Interview with Author Tison Pugh (Harry Potter and Beyond: On J. K. Rowling’s Fantasies and Other Fictions)

J.K. Rowling is one of the most prolific writers of the literary world. Her work first cast spell with generations of readers with Harry Potter - a fantastical setting where wizards and witches navigate their wizarding world alongside the human world. From the initial publication when "Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone" invited children and adults journey alongside a boy who discovers he's a wizard to Rowling's post-Potter career, her work has inspired bookworms, writers, and scholars alike to study her themes, messages, and world-building. One such professor is Tison Pugh, a Pegasus Professor at University of Central Florida.

By using contemporary and popular novels to inspire discussion and analysis with his students, Pugh's gradually made a name in the collegiate arena for his popular course on Harry Potter. With an essay novel of his own published, Harry Potter and Beyond: On J. K. Rowling’s Fantasies and Other Fictions, Pugh examines the worlds within Rowling's work.

From her massive success with Harry Potter and subsequent transition into adult novels such as The Casual Vacancy and the Comoran Strike series, Pugh explores her work with a critical eye exploring the literary tools Rowling uses at her discretion to become the influential author she is today. Pugh doesn't shy away from the complex nature of the series, providing readers with a deep yet brisk study - how readers are compelled to conjure their own canon from the series, the themes she commonly infuses in her world-building, and the influence of her writing for readers. The book itself is a fascinating take on her work and a complementary resource for aspiring writers and bookworms.

I had the opportunity to interview the author Tison Pugh about how he approached researching the book, the blurred line of fan discourse, controversial and creative aspects of Rowling's influence.

Voldemort: Origins of The Heir (2018) Movie Review

When we read the Harry Potter books, our imaginations fill in on all the details. Even as adaptations are made and can only fit so much from the page onto the screen, what we envision is allowed to live in our minds every time we pick up the original thing. With a phenomenon as vast as the wizarding world, it’s exciting when fans can take what they picture and make their own stories. Like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, where its hardcore admirers create their own characters and adventures, director and writer Gianmaria Pezzato took a slice of author J.K. Rowling’s magical history for his own inspired interpretation and casts a fun spell for what fans can achieve if they dare to believe.

Adapting a slice of Tom Riddle’s dark past in creating the Horcruxes, Voldemort: Origins of the Heir takes us back to the early years of Hogwarts when the enigmatic student is on an inevitable path to darkness. He uses his access to Borgin and Burkes’s clients of rare objects to begin his creation of horcruxes, but there’s something he must do to make himself immortal: split his soul into seven pieces.

If you’ve read the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, plenty of this film’s plot uses Riddle’s background as its starting point, especially the murder of Hepzibah Smith. But there’s also room for the new, the director and writer’s point-of-view of what could’ve happened: heirs of the other houses trying to intervene with Riddle’s obsession with immortality. Grisha McLaggen, heir of Gryffindor, in particular trails down her friend’s famous diary, a pivotal item that comes into play in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. But there’s something stopping her, a Russian wizarding army that captures her while trying to extract the diary.

As a fanmade film, one shouldn’t expect the story to adhere strictly to the canon Rowling created. A familiarity to the original material might make it difficult for the movie to live up to high expectations. For fans looking to rate the details, there are a few goofs here and there that the writing could’ve double-checked (Ravenclaw’s symbol is an eagle, not a raven for example) and saved itself some critical headaches. The story as is mixes old and new, adding a friend-turned-vendetta narrative into what we already know about Riddle’s early life.

The plot itself isn’t necessarily catchy in the beginning, giving the feeling that some material from the trailer might've ended up on the cutting room floor. Once the intrigue has some time to settle in, the one-sided plot gives some unexpected twists that are sure to excite. And, there's a few cool action sequences - who doesn't love a wand battle? For the most part, Pezzato's story offers a unique dive back into the the unexcavated parts of Riddle’s life that failed to make it to the big screen the first time around.

