Two Awesome Things

Even though I was blogging while on vacation, I didn’t write much about what I was doing. Since Friday is kind of my “anything goes” day here on the blog, I’ll tell you about two awesome things.

Awesome thing #1: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Yes, it’s crowded. Yes, there are line ups. But it really shows how attention to detail can help to bring the world of a novel to life.

Even though we were overheated and surrounded by mobs of other tourists, the magic was still there. From the Butterbeer (okay, it’s $3 a cup but you have to try it) to the screaming mandrakes in the shop windows to Dumbledore’s office inside the Hogwart’s castle ride, it was amazing to soak it all in, especially when you’re there with two kids who have memorized so many of the details in the novels. It really was huge for them (even though it half of it was basically gift shops cleverly disguised as shops in Hogsmeade), so we ended up buying them their own wands.

Awesome thing #2: 

I met one of my critique buddies in person!

Up until 2 weeks ago, I’d never met any of the other MiG Writers in person, even though we’ve known each other for years. We formed our group online and we live in many different places. It was so exciting to meet Christina Farley face to face! Since we knew about each other’s writing projects, we could talk about them without a lot of explanation. It was fun to fill in some of the bits and pieces about each other’s backgrounds that we didn’t know, chat about ordinary stuff, our writing, and of course Christy’s big news about getting an agent (if you haven’t seen her blog, check it out). The time went by too fast!!!  

Have you ever gotten to know someone online and then met them in person?