Thursday, July 16, 2009

J.K. Rowling - even more of an inspiration to me now

I laughed, I cried, I shook my head in awe tonight as I watched the abc special about J.K. Rowling. I found it to be incredible more as an aspiring writer than a Harry Pottter fan because it was pretty much all about her life as opposed the books themselves. But oh did I love it!

I seriously hope that all of you writers out there that didn't get to see it, find a way to watch it. Click here for a link to a youtube video of the beginning of the show. I'm pretty sure once you see this you'll go find the rest. You can also go to abc.com to watch it free.

Personally I found her story struck a cord with me for a lot of reasons but one major one is the whole single mom wanting to write a book thing. I never suffered from depression or had such a rough time getting by, but I certainly know what it's like to be at a crossroads in your life and especially the need to write! Ohh I have so much happening in my head that I think I need to keep this post short while I go digest it all.

They showed a clip of the night the last HP book came out, with the that big event they had at a museum where 1700 fans were invited from a drawing of 90,000 and got to have J.K. read the beginning of the book at the stroke of midnight. There were kids and adults of all ages sitting in the audience, each and every one of their faces whether they were decked out in Harry Potter gear or not, glowed with anticipation and joy. They flashed from that to clips of major cities all over the globe as they gave out the first copies of the book. Then Finally showed J.K. sitting a table where she signed all 1700 copies of the books to the lucky fans at the event from 1am to 7am. Wow, talk about dedication. (on both sides!)

Sitting there watching that really did bring tears to my eyes. The power of her story is beyond words. I didn't sit there thinking oh I hope I get that famous so I can have billions of dollars and paparazzi chasing me. No! I want to create something that makes people jump up and down in excitement just to hold the book in their hands. Like I've said before, writing a book like that is a gift to the world. Some of my best memories involve reading books so that is a major part of my motivation to write. I doubt I'll ever hold a room breathless as they hang on my every word waiting to hear what happens in a story I've written. But that's okay because as long as I get to keep reading books like that and at least see my books in publication I'll be happy.

I have a whole new appreciation for J.K. Rowling both as an author and a human being. Hmm, maybe I need to trade in my t-shirt that says HP for one that says JK. It's about time we show some author love too.

5 comments:

Sarah said...

Agreed! She is one amazing woman.

MeganRebekah said...

I just posted the other day that she is the one author I would choose to have lunch with and pick her brain.
I caught the beginning of the special last night, but was busy and set it to record on my tivo. I'll be watching it this weekend.

Bianca said...

Totally agree! Thanks for mentioning it so often! Since I don't live in the states, i never heard of it before, would have been a pity to not have seen it!

lisa and laura said...

I can't believe I missed it! I'll definitely watch it on my fancy new laptop next week. Can't wait.

XiXi said...

I will definitely go watch it!

She is undisputably the most successful author of all time. Her rags to riches story is unbelievable.

And her writing ain't half bad either. :-P