What we typically expect from a big studio movie like realistic effects, dramatic music, and detailed costumes, somehow makes it way toYouTube. The movie goes as far as to dub the Italian actors for English, and sought the approval of Warner Bros to release it on such a big platform. Pezzato goes above and beyond to appeal to fans with his unique ideas. His cast is definitely charismatic, fitting into a cinema sphere that Warner Bros could've used in their own franchise. What this clan of fans came up with is exceptional and impressive. Voldemort: Origins of the Heir is a fun side-adventure back into the wizarding world, it just takes a little detour from the version we know by heart.

Rating: ★★☆

Have you watched Voldemort: Origins of the Heir?

What did you think?

Customize Your Internet Library with MyWebRoom

I have a lot of bookmarks but I'm not very good at keeping them organized. Which is why I was very happy to accept the invitation to review MyWebRoom; a customizable interface that allows you to organize your e-library.

Ever wish your bookmarks could transform from a flat design to a decorative and interactive archive? Well, after easily signing up to MyWebRoom, choose a decorative wallpaper of a wide selection. Live in the city and wish to be somewhere more quiet, transport your bookmarks into a reserve in a scared forest, or a hut by the beach. Love to travel? There are plenty of cities to choose from to like Morocco, Milan, and New York City. For tv show fanatics, and book lovers like us Harry Potter fans, you can choose from The Hunger Games, Nightmare Before Christmas, and like mine above - Harry Potter.

Placed alongside the room are items where you can store your social networks. Click a television to go to Netflix or Hulu, click on the bookshelf for literature, click on the wardrobe for fashion - and so on. Sort out your bookmarks with various furniture and objects; click and see what websites are there. Not only does MyWebRoom make it wildly accessible to organize your own favorite sites but their lists offer so many more that I didn't know existed.

Perhaps the one crime against my computer I commit on a regular basis, it's probably that I open to many tabs at once. Offering thousands of free apps to all of my favorite websites is practically eliminated with the multi-tasking I can do from my room too.

If you're looking for an easy to use interface that is smooth, organized, and fun, look to MyWebRoom. Have fun decorating your own virtual pad for your all your bookmarks and apps. Share your room with friends and stay connected to your favorite social networks. Live it up online!

Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey (book review)

On loan from the library I had the luck to check out Page to Screen: The Completely Filmmaking Journey by Bob McCabe. And from reading it I concluded that it must have taken a small city to make this series. After eight gigantic films how could it not from production to costume design and props take a small army of creative and magical individual to make an entire wizarding world?

The title of this book took the veritaserum potion and is telling the truth: From colossal movie to colossal movie, Page to Screen takes you on the complete film-making journey. Everything from how the film was set with David Heyman making the adaptations a focus of his career to signing up Steve Kloves to screen-write and Christopher Columbus to direct Sorcerer's Stone, you are taken back to the very beginning. You really think that almost every minute detail of the process was captured for this book - for us fans to relive.

The photos above and below hardly capture the quality of the books' photos. They are high quality - unlike anything you'll see pixelated on a computer screen. Some of them I wanted to take out just for myself as wall art but at last I resisted - it is a library book.

Broken into two parts, the first half of the book is about the films - each gets about 20 to 30 pages of in depth information from casting and production to character summaries. The second half of the book takes us into the costumes and locations we love and cherish. The whole book ranges through how production created our favorite people, places, and items. If you want to know how they "found the Sorcerer's Stone" or what it took to build the Whomping Willow you'll find out. Want to walk into Dolores Umbridge or Professor Slughorn's office, you can.

For fans who may want to hold onto the magic by not learning what it technologically took to make Quidditch players fly or spells to be cast, Page to Screen might be something that younger fans should delay reading. If other fans are inspired by the world of Harry Potter to learn how it was all done, this is definitely a book to fill any wizard's bookshelf.

