A Salute to the Harry Potter Writers

My wife and I went to a Harry Potter marathon last night. We saw both parts of Deathly Hallows. Then we spent a half-hour trying to get out of the theater parking lot while hundreds of other people lined up for the 2:30am showings.

I'm sure there will be hundreds  thousands  millions  billions(?) of reviews out today on blogs, twitter, Facebook, Google+, websites, newspapers, morning news shows, morning exercise shows, informal conversations with total strangers, . . . So, I'm not going to write a review.

I'm going to salute writers--specifically the writers who created the screenplays. Not only was the writing just plain great, they also did an amazing job of translating the feel of the stories; the personalities and voices of the characters; and the multiple world and character arcs. This is not an easy task, in fact, it is extremely hard to do well. And they did it well.

Harry Potter Screenwriters--I salute you.

• Steve Kloves - HP1, HP2, HP3, HP4, HP6, HP7
• Michael Goldenberg - HP5

As a writer, myself, I know that any great writing is the work of more than one person, so I also salute the family, friends, peers, editors, writing groups, and anyone else who helped polish these scripts. Great job!

I can't forget J.K. Rowling.

She is a masterful storyteller with the enviable skill of writing stories which appeal to young and old alike, flawed characters we can't help but love (or hate), and a fascinating world we all want to visit. Her words brought YA Fantasy to millions of new readers. I, and many others, hope to find success following the amazing trails you blazed. 

I salute you. Twice.

* The Harry Potter Deathly Hallows poster image is not mine. I wasn't able to identify the copyright owner. If you are the copyright owner, I will remove this image at your request--after I recover from hyperventilating.