one of the most highly anticipated from Potter Fans around the world. What does that mean for us at Extreme Halloween? We're stocking up on Harry Potter Halloween costumes not only for Halloween, but for fans to wear to the movie premieres November 19, 2010.

Writing a Synopsis is Fun!

I have finished sending out all the queries that didn't require a synopsis. I had already written a synopsis, but I didn't think it was good enough. I spent yesterday afternoon writing a very detailed 2,400 worded synopsis -- which is way too much (should be around 1,000 for a two-page synopsis, and 500 for a one page synopsis). One agent requested detailed synopsis and I'll send this one to her. Then I'll print it out again and hack and slice until I have 1,000 and then 500 words for the others. There are 14 agents on the synopsis list and I'll query them next week.

I still haven't made a list of the snail-mail ones. The reason is that I live in Iceland and I haven't been to the post office yet to see about SASE's or IRC's (Internation Reply Coupon). Most snail-mail agents request SASE, but some mention that if you live outside the USA, you might need an IRC. There are two agents in particular that I want to query via snail-mail, so I have to get going on this.

I also haven't made a list of the one-agent agencies (excluding a couple whose blogs I'm following). My three-year-old twins are taking their kindergarten vacation next Monday and will won't be back there until a month from now. That means that I'll have less time to query and write. It also means that I've been pressed for time this week to try to do as much as I can before next Monday, and making the one-agent list was one of the things I haven't had time for. Again, this doesn't mean that I don't want to work with them, it just means that I haven't had the time (I have them bookmarked). Apart from two snail-mail agents, I'll probably do the one-agent agencies first.

I know that many writers bite their nails when it comes to synopsis writing, but I enjoy it. It is all thanks to Randy Ingermanson and Peter Economy, who wrote Writing Fiction for Dummies. How new a writer must I have been to have bought a Dummies book to write? I had actually written the manuscript before I bought it (along with other books), but this one was my best-buy. Their very simple advice on how to write a synopsis has helped me a great deal and makes writing it fun. I also feel that now that I have written the synopsis twice, I know my book better and I didn't have to look at the manuscript once to write the very detailed synopsis yesterday.

Randy and Peter's synopsis is made from the three-act structure one does when following the book. I seriously recommend this book if you're having trouble writing a synopsis.

I think that one other reason I think writing a synopsis is fun is because I'm a rule-girl. By that, I mean that I'm good at writing instructions and have a good eye for details. This is one of the things I have to do at my job, writing rules, guidelines and such. I also used to run a Harry Potteresque website and wrote all the rules and instructions there + I used to lead a guild in World of Warcraft (hey, I'm a geek and proud of it!) and wrote the rules and instructions on our website. So I have experience in writing sort of guide-like texts.

In other news:

I got one more rejection yesterday and one "we don't represent fantasy anymore". Still no tears. These rejection are mostly from big agencies and I sort of expected them. There are still a few big agencies who haven't answered, but I know that not all of them will answer. Might I mention that I think it's rude when agencies don't send form rejection letters to all they're not interested in? Writers spend months waiting and hoping and here the agent has deleted the query weeks ago without a word. How hard is it to reply with a standard text? I'm sure it's no harder than getting follow-up emails and re-queries, having to read through those and delete-again.

I highly respect those who reply to their emails (even if they're form rejections). I sort of think that the ones who don't reply to all queries sound kind of way up there and we are way down there.

Harry Potter Costumes & Accessories Video Feature

In celebration of the new Harry Potter's Wizarding World opening at Universal Orlando, we are featuring some of the most popular costumes and accessories. These are official Harry Potter licensed merchandise.

Enjoy!

Harry Potter Costumes Among Favorites Again This Halloween

The Harry Potter francise has seen 7 best selling books come out and this summer the 6th movie was released. The Harry Potter Halloween costumes are more popular than ever for 2009!


The books and movie are so popular and so widely known that most anyone you speak to will know the wizarding terms created in the book by the great J.K. Rowling. Several years ago, we didn't know what a "muggle" was, what "the dark arts" are, or how to play a game of Quidditch.

From Wikipedia about the Harry Potter Book series:

"Since the 1997 release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide. As of June 2008, the book series has sold more than 450 million copies and has been translated into 67 languages, and the last four books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history."


