Henry Potty and the Pet Rock: An Unauthorized Harry Potter Parody

This blog is dedicated to my book, Henry Potty and the Pet Rock: An Unauthorized Harry Potter Parody. In its first year, I’ve spoken at schools, libraries, bookstores, and, of course, fantasy conferences. The book and I have had lots of fun, and it’s keeping me extraordinarily busy. While my main site at http://www.harrypotterparody.com/ has the most up-to-date news, I maintain a number of blogs sprinkled throughout the web, along with photos of me and Harry Potter (yeah, really). And remember to check out the book right here in Google Books!

Well, conferences and international travel were all I did this summer. Quite a lot of all of it, though.

Conferences
VIEW COSTUMES PHOTO GALLERY

Phoenix Rising
My first Harry Potter con was so cute! Lots of people in costume, lots of fanfic authors and artists, lots of Harry Potter goodies and treats. I spoke on several panels and even a few podcasts. To say nothing of my light up ballgown (which doesn’t photograph well).
Book Expo America
The Expo was truly enormous. It seemed every publisher was there, to say nothing of all the booksellers, librarians, and authors. I met lots of really famous ones, like SE Hinton, Dave Barry, Judy Blume. I got to meet all three of them, and get signed copies of the latest books. So cool! Hundreds of authors and publishers were ALL offering FREE copies of their latest books. As you might guess, I picked up piles and piles (and somehow managed to close my suitcase). Also lots of cute freebees and promos-- everything from cookie cutters to cookies. :) Lots of new technology: Margaret Atwood was signing books from Canada with this interesting computer option. Lots of interesting publishers and book-related services. Plenty of hot YA fantasy authors there too. Some people were interested in my Heroine’s Journey book, but that’ll have to wait till I get back.

Westercon 60
Westercon (The Western US scifi fantasy con) was on the small side, but fun, with the people I usually see at Baycon. Dad and I wore costumes (and presented them at the Masquerade) chatted, observed, collected ribbons, and so forth. We also won a few Baycon memberships and loads of other goodies at the Scavanger hunt (first place!). I spoke on a number of panels and sold some books in the dealer’s room.


Older News:
4/23/07 I'm getting on with little things: speaking at conferences, advertising on a small scale to libraries and stores. Harry Potter and summer are both approaching. Added to my Facebook and other profiles and created a big Yahoo page complete with Avatar. Wow, it's just like paperdolls!
4/16/07 Okay, taxes are long done. Hp stuff is getting caught up with. I need to check on my fall classes and so so many back projects. Still, with the HJ stuff done, I really feel like I'm on vacation.
4/11/07 The Heroine's Journey book proposal is finally finally finally done! At 60 pages. Now that I've mailed it, I feel I have such a weight off my shoulders. Now I can get back to the little stuff I've been postponing like arranging conferences and cleaning my very messy room. Not to mention all my students' essays.
3/30/07 Even more amazing authors have agreed to blurb my book. Now this is really cool.
3/29/07 Ah, Heroine's Journey stuff. I emailed about 40 authors and scholars seeking quotes. A lot of no's and few yes's. One of the maybe's came from none other than Jane Yolen, one of the top people in the genre. Now THAT's cool!
3/27/07 I've been neglecting Henry Potty lately since someone's interested in The Heroine with a Thousand Hearts. Still trying to get it cleaned, polished and shipped. Lots of schoolwork happening too, though my big New York trip is definitely coming. I may be off to Israel this summer, and I'm definitely doing lots of reading and speaking at the upcoming cons.
3/05/07 It sounds like my book will soon be stocked at Borders. I'm so glad: people may actually be able to find it now.
2/10/07 Knee surgery wasn't that big a deal, after all. Crutches gone, some swelling, but walking pretty normally. Now back to all the neglected book stuff. I'm just hurling myself back into it.
1/8/07 I've sent the ebook to about 40 or 50 places, especially Fictionwise, CyberRead, Mobilipocket, and others. Plus I spent lots of time formatting it for Palm, Microsoft Reader, and even Voice-to-Speech. In other news, my Italian Interview's up at Fantasy Magazine. Now I just have to get through knee surgery...
1/2/07 The holiday season has finally ended. Let's see: I went to about 3 Hannukah parties, one Christmas party, one Kwanza party, one birthday party, one Jewish Christmas eve party, two new year's parties (eve and day), and a baby shower. I planned the last one. And I'm not even much of a party person! Most of my high school friends were in town, though, plus a few relatives. I also invented a new form of dreidel.
12/31/06 It's been a working vacation for me, or at least I'm trying. I just applied to about 200 webrings (yes, really!). I'm also busy submitting Henry Potty to ebook stores. It should be available in a lot of places like fictionwise very soon. The ebook has the pig cursor, and one of these days, I'd like too add links and sound effects. That's what makes the web so much fun after all. I've got it in literally half a dozen formats and am planning for more. Go ebooks!
12/26 Grades are all done and recorded; my students did pretty well overall. I sold a bunch of books on ebay this holiday season. The Harry Potter Title's been announced and I've been discussing it on a number of HP chatrooms. They're all abuzz. Another Italian rights agent wants a look, and I have big plans for the summer conferences. Busy busy busy. On a more personal note, I've picked up Munchkin Impossible. As a board game, it's better than many of the Munchkins out there. Very cool!
12/5 Classes are over at SJSU! I get quite a while off with knee surgery and visiting people but a break from teaching. I can try to get back to the writing side of the world at last.
11/28 I'm donating some books to MIssion College's program that collects donated new books to give kids for holiday presents. I'm also selling them at half price if anyone would like to buy one to donate. I've sold a few that way, especially to my mother's coworkers (she teaches at Mission).
11/25 An Italian Magazine has written an article about me and wants an interview! Very cool. I've reprinted it on the foreign reviews page. I've been doing Toys for Tots stuff all weekend rather than checking email. I also sold my first book on eBay. Well, busy busy. Happy Thanksgiving!
11/14 Lately I've been trying to connect with local bookstores, and I've also done some online visits. Various chatrooms and announcements boards, plus webring, of course. Goodness, I have a pile of those now.
11/05 SJSU's newspaper, the Spartan Daily wrote a cute little article about me. Suddenly, it made its way into every foreign Harry Potter website imaginable. Hey, any publicity is cool publicity, even if it's for Henry Potty e o Mascote de Pedra.
10/24 Today was the San Jose State University Reading. It went smoothly, though most attendees were my own students. Still, I got some new people, and got interviewed by Spartan Daily. All fun. In addition, I have some readings set up at Borders, and a radio interview in the works!
10/13 I did my school visit at Hillbrook Elementary. It was so much fun! All those cute little kids laughing like crazy and asking such thoughtful, intelligent questions! Believe me, I couldn't stop grinning.
9/30 Well, the Amazon sale site is up and happy. I'm starting to get reviews, tags, and other comments up there. Reviews are likewise pouring in.
9/10 There's interest in my speaking at a school. I hadn't even started asking yet, but all I can say is, cool!
9/9 I now can be found on livejournal. I'm posting a lot on Harry Potter discussion sites. Stop by and leave a comment if you like.
9/3 More reviews are in. Wow, so far they're all positive! Very cool.
9/1 Well, the book is off to Italy. Not sure how anyone heard about it this soon, but a foreign rights agent is interested, so I just sent off a copy.
8/28 My little baby book is heading for Germany. Plus three regional trade shows. Thank you, PMA. I'm hoping for lots of sales.
The website is up, the book is published, Amazon and Barnes and Noble are selling it. Now to the smaller details of promoting it. How you can help.