Don't Tell Me!

Yes, I have succumbed to Pottermania.

I wasn't going to. I figured I'd pop down to the bookstore sometime this weekend and pick up a copy, probably after I finished my edits on the latest ms.

(Note to Angie: I'm working! I'm working!)

I'd treat myself to a big ole reading marathon with my buddy Harry as soon as I got the edits done and off to my editor.

(Note to Angie: I'm almost done! Really!)

Then I started noticing all the brouhaha on the web. Rumors were flying about the end of the book. People were posting that they knew the secret, if anyone wanted a hint off-list.

And the parties that were being planned! Yikes!

So I was starting to get worried. What if, by the time I finished my revisions (Note to Angie: Almost there! Honest!), everyone was sold out? What if someone let it slip in my presence before I had a chance to get my own copy?

Obviously, my tactics needed a change. So I started searching around the area for midnight releases.

Understand, I live in a fairly small town. There's just one bookstore, an independent, and Wal-Mart. Both, as it turned out, were planning Potter Parties for tonight. I considered the independent store's party, but once the article in the paper appeared last night saying that almost all of their preordered books were spoken for, I turned to Wal-Mart. I could pick up a wristband at 8 pm, head home for a couple of hours of writing time (Note to Angie: Which I used! I'm on the downward slope!), then come back to pick it up at midnight.

I got there at 8, surprised to find no line. I walked right up and got a red wristband (Gryffindor, first house to get books at midnight) and headed home, mumbling about how people in my town had no respect for reading.

I had to take it all back, though, when I got there at a little before midnight. They were almost completely out of yellow wristbands (Hufflepuff, last house), and the waiting line snaked all the way around the store to the paint department. Hundreds of people, all waiting for a chance to buy and read the last Harry Potter book.

So now I've got the book, calling my name. But I can't even crack it until I finish my revisions and turn them in (Note to Angie: which will be soon!). It's an incentive, sure, but the problem still remains -- what to do about spoilers? A girl in front of me in the checkout line read the last page even before she bought the book. The rest of us threatened her with bodily harm if she so much as breathed a word.

I'll be working feverishly to get my book done and turned in. Until that point, though, please:

DON'T TELL ME!

:)