Kyle Brady: Blog » Harry Potter

“Of Harry Potter, James Potter, and Warner Bros. Studios – The Interview, Part II” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:10:06 +0000

Recently, it seems that Warner Brothers Studio has contacted you regarding James Potter – regarding what?

I received a rather lengthy email detailing some new requests for how I should present and promote the James Potter stories. Specifically, the lawyer requested that I change the James Potter logo, since they feel it is too similar to the Harry Potter film logo (although I did work to make it merely similar, and not a direct copy). Also, the lawyer requested that I remove references to my own original books from the James Potter-related website. Finally, they asked for more and larger disclaimers.

Go check it out.

“Of Harry Potter, James Potter, and Warner Bros. Studios – The Interview, Part I” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:10:39 +0000

New piece at the Inquisitr:

Could you give a quick intro on what the James Potter series is (ideas, themes, inspiration, etc.)? Most people consider it high-quality fan-fiction, but what do you label it as?

When I first discovered fan-fiction (and this was AFTER finishing my first James Potter book) I was bored with how so much of it was just a rehash of the original characters and stories. Being satisfied with Harry’s tale, I wanted to explore the wider magical world.

Go check it out.

“Of Harry Potter, James Potter, and Warner Bros. Studios – The Story” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:10:09 +0000

New piece at the Inquisitr:

Whether the James Potter series is completely finished or not, it is safe to say that George Norman Lippert has distinctly enriched the lives of countless Harry Potter fans and the Potterverse itself. His works have shown that not only can a fan with talent significantly enrich the source material without being pale imitations, but that it’s still possible to rise from obscurity to fame within the literary world – all without an agent, a marketing campaign, or SPAM’ing forums.

Go check it out.

“Harry Potter and the Worldwide Love Affair” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:00:28 +0000

New guest post at the Inquisitr:

After the last book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, was released two years ago, JK Rowling stated in many different interviews that the series would not continue – she felt the characters had been brought to completion, and included a halfhearted “look at the characters in the future!” epilogue as if to prove she was serious. However, she’s not likely to stay away forever, and the reasons are simple: the world adores her work, she’s made millions from the series, and, most importantly, this magical realm lives inside her head in a very real way.

Check it out!

More Harry Potter [Old Content]

Kyle Brady — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:50:34 +0000

I just finished re-reading the entire Harry Potter series (only the second time through... but considerably better than the first), and I noticed something: about halfway through the series, JK Rowling smoothly transfers the character development from a "Harry+Ron+Hermione" focus, to include many more characters, a large portion of which develop distinct, and lovable, personalities.

Why do I bring this up? Why is it worth mentioning? Because it provides a giant opportunity for the series to not "die" with the 7th and final book, without it seeming to "sell out" or become cliche. What am I talking about?

Parallel Stories

The development of the story, with the focus on another, but no less important, character is something rarely attempted by authors... probably because it is so difficult to align the two plots, and provide enough detail from the other perspective(s) to make it worth reading. But I've seen it done successfully, once: Orson Scott Card. The "Ender's Game" series was (and still is) one of the most loved SciFi events of all time... but instead of ending the series when it was obviously over, the story got revitalized. Many times. And made it even more endearing to it's fanatic following.

The Obvious

Like I said earlier, it would probably be a terrible idea to extend the Harry Potter series past the 7th book, in a chronological sense, because of the all-inclusive ending, and the terrible excuse for an Epilogue. Even worse would be another series, following someone else set in the future, distanced from the current series... following a child of Harry & Ginny, perhaps.

But the obvious way to expand the Harry Potter Universe would be parallel stories: one series centered on Luna Lovegood, and another on Neville Longbottom.

Character Choice

If parallel series are ever written, the character choice would be crucial. An entire book (or series) focused on Ron, Hermione, or their families would not work. The trio, and by extension, their families, are already a very significant part of the book, too much to be "spun off" themselves. Luna and Neville, however, are exactly the opposite.

Glimpses of Neville are seen from the beginning, and as the series progresses, we see him grow more confidant and capable, but also become closer to Harry, and becoming an integral part of the anti-Voldemort movement.

Luna doesn't even appear until about halfway through the series, and even then she only appears to help explain a weird situation, or provide some unintentional humor. It's not until the 6th book that we really see Luna grow into her own, but by the end of the series, I can't help but feel like she didn't have as much "face time" as she deserved.

Added Value

Imagine these two parallel series are written. The added value potential is huge... through Neville we would have more light on the backstory of Voldemort and Harry's parents, not to mention his own, and through Luna we would see more of the quirky wizarding world that slowly fades from sight as the current books progress.

But more than just adding details to pre-existing storylines, these would have the chance to do even more: expand the Harry Potter Universe itself. All those times when Neville and Luna disappear would be a perfect chance to have epic stories of their own. The biggest chance of all would come towards the end... having not hidden in the forest, this would be a rare chance to re-tell the epic battle (and it's precursors) from a perspective that was closer to the action for longer periods of time.

Wishful Thinking

Realistically, this will probably never happen. If anything, we'd probably see a book or two written in a pre-Harry world, but nothing as expansive or impressive as what I've just described.

But that doesn't mean I can't hope for it...

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Update (7/17/2009): Over a year later, I wrote something similar for the Inquisitr.