Hard as it may be to believe, Laura H., a serious reader in California who has enjoyed my books, is a finalist in the “Win a chance to Read Tales of Beedle the Bard Yourself Contest” sponsored by Amazon.com. She’s already won the ’18 and Over’ contest.
Your vote could put her over the top! Vote today and canvas your friends! I’ve asked her to introduce herself below. Here’s hoping she wins — and that she’ll share her impressions with us when she gets back from her trip to Beedle-ville.
Oh my….I voted, but honestly….both are great contenders! Here’s hoping for a tie and that we have a dual reading :-0
pj, looking on the brighter side of massive storm systems in the Midwest
Hey, everyone, I’m Laurie (Laura H.), one of the finalists in Amazon’s Beedle the Bard contest. I’m a huge fan of children’s literature, and especially of the Harry Potter books. As a Christian, I was concerned about the books before I read them. I’m so glad I listened to the friends whose opinions I trusted, and actually read them myself. Harry Potter has brought me so much joy! So many of the values and themes in the books resonate strongly with me as a Christian. I hope a little of what I feel came across in my poem.
I am so excited at the prospect of potentially winning this contest that I can hardly sleep or sit still or get anything productive done at all. 🙂 I can’t believe I might actually get to read the last little bit of Harry Potter that I haven’t had a chance to read yet! I want to thank anyone who has voted or who might vote for me. If by some miracle I should win, I promise to relate the experience as best I can to anyone who wants to hear.
Thank you so much to Mr. Granger for posting this. His books have helped to give me the courage to speak out to friends–and sometimes even stranger–about the Christian themes found in the Harry Potter books, as well as their literary merit.
I’m sorry you didn’t win. It was kind of cool though!
Thanks! I’m sorry too. I’m really disappointed I won’t be able to read that book, but I knew from the start that the other poem would be tough to beat. I’m really grateful to have done as well as I did, though, (a $1000 Amazon gift card is certainly no small prize!), and I want to say thank you to anyone who might have voted for me. I really appreciate it! Congratualtions to Rhiannon, too. It’s obvious from her poem that she really loves HP, and it does make it easier knowing she’ll really value the prize.
I’m not a writer–my background is in physics and astronomy–but I do love to write. This contest has actually been a really nice boost for me, thinking that someone out there could possibly enjoy reading something I wrote. Thanks again to Mr. Granger, and to everyone at HogPro. You guys are great!
Laura, congratulations on being a finalist! Even though you didn’t win, just getting to that point should make you feel like an American Idol.
Keep writing, writing, writing. Work on more poems and try some structures. Mary Oliver has a book on writing poetry that’s good. Revisit your former work from time to time and rework it if you feel it would make it better. Never give up, poetry is the handwriting of the soul.
Luscious Badboy could care less about handwriting and souls, he just wants his kibbles…
Congratulations, LauraH on your success. As you observe, this rewarded you with encouragement and the appreciation of ther’s appreciation of your writing. Keep it going. And the consolation prize wasn’t bad, as you noted!