Tags : fan fiction, George Normal Lippert, GNL Series, harry potter, James Potter, JK Rowling, potterverse, Warner Bros
Of Harry Potter, James Potter, and Warner Bros. Studios – The Interview, Part I
This is a part of a series on George Norman Lippert, “America’s JK Rowling”, creator of the spinoff “James Potter” novels set in the Potterverse and often compared to the original “Harry Potter” .
GNL Series: The Story – The Interview, Part I – The Interview, Part II
Could you give a quick intro on what the James Potter series is (ideas, themes, inspiration, etc.)? Most people consider it high-quality fan-fiction, but what do you label it as?
When I first discovered fan-fiction (and this was AFTER finishing my first James Potter book) I was bored with how so much of it was just a rehash of the original characters and stories. Being satisfied with Harry’s tale, I wanted to explore the wider magical world.
For instance, in a world split between Muggle and magical, wouldn’t there be a contingent of people intent on breaking down that separation? If so, would their intentions be good or bad? And what about this character that is barely mentioned in the DH [ed.- JK Rowling’s “Deathly Hollows”] Epilogue, Harry’s firstborn son, James? What would it be like to grow up as the son of the most famous wizard of all time? How would that effect this boy’s personal development? Further, on a greater scale, what about the rest of the wizarding world? What are magical schools and locations like all over the world? How do Muggle cultures affect the magical world that operates within them? These were the themes I wanted to explore.
Thus, the James Potter series is a logical extension of the Harry Potter universe, branching off from the epilogue of J. K. Rowling’s final book. But while it originates from the tree of the original series, it expands into some new areas, exploring entirely new themes, characters and locations.
As far as how I think of these stories, I hate the term “fan-fiction”. I call it that, for lack of a better word, but to me, it’s more like when a band does a cover of another band’s hit song. It sounds familiar, and yet, if done properly, it is still fresh and unique. “Cover fiction” is possibly a better term for what I try to write, although I doubt the term will catch on.
From what I can tell, both installments of the James Potter series have had an explosive effect on the Harry Potter reader community… is this true? Good reactions, bad, or mixed? Do you have any numbers on readers that might be useful in understanding how your works compare in community reach to JK Rowling’s?
When the first James Potter story was released, I was completely unprepared for the worldwide response it generated. During the first week, there was a wave of fairly rabid hate mail, mainly from those I’ve come to think of as the Canon Police. These individuals claimed that I was “ruining Harry Potter”, based on the fact that my story, in many ways, broke away from the familiar fan-fiction model. I was coloring outside the lines of the Potterverse, it seemed.
The second wave of reader response, however, was much larger and almost uniformly positive. Those who, like me, had been sad to see the end of the magical universe, seemed quite happy with my new perspective on it. Apparently, they felt that I had kept just enough of the old to make it familiar, but introduced enough new themes and characters to keep it fresh. This wave of reader response has continued to the present. I receive emails every day from readers all over the world, encouraging me to write more.
As far as hard reader numbers, this is very difficult to pinpoint, mainly because the story is hosted in so many languages now, from so many websites completely independent of me. Based on my own website numbers, and those I have gathered from a few other sources, my guess is that the stories have been read by at least a million people (the English versions, added up, have been downloaded over 750,000 times).
The interesting thing to me is that the James Potter stories have reached a large demographic of people that do not read fan fiction. That’s what flatters and pleases me the most.
You comment in both books that your work is set inside Rowling’s universe and uses similar characters, but are not endorsed by Rowling herself – you even include a character-tribute to Rowling in “Curse of the Gatekeeper”. What’s the reaction been from her and her legal advisers? How about from Scholastic?
During the initial media response to my first James Potter story, both Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling’s agency were asked if they were responsible for the website and the stories. When that happened, I felt I had an “in” with them, and I contacted them. I was worried that they would attempt legal action against me, but Ms. Rowling’s agency (The Christopher Little Agency) was very encouraging and cordial. They agreed to view a preview sample of the story (although, for understandable legal reasons, Ms. Rowling herself did not view it) and declared that they had no legal issue with the free release of stories such as mine, so long as they were not attributed to Ms. Rowling. Warner Bros, at that time, agreed, merely asking that I not use any of the Harry Potter film score in the promotion of the James Potter stories. I agreed immediately, of course.
Regarding the character of Juliet Revalvier, in “James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper”, she is, of course, an affectionate homage to Ms. Rowling herself. Since these tales are all derived, ultimately, from the fertile garden of her imagination, I have always had great respect both for her work and her proprietary ownership of it. I was, in fact, very vocal about my disdain for Mr. Steve Vander Ark during the whole “Harry Potter Lexicon” legal brouhaha. Regarding Scholastic Books, I have heard no word from them.
Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.
Related posts:
