Monday, July 23, 2007

Friends, I Have Lost A Day...

Harry does that. He sucks the outside world into a black hole, one where children sit glasses of water by my side and order in pizza unnoticed. They know interrupting me is futile, and the hospital really is only six blocks away. I cannot finish these books in less than one sitting. I cannot walk away.

Yes, well, perhaps that is extreme, but then so is the end of the Potter series. It is a BIG DEAL, because we choose to make it so. Harry and the rest of the motley crew have a special place in our hearts and on our bookshelves. My mothers keeps a set of pristine, untouched copies, along with her assorted H.P. collectables . Our books have creased spines and smudged pages; our truck CD player brings his world to life.

He's not the only thing we read; far from it, but he is special, as millions of fans around the world know, and deserves a bit of my undivided attention, here at the end.

Thank goodness for series. I want the characters I love to continue their journey through my life. Thank heavens for Amelia Peabody, Mary Russell, Stephanie Plum, Anita Blake.

And thank heavens for well-written fan fiction, in which my favorite characters (Snape!) lead the lives they deserve.

Who do you want to live forever? Which character(s) do you wish had their own set of never-ending stories? And how to you feel about writing a series?

4 comments:

Kelly Krysten said...

Writing a series is,imo,great. Because you can thread plots through several books and have a grand ole time with that. Also I love reading series' more than anything else. I don't like being left to wonder what ever happened to so-and-so.
Character's I want to live forever? I'll go with Elizabeth and Darcy. I always wondered how they would actually interact on a daily basis.

Gillian Layne said...

I love the thought of writing a series, but boy, I also really see the difficulties, especially if you're going to plant details that need to carry through. You would need to have them all planned out by the end of the first. Maybe someday I'll be that good, for now it's one at a time :)

Kelly Krysten said...

Hey, I think writing one single book is harder, so my hat's off to you Gil! Seriously I think it has nothing to do with talent, some writers just think in the REEEEAAALLLYYY long term and others don't. I've just yet to meet a character where I haven't known instantly who their perfect mate was-or at least wonder, I should say, since in my current WIP I can't think of anyone good enough for my favorite supporting character.lol.

Ashley said...

Oh, well I would definitely want Rhett and Scarlett to go on forever. My favorite series was Rosemary Rogers Steve and Ginny series- I never wanted it to end!! I don't see myself as a series writer, which is funny, cuz most every book I read I wonder what happens next.

Ash