Gather First Chapters Update...

It had been my intention to read all of the first chapters in the Gather.com writing contest. Well with nearly 200 entries it's going to be a daunting task. I think I've read 15 so far. The entries close on March 15th and Round 2 begins on April 4. So if I can manage in 20 days to read 200+ entries I will. But I'm making no promises.
And they thought they wouldn't have enough entries...

What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7?

Ahh, the question on every Harry potter fans mind these days. Especially now with the release date for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows confirmed. Mugglenet.com has published a book to answer the question: What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7? Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love, and How Will The Adventure Finally End? I picked this up at the library with the intention of using it for research for my Snape Theory. It turned out to be a well written , concise, thoughtful examination of the Harry Potter theory-verse. There were even ideas I had not heard of yet, such as Neville possibly having his memory modified as a child-hence his rememberall always lights up. The more controversial theories such as Dumbledore is not dead and Harry is a Horcrux are presented with a for and against viewpoint, and in most cases I could see both arguments clearly, good points are made on both sides.
For the record I am a fan of The Leaky Cauldron Harry Potter site. Mugglenet is fine but is geared for a younger audience and I find their site hard to follow and look at, though their research and news is comparable to Leaky's. I also enjoy the Leaky podcast PotterCast. Their Cannon Conundrums segment is a particular favorite of mine and recently their Mailbag segment proposed the Time Turner Theory which is really interesting and incidentally works well with my theories too.

Harry Potter Book 7 Release Date!

It has been announced today via J.K. Rowling's site that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released at 12:01 am on July 21, 2007. I am alternately elated, and sad. It is after all the last Harry Potter book. I will probably go to the Borders midnight release party. That is not usually my style, but I am afraid of the spoilers that are going to leak out into the world. So I think the best plan is to get the book as soon as I can, go straight to my apartment, turn off the computer and the phone, and read for 12 hours or however long it takes to finish the book. At my reading rate I can manage 100 pages an hour so it will probably take less than 12, but I might need a nap and probably some weeping breaks too. Anyone else who wants to hang with me in my bubble is welcome.
The book will be released a week after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix hits the movie theaters on July 13th. I guess July 13th-21st will be an Unofficial Harry Potter Week.

Update: The PotterCast blog challenge as of 2/5 is to answer the question how quickly will you read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and why? The answer was already written above!