Well... kind of... parts of it anyway!

On Sunday I (along with my wife and kids although OF COURSE all that mattered was that I was there) finally got round to visiting The London Harry Potter Studio Tour and honestly if you haven't, and you're fan of HP, it’s just incredible. The moment you step in those glass doors you're just overcome by the whole Harry Potter movement and then, after a short wait in the queue, you enter a small room with screens either side. A lady appears as if by magic - of course she merely walked in through the crowd but this is Potter Land don't forget - and that’s when it hits you. On the screens they play you a build-up, from the start how the books were chosen in true underdog fashion. Bottom shelf, low priority books to being transformed into this phenomenon! It's truly incredible and won't happen again in my life time, not to this scale. Harry Potter is truly one of a kind, whether you loved the books, Rowling’s writing, or not Harry and the gang are on their own level.

So As you may be able to tell I love Harry Potter, always have, and really it was JK Rowling and the impact of her books that made me even want to try to write a book. Generally, as far as story-telling goes, I'm more drawn toward TV Series or movies but I read the Harry Potter books cover-to-cover, back-to-back. I had NEVER done that before. I have been known to watch a TV series back-to-back, even taking out a whole day to an entire series but with books... this was just ridiculous. But it just shows how far reaching the story as a whole is. Say what you like about her writing ability, whether she is a literary genius or just a lucky average author, but the fact is the ideas, the characters and the world she created has touched more people (not just children or one particular gender) around the world.

It was surreal walking around the sets - I don’t want to spoil too much for anyone who hasn’t been - seeing the costumes etc. but for me it was world building for the films that was just unbelievable. The people responsible are the geniuses because there were designs from paper to small models or rooms, buildings and then the granddaddy. A huge scaled model of Hogwarts... it is something to behold. The time and the effort that had clearly gone into that model alone was mind boggling. Something like that must have been so much fun for a creative mind to dig into, I would have loved to been involved although with Harry Potter I would have loved to be involved in anything!

So I most definitely enjoyed myself and so did my three boys (ages 7 and twins are 4) seeing their eyes light up was always a great feeling as they all love Harry Potter and knew everything they were looking at. I think all of us as authors would love to have even a quarter of the impact Rowling has had on the world I know I would! But whatever happens she was definitely an inspiration for me, even taking her background out of the equation, she proves that sometimes out of nowhere a story can do some wonderful things. I hope my mine can too.

In other news it was my eldest son’s birthday - he is now seven - which was the reason for going to the HP Studio Tour in the first place. My much talked about ankle is doing very well; I even managed to get back in the gym last night which was great! Book Three is coming along smoothly; I have a good feeling again about this one it’s going to be a pivotal moment in the series so keep an eye out for any previews in the near future! What other things can I bore you with... I bought Ed Sheeran’s new album recently and its awesome, that guy is THE guy. Great second album and I have it on repeat at the moment so I must like it quite a lot. Tracks 3, 4, 5, 9 & 11 are my favorites - if you were wondering :p

That’s it really, catch up soon when I have more book news or anything else to bore you with :)

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