My Harry Potter Story

I did a post like this a while back about The Hunger Games. So in honour of Harry's Birthday, the Queen's birthday and this year being a pretty special year for Harry Potter books (It completed 20 Years #HarryPotter20). I thought I'd share my HP Story.

I got into Harry Potter fairly late. I still remember the first time I heard of Harry Potter.

A little backstory, I was on an extended reading hiatus. I used to read books when I was younger but for some reason, I had taken a break and hadn't read anything for years.

I was visiting my cousin and was just waiting for her to get ready so that we could leave. Me and another cousin of mine were just passing time and surfing through the different channels on the TV. Suddenly I saw something that caught my eye. There it was a scene in a movie that would change everything. Okay that was overly dramatic. But it did change things.

I caught a brief glimpse of the Quidditch scene from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

I asked my cousin which movie it was, and she said, "Its just Harry Potter, come on lets go." I was pretty fascinated by it already and I just knew the movie's name.

When I got back home, I asked my mom about it. Then we found out there was a series of books that the movie was based on. The next day my mom got a copy of it from her Library's Children's Library section. I was over the moon!

I finished reading the book and I was completely in love. In love with the characters, the words and in love with the Wizarding World. I proceeded to talk to everyone who would listen to me about the book and how wonderful it was.

My uncle, bless him, must have been amused by my tiny little obsession. He told me that he'd check the local bookstores and see if he could find the books for me. The next time I went to visit him, he got me all the books of the series that had been released. I had my first proper paperback copies of books 1-5.

I read all of the books multiple times. By then the first three books were made into movies already. I sat down to see all of them whenever they came on TV (I still do).  I also dragged my mom to see all the movies from Goblet of Fire to Deathly Hollows Part 2 when they released. I became a Potterhead.

Harry Potter has been a truly wonderful escape for me. It bought back my love for reading. And for that I couldn't be more grateful. Harry Potter books and movies have saved me, more than once. They have taught me what true friendship should look like, they have taught me about courage, and they have taught me more about myself.

I would truly not be the person I am today without them. I still am hoping to forge friendships like the books. But for now, I've found comfort between the pages of these books and in the scenes of the movies.

Thank you JK Rowling for a wonderful childhood, for the great stories, and for the best escape a lonely little girl could ask for.

Happy Birthday Queen! And Happy Birthday Harry!

Your Potterhead,
TJ oxox

Yesterday a musician that I've loved passed away. Many of you out there loved him and I just needed to share a little about him.

Last night just before I headed off to bed, I saw a notification from Facebook. I checked the notification and as I was backing out I saw an article that said that Chester Bennington  (of Linkin Park fame) had passed away. I grabbed on to the table next to me because I was afraid I'd fall down. I read the headline again, and quickly dismissed it. Then I scrolled down. I saw article upon article reporting his demise. I couldn't believe it. I refused to.

I closed the app and just went off to bed with his songs stuck in my head.

He was a part of one of the first bands I loved. I discovered Linkin Park through my then close friend. We listened to Numb, the first song I'd ever heard from Linkin Park, and we were done for; fans for life. It spoke to me on a different level entirely.

As I woke up I didn't remember about what I'd read last night. Then as I logged in to aimlessly scroll through Facebook it hit me again like a ton of bricks. Chester Bennington was gone. How could he just be dead? I was expecting tears, instead I was just numb.

A post shared by TJ 📖 (@thecuriositykey) on Jul 21, 2017 at 11:03am PDT

I read two amazing articles by Buzzfeed India. You can check them out HERE and HERE.


I'll end it here. I just need to listen to his words and drift off to sleep. Chester, you'll forever be missed. I hope you are in a better place now and I hope that you know that in the end it did matter. You've touched the lives of thousands of people everywhere, and we'll sorely miss you. RIP ♥

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Cover Reveal for 19 Marigold Lane by R.M. Gilmore

19 Marigold Lane (Prudence Penderhaus #2) by R.M. Gilmore 

Blurb:

New foes and old come together in this second episode of Prudence Penderhaus's wild ride called life. Cassius, Bonnie, Heego, Mom, and the douche bags of Flintlock are back to tie up loose ends and dig up more than they ever bargained for.

**Release date TBA

Excerpt from 19 Marigold Lane

Consciousness was a fleeting thing. In and out. In and out. Without Cassius and Bonnie to keep me motivated, the exhaustion from healing mixed with the pain meds and swept me quickly into dreamless sleep. It wasn’t real sleep. Not that deep, restful sleep that comes naturally when the sun goes down and your body has had its fill of humaning. It was shallow and in the end really only perpetuated my exhaustion. I did snore, however. Apparently.

“You snore loudly, Prudence.”

My eyes were hardly open and my brain still foggy from sleep refused to comprehend what I was looking at. I jarred awake, startled, shoving myself away from the thing beside me, and yelped both from pain and fear.

“What. In. The Hell. Are. You. Trying to kill me?” I said, words stunted around panting breaths and raging heartbeat.

His black eyes stared deep into mine. “Why would I do that?” Cassius, in his innocent glory, asked in a tone that questioned my sanity instead of his own.



Catch up on the series now with 17 Marigold Lane! Check out my Review for 17 Marigold Lane the first book in the series HERE.

SO EXCITED FOR BOOK 2!!!

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www.RMGilmoreAuthor.com

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Atheists Who Kneel and Pray by Tarryn Fisher

SURPRISE! #AWKAP is LIVE!!! Who's ready for Yara and David? Available NOW on

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA | iTunes | B&N

Yara Phillips is a wandering muse.

She dates men who need her, but always moves on to something new, never staying in one place for very long.

David Lisey is in need of a muse.

A talented musician lacking lyrical inspiration. When he first sees her, he knows he's found what he's been looking for.

Yara believes she can give David exactly what he needs to reach his full potential:

A broken heart.

David’s religion is love.

Yara’s religion is heartache.

Neither is willing to surrender, but religion always requires sacrifice.

 

Yara’s Yesterday Spotify