From Wikipedia about the Harry Potter Movie series:


"The Harry Potter films are a fantasy series based on the seven Harry Potter novels by British writer J. K. Rowling, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson.
The Harry Potter film franchise is the highest grossing film series of all time when not adjusted for inflation, with over $5 billion in worldwide receipts. The series consists to date (2009) of six motion pictures, all of which are among the worldwide top twenty five highest unadjusted grossing individual films of all time. The latest instalment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was released in cinemas worldwide on 15 July 2009. Warner Brothers is currently producing the remaining novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which will be split into two films: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is due out on 19 November 2010 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is due out on 15 July 2011."


The Harry Potter Costumes and Accessories are available for both children and adults. Amazingly, the series has enamored people of all ages and is responsible for a reading renaissance and sparking the imagination of so many other fantasy related books and movies.


AnniesCostumes.com is proud to carry Official Harry Potter costumes, Harry Potter Costume Accessories and even a movie prop of Dobby, the beloved House Elf!



Harry Potter Gryffindor Robe
Costume Tip: The Gryffindor Robe can be used for any of the Gryffindor characters. You don't have to be Harry, you can be Hermoine, Ron or any of your favorites!




Harry Potter Child Size Dementor Costume






Hagrid Latex Mask with Hair




The Hogwarts School Sorting Hat from Harry Potter.



Adult Size Voldemort Halloween Costume

Harry Potter Box Office Magic

The movie 'Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix" is breaking box office records around the world! J.K. Rowling's boy wizard has surely cast a spell on movie goers everywhere. According to the BoxOfficeMojo.com website, 55% of movie goers this weekend saw Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix"

Here are some more magical stats and records for you:

MSNBC.com reports: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" took in $44.8 million in its first day, the best single-day gross ever for a movie on a Wednesday.
That included $12 million from screenings that started at midnight Tuesday!

USAToday.com reports: Box office for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix since Wednesday's opening: $140 million.

Reuters in the UK reports: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth film about the boy wizard, set a new British box office opening record over the weekend, taking 16.4 million pounds, Screen International said on Tuesday. Including Thursday previews, it was the highest-ever four-day weekend take in UK history. Taken over just Friday to Sunday it took 13.0 million, a figure which has only ever been beaten by one other film -- its predecessor "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," in November 2005.

BoxOfficeMojo.com reports current box office totals as of July 15, 2007:
Domestic: $139,715,157 42.0%
+ Foreign: $193,000,000 58.0%
= Worldwide: $332,715,157

DOMESTIC SUMMARY For The Order of the Phoenix:
Opening Weekend: $77,108,414
4,285 theaters, $17,994 average

More Harry Potter News by the Numbers-

The First 4 Movies:

$1.175 billion total U.S. box office for the first four films since 2001.

Books:
121.5 million in print in the USA for first six books. First printing for seventh and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: 12 million.

And according to the Motley Fool website, As of July16, 2007, Amazon.com alone has received over 1.3 million pre-orders for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The company guarantees release-date delivery to anyone who orders by noon on July 17th, so expect that number -- updated hourly on its Muggle Counter -- to keep inching higher. Globally, Amazon has received more than 2.1 million pre-orders.

Merchandise:
$18.8 million spent in USA on cookies, candy, gum since June 2002. Dozens of products available, including bookmarks ($3.49), Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans ($3.99), Harry Potter action figures ($12.99), Harry Potter's wand ($5.95), the Sorting Hat ($39.99), and Harry Potter Costumes (starting at $19.95).

Harry Potter theme park:
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be built on 20 acres within Universal Orlando Resort's Islands of Adventure theme park. Opens in late 2009.

It is so easy to get lost in the world of Harry Potter, it is fascinating, mystical, magical, captivating and one of the best written stories I have ever read.

Harry Potter Fever!

Are you ready? Can you feel it?

With the Harry Potter Movie coming out next month (July 11, 2007) and the final installment of the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling being released on July 21, 2007, the fever is high and the anticipation is thick. So much is in the news about Harry Potter, the boy wizard. Never before has a simultaneous movie and book release caused so much pop culture hub bub. Kudos to J.K. Rowling, one of the most creative authors in the universe and one of the luckiest women in the world. Like Harry Potter, she has her own rags to riches story herself, which is amazing. Her creativity and writing talent has transformed her from a struggling single mom to one of the richest women in England. Not bad for a muggle, eh?

You can get in on all the wizarding action by dressing up in costume. AnniesCostumes.com has Harry Potter costumes and Gryffindor robes so that you can also dress as Hermoine Granger, Ron Weasley or your favorite Hogwarts student!