J.K. Rowling & Lisa Yee, Together Again for the First Time
Harry Potter is huge in our house. HUGE. Routinely, we've braved the midnight lines to snare copies of the books . . .


The sight of J.K. Rowling in the United States is as rare as a husband asking for directions, and both last took place in the year 2000. However, recently it was announced that Scholastic would sponsor a J.K. Rowling Open Book Tour. The New York audience would be made up of contest winners. New Orleans and Los Angeles would be school children selected this way.

When I heard that J.K. Rowling was coming to Los Angeles, I thought OMG!OMG!IHAVETOGO!IHAVETOGO!OMG!!! I mean, J.K. Rowling and I are like best friends, sort of. Well, we did hang out together, kind of, a little, almost. If you don't believe me, it's even been semi-documented here.

So, there is a certain bond between the two of us. After all, we are both authors, and . . .
1. We are both moms.
2. We are both richer than the Queen of England.
3. We were both discovered by the same marveloooous editor, Arthur Levine.
4. We are both interviewed by Inkygirl -- click here.
(Two of the above are not true, although one of us probably doesn't need overdraft protection and the other one of us is on Inkygirl's blog.)

Via begging, threats and bribes, I managed to snag an invite for myself and one family member. EEEeeeeeeEEeeeeEEEeeeek!!!! Eeeek! Eek! Erp.

(Above: Oops. To read ticket, simply hold your computer up in front of the bathroom mirror.)

The Sorting Hat selected Son to go . . .


We were arrived EARLY so as not to be late. (This was quite a feat since I got home from NYC to LA at 2 a.m.) Alas, once at the Kodak Theater we went to the wrong place. However, when we peered through the locked doors (they were made of glass) we witnessed J.K. Rowling's press conference. (Eek!) Then it was to the theater for us. We were THE FIRST people they let it and we had the place to ourselves for a bit. Then the school kids started filling the auditorium. 1,600 of them.

Once everyone settled down, there was a short film about Harry Potter Mania before J.K. Rowling strode onto the stage. On cue, the crowd leapt to their feet and went WILD. I wanted to cry. Hundreds of kids cheering, screaming, weeping . . . for an author. How cool is that?

Jo (as I am sure she would want me to call her) sat in a golden throne upholstered in red velvet (note to self: get throne for office) and read from BOOK SEVEN. It was wonderful hearing her interpretation of the voices, her cadence, her words. Soon it was time for questions from the audience. I wish I had taken notes, but I was too enthralled to move. Also, no photos were allowed in the theater, so I will have to draw from memory . . .


The questions were brilliant and so were her responses. Things that I can sorta recall because of my memory-loss-and-jet-lag-situation in no particular order -- She would rather write seven more Harry Potter books than be Queen. English teachers are wonderful. Lupin and Tonks were the hardest deaths for her. She didn't kill people off for the fun of it. Jo has to love a book/concept before writing it. She would like to slap Snape.

After her talk, it was time for autographs. Son got permission to get in line and brought his own book, the one he had Arthur Levine sign last summer. When it was his turn, Jo paused when she saw Arthur's inscription and then spoke to Son. Eeeek!!!

Afterward, I put Arthur in my fabulous sports car and we headed to lunch. Well, okay, we headed in the wrong direction, got lost, then headed to lunch . . .


. . . and Son headed back to school where he was heralded as a hero.

Later that day, being tired and jet lagged from this, I decided to take a nap. The TV was on and I heard a promo about a news segment on Jo's LA visit. I leapt up to tape it and who should I see? J.K. Rowling and SON-- together . . .





What a magical, marvelous day.


(Above: Here's a clip from British TV.)