My only complaint with the book is its size. Definitely so big that it can't be put on an ordinary bookshelf but also if opened after x amount of times (which I think every fan will) the binding is weakened because of how heavy the 500+ pages are. Though there is a $600 collection for all of the books authored by Bob McCabe, could this one been broken into two volumes? Perhaps. But such a small detail pales into comparison of the amount of detail that went into not only the films but this book as well. For every fan, this really is a must!

Because my temporary copy is a library book: would I want it apart of my permanent collection and purchase it? Absolutely!

Pottermore Review from a BetaTester

Last year, every Potter fan - including myself - on the planet clamored to be apart of the first million users to access Pottermore.  If you remember when July 31st arrived and the first clue was announced, there was pandemonium online. And, over on tumblr, thanks to my fellow tumblrees and our up-til-dawn-powered-by-hope-and-coffee-party, I was able to answer the first clue at 4 am. I then survived the long wait in August and mid-September to receive my acceptance letter. I remember the exact morning when I woke up and knew I was officially a beta user.

Since then, I've had the privilege of giving the Pottermore team feedback for all their hard work. With the opening of Pottermore in early April, I thought it would be a good time to draw upon my Pottermore Perceptions!

Pro: Artwork. There is a stunning amount of detail that goes into every page. It's like visiting a museum and seeing great works of art on your computer screen. In some instances, it feels like the way you storyboarded the Harry Potter series in your mind was captured by the Pottermore artists. The work for the house crests alone are supremely impressive. There's a Thomas Kinkade level of texture and color on every page, I am still in awe of so many pages that were brought to life.

PRO: Exclusive content. On most pages, you can unlock exclusive content and information. Some of it might be information you already know, but slowly more and more info by JK Rowling is added and shared on the site. There were some background stories that just made me wonder - and I felt rewarded to get more insight on some of my favorite characters.

PRO / CON: Interactive or Social networking?

Practice potions and spells? Check!

Add comments to your favorite chapters? Check!

Upload fan art for characters, places, and specific book scenes? Check!

If you want to interact with Pottermore, there's a chance to do so almost on every page. However, on some pages it's not exactly clear on what you should or can do - play a game, collect an item, or just hover and then go to the next page....

Can you friend other students? Check!

Can you deal other students to earn house points? Check!

That's where the interactivity between students begins and ends. In the common room, there isn't a forum. There isn't a personal messaging system between members. To be friends on Pottermore, you're not really - unless you know that person outside of the site.

With so many people accessing the site and friending each other, I beg to question on whether Pottermore should be more social networking friendly. It's great to be apart of a website that isn't about building a following, but with a forum or direct messaging system, it would be more fun to chat with other students about Harry Potter - since most internet forums are somewhat dying down these days?

PRO: It's a PG site. Every page is family friendly safe. No need to worry about explicit fan art or comments. The double-edged sword with a forum is that there is a chance for topics to wane off Harry Potter or become explicit - unless a whole other team of moderators is employed....

PRO/CON: The sorting hat. It's just a stress test gone out of control. Like me, you know which house you want. You might have pretty much defined your existence by your house your whole life. The Pottermore sorting hat is sorta official Potterhead business. I was lucky enough (I think I just prayed really really hard to the internet GOD) to get sorted into the house I've always been sorted into. (GRYFFINDOR!!)..but will fans feel disinterest if they aren't sorted 'correctly'?...To each their own, perhaps!

Bottom line: The site as a whole, I believe, is a much bigger giant than anyone expected it to be - probably even the Pottermore team. Changes are coming but they are coming slowly. The lack of audio sounds on the site was a deep negative for many beta testers - we spoke out and and as of the latest announcement, it's getting added.

Overall, Pottermore is a stellar online book companion. It's not something I personally had to be logged into all the time - because when I visited it, it satiates my love for Harry Potter. It's a refreshing way to connect with the series, to know that Hogwarts is really only a few clicks away!