A Momentary Laugh

I was talking to someone a few days ago who happened to mention that there would be a new Harry Potter book coming out next year.  I asked when and she said Summer 2017 and that she wasn't sure of the exact date.  I chuckled and proclaimed it would be out on July 12, 2017.

"What a relief!" I thought to myself. 

Now, granted, I have followed the Harry Potter saga.  All the books are within my house.  I have fond memories of reading the first four or five books to my older children.  There was a lot of controversy when the books first came out that they might be of the devil so I read them out loud to my then-elementary-school children just in case there was anything we needed to discuss.  There wasn't; but, I enjoyed the family bonding so it became a tradition for each book.  Towards the end of the books, a couple of times, I'd tell the kids, "I don't care if it's a school night - you are staying up until we finish this book" because it was so suspenseful I wanted to find out what happened.  Just the same though - I wouldn't call myself a HUGE fan.  So, the idea that God would reveal this date especially to me is rather laughable.

NOTE TO SELF:  If my own novel is completed by then, do NOT release it during July 2017 because it would obviously be over-shadowed by the new Harry Potter book.

Today as I prepared to write this post I Googled and it seems I've been misinformed.  A new book is coming out July 31, 2016, the day after a play based on the book opens.  2017 will be the twentieth anniversary of the first book.  Also, according to Pottermore.com:  Next year will see the publication of four special editions of the first book in the UK, one for each of the four Hogwarts houses. There will also be a brand new edition ofFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in 2017, with new content by J.K. Rowling, as well as new formats and editions of the Hogwarts Library books – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Oh well - for a couple of days I had a bit of a laugh.