End of An Era

                                                                    by Trina Boice
                                                               http://www.trinaboice.com/


I was out of town last weekend when Harry Potter opened in theaters, but I'm VERY excited to finally see the final installment of the wizardry masterpiece tonight!  It's been a thrill to watch the characters and even the actors grow up right before our eyes. I'm a little hesitant, however.  Will it live up to my expectations?  Will I feel a satisfying closure or be left wanting?  Have you seen it yet?  What did you think?  Who will be the next J.K Rowling of our day?

A dear friend of mine, whose first book will hit stores soon, shared his thoughts with me.  His name is Steve Booth.   http://www.stevenmbooth.com/   He has the talent to be an inspiring author and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everyone loves him as much as I do.  He told me "It’s hard to over-estimate the impact of Harry Potter, both the book and the incredibly successful films. I personally believe that J.K. Rowling single-handedly redefined the meaning of the Young Adult Fiction universe. She was one of my initial inspirations in becoming an author, and several of her characters were the genesis for players in my book, Dark Talisman."


He felt the same anxious excitement about watching the final movie and said "It was, therefore, with a good deal of trepidation that I attended the final episode of the film series in my local IMAX theater last night. I was not disappointed. Although I felt the ending lacked a certain definity, I left the theater with a feeling of both closure and completeness. Frankly, I wish that the quality of production and depth of acting in this, the final installment in the series, had been more evident in previous offerings, but I found it a highly enjoyable excursion, nonetheless."

So, we are left with the obvious question – now what? What new adventures are on the horizon? Where is the next, Great New Author.  I hope that someone will step into the fray, for I think, given the state of the world, that we all desperately need another Harry to walk with us through the difficult times ahead; to make us believe, if for only a short time, that magic could possibly exist in the world; that there is something wonderful around the next corner, or between the train platforms.

Trust Me, Trust Me ... by Cindy Beck

(An expounded article, with the original version posted at the LDS Writers Blogck in 2006.)


(Photo by Ryan Franklin, Wikimedia Commons)


It’s only fair to warn you—since I usually write fluff and stuff—that this blog is serious. Why am I warning you? Because it’s a matter of trust.

At an online group to which I belong, emails flew back and forth a few years ago about a well-known LDS writer who often changed his morals from one book to the next. Some people stated they refused to read his books because of it.

It got me thinking. Do we owe anything to readers in terms of keeping their trust?

I know that as a reader nothing turns me off faster than an author I can't trust. Not that an author can't change and grow, but a vast, sudden departure without warning, from what I perceive as the norm for that author, is a betrayal.

When Harry Potter first came out, I was enthralled, excited, and eagerly looking forward to each new book. And then, after I’d finished reading almost all of the books in the series, the public announcement was made that Professor Dumbledore, one of the important characters in the Harry Potter series, was supposedly gay.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a gay basher. On the other hand, homosexuality is not a lifestyle I would engage in or that I want my children taught as an alternate lifestyle in elementary school, either. But, I do believe in the right for all adults to utilize their free agency and pick the lifestyles of their choosing.

There was no hint by J. K. Rowling that Dumbledore’s sexual preference was an alternate lifestyle. And in books that were geared toward children, there should have been some warning, so parents could decide if they wanted their children reading the books.

It’s my personal opinion that Rowling sold out to Hollywood; that when the books were written, Dumbledore’s character was not gay. I believe that over time, though, with pressure from the movie industry—a mogul which consistently caters to the gay and lesbian community—Rowling agreed to label the professor as such.

I have no proof of that except for my own intuition. I've read articles, however, stating that even some members of the gay community felt anger at the announcement and believed it was staged for Hollywood’s purposes.

It so incensed me that Rowling would deceive her readers in that way, that I vowed never to read another one of her books. The fact that I'm still thinking about the issue two years later shows just how deep Rowling plunged the knife of betrayal.

Be that as it may, let's put Rowling aside for a second in order to ponder a question that arises. If as writers we have a certain trust we're obligated to maintain, how do we branch out into new, soul-stretching areas without betraying that trust? If we normally write light, fun stuff, and we have a sinister plot in our heads, are we never allowed to move over to the dark side?

No one wants to be cast into a mold, crammed into a style we’ve outgrown, writing the same old stuff until our life is over and we’re just a dusty memory on a library shelf. However, whether we want it or not we have an obligation of trust toward our readers. If we want to branch out, we can use a pseudonym, give warning in a foreword, or announce it on the jacket cover. For the rich and famous, there’s always the avenue of talk shows and radio promotions.

As for Rowling, she could have used any of those alternatives. The most easy would have been simply to warn us in advance and to make Professor Dumbledore’s actions consistent with his lifestyle. If homosexuality was a character paradox for the erstwhile Professor, (see Marcia Mickelson’s entry on character paradoxes) Rowling should have at least given us a clue.

As for me, I flit back and forth on choosing a pen name, trying to figure out which pseudonym to use for my humorous writings and which to use for my serious writings. But, no one can say I’m not trying. One of these days I’ll get it figured out, and I'd like to think that if/when I become a famous author, I won't sell out to Hollywood with one of my characters.

In the meantime, those are my feelings, and it can’t be said I didn’t give fair warning about them. Seriousness isn’t really in my nature, though, and I’ve about run of philosophical thoughts for the moment. Besides, I hear an oatmeal brownie with chocolate frosting calling to me … and I must heed its clarion call!