This year marks the 10th birthday of Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone! Can you imagine?

I make no effort to hide I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, so please indulge me in recommending to you, my loyal readers, one of my favorite websites for this week’s feature: Checkmated.com , a big ol’ geeky treat for all you fans yearning for more.

What is fan fiction? Fanfic (as it’s called) is a legal literary tribute to a specific book or series of books in the form of an original story written using its characters in original settings. In other words, people take the characters of a particular story and write their own stories with them. They can be written in the future or the past, from another character’s perspective or using original fictional characters (OFCs), and they can be really, really f***ing good.

Why should you care? Because with the cancellation of TV series like Firefly and the ending of book series like Harry Potter or Twilight, fanfics can fill a reader’s desire for more and help encourage budding writers to experiment creatively while adhering to the safety of predetermined writing rules.

Checkmated.com is the *bar-none* the best Harry Potter fanfic site there is. It’s writers are top notch due to the site’s governing body – a group of editors mysteriously called ‘The Council’ – its editorial crew known as ‘Prefects’ (yes, I am one), and its strict standards for quality. Its stories are most often written as serials, with new chapters being added every few days as they pass through the editorial process. Trust me, this only adds to your enjoyment.

And, when I say stories, I by no means mean short little things meant to take up one lunch hour – some of these works can be up to 40 chapters and have very loyal online followings. Some great stories that I suggest for your perusal (and eventual addiction) include the following:

‘The Second Prophesy’ – How the gang’s children are fairing at Hogwarts 20 years later.

‘From a Muggle’s Point of View’ – A story showing how the magical world must all look from an outsider’s perspective.

‘A Very Thin Line’ – A story about how James Potter and Lily Evans met.

‘The Diggory Papers’ – The story of the “Goblet of Fire’ told from Cedric Diggory’s perspective

As I always say, it’s OK to be geeky – you’re among friends. Go forth and enjoy, and don’t forget to leave a review!

http://www.checkmated.com/

Labels: 10th anniversary, checkmated.com, harry potter, J.K. Rowling

This story has legs.

In my travels, I came across a fairly interesting and intelligent discussion thread on the whole "Harry Potter" plagiarism business on an unlikely source -- PerezHilton.com! Not that I don't love me some Perez, but to think that some of his readers are actually this interesting and capable of intelligent discussions (some are not, mind you, so watch out for language)...

Check it out if you have a sec -- I'm still behind you, Jo. This case is not going to go away, and the implications of the judge's ruling will have a very strong ripple across the 'net. Whether or not you care about the HP books, you should care about this case.

A crying man does not equal an innocent man.

Labels: harry potter, J.K. Rowling, lawsuits

Steve Van Der Ark -- of a famous and well-known "Harry Potter" web site -- is in court today to defend his apparent right to publish a version of his site in print and sell it. Of course, a copyright lawsuit was filed by Ms. Potter herself, J.K. Rowling, alleging that the content of this site is her intellectual property.

His site, as frequented by me on many occasions to check facts or find clues (yes, I am a fan), is a large online encyclopedia that breaks the series down into categories such has "The Beastiary," "Muggle Studies," "Which Wizard," "A Wizard's Atlas" and "Magic and Magical Theory" -- all strictly based on only the facts presented by Rowling in her books (also called "canon"). This is an important point, as it has made the lexicon a the most reliable site for theorists since the site's inception.

Why should you care? Well, Rowling famously allows her fervent fans (myself included) to post information, essays, stories, etc., based on the 7 "Harry Potter" books online and at no fee. She has said that she openly enjoyed reading the theories on these sites about the books, content and how the series was going to end. In deciding to publish the lexicon's content in a paper book, Van Der Ark is bringing this free-for-all world to a screeching halt by taking her property and trying to sell it for his own profit.

Also, factor into the equation that Rowling has said on multiple occasions that she would like to write an encyclopedia of her famous wizarding world as a way to tell all the stories she started in the series but was unable to finish.

Thus, this one case could bring the entire idea of online fandom (re: "Battlestar Gallactica," "Star Trek" and "Firefly") to a sharp finale where everyone loses -- fans would lose the ability to freely discuss and post stories based on an authors' fictional characters, while the authors would lose credibility and kindness from these most feverish fans.

I'm behind you, J.K. -- fandom is a fun place, and the online world is a great medium, but enough is enough.

Labels: harry potter, J.K. Rowling, lawsuits