Wizards Named Harry

Today I am allowing my fan nerdiness to have full reign.

I blogged about how I got in to Pottermore with the right answer to the day 2 clue at

http://duffybarkley.blogspot.com/2011/08/pottermore-more-or-less-i-got-in.html

I stayed up until 3 o'clock trying to get into pottermore and even when I went to bed my mind was rapidly going over the story of the boy wizard and all the many times it has been a part of my life.  I am 48 and my two children are bots who grew up with Harry Potter and are now 17 and 18.  We travel a lot, because family is all 1,000 miles away, so we did most of the 7 novels as books on tape, yes my van is old enough it was tape, no CD player.  And we listened to others while soaking in the hot tub on our deck - until we felt like a Goode family stew.  "Just one more chapter."

I have been on-line today, on twitter and have added a lot of potter fans to follow, and wouldn't it be amazing if one or two of them should pass on word of my own fantasy novels?  By the way, that is Duffy Barkley  :)

But the other big, nerdy fandom in my life is another wizard name Harry, and this is one who actually gave me a bit of magic.  Jim Butcher writes a series called "The Dresden Files"  More adult and twister than Potter, but just as addictive, Harry Dresden is a Wizard for Hire, PI, and now he's a ghost and his new book, not to be confused with the excellent Peter Straub book of the same title, is Ghost Stoty.

My son and I are addicted to Dresden and Company and Jim Butchers Other series as well, but I owe Harry a big thank you for how he taught me to clear pain from my body with a little mind magic.

There is a scene, several books ago, where Harry is beaten and almost dead, and there is a fallen angel who is trying to take him over.  Harry hears her voice in his head, telling him to imagine wrapping up his pain into a big ball, drawing it out of his body like a cord and then tossing the ball as far away as he can.  Interesting visualization exercise, but i was suffering torn ligaments in my back as I read it, and I finished that page and realized my pain was gone. Sure it came back many times, but that mind exercise banished it every time.  Headaches too. So now, I have done it enough that by the time I consider starting the visualization, my body has responded and the pain is blocked.

So, you may think I am crazy.  I guess that is not always a bad thing.  Just let me say, between JK Rowling and Jim Butcher, my life has been filled with imaginary wizards named Harry - And i am so glad of it.

Thanks for reading this
and remember

Duffy Barkley is Not a Dog

Thanks

Dixie