Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Inspiration

I've never read the Harry Potter books. I blame partial brain washing from the church I attended (they told me it was demonic...), and various other excuses...but beyond that, I've never had an urge to. But something about LeakyCon started putting a want in me. (That, and I've been seeing it pop up more and more in thrift stores which means it's super cheap!)

Anyways, long windedness aside, I'm a young writing. I'm an unagented, and for the most part, unpublished author. It's hard writing countless queries, seeing millions of rejections, and having the constant feeling of "Why am I even doing this?"

And then I drove 12 hours, (broke down in GA twice to an overheated car that was low on oil because a jerk left my oil cap off). I sat through numerous panels at LeakyCon's Lit Day until I saw Arthur Levine's keynote. Originally, I wasn't going to go because as I said, I never read Harry Potter. Huray! He edited the book! Yea...I really didn't care. But something brought me into those rooms (even though my badge was wrong and I again had to argue with the people at the door. Ugh). 

Mr. Levine spoke about a woman named Jo (JK Rowling) who was on government assistance (and I thought about my food-stamps card in my car), a single mother, a woman who had a book about a boy who didn't belong. A boy who was treated like shit and lived under the stairs. The more I listened, the more I finally started to appreciate the character, the woman, the struggle that we all go through. (Plus, he used a lot of food references, so that helped, too). It gave me goosebumps, and though JK blew up and went on to make millions (and no longer need assistance), I too believe in my characters. If I am ever able to write something that affects so many people in such a great way I will die a happy, happy girl. I really don't care if I made millions (it'd be nice, but not necessary). I really just want my writing to affect people (in a good way).

Moral of the story is, though that keynote, I found some more inspiration to keep trucking on, to keep querying, keep writing, and in the end, maybe someday read the Harry Potter books.

1 comment:

  1. I hope you read Harry Potter and enjoy them for their charm and story-telling and try to look beyond the hype, especially surrounding the movies! I read the first one when I was in 5th grade and have literally read it over 20 times (I lost count at 22). J.K. Rowling is an incredible woman with an incredible imagination. Those books got me through a lot when I was growing up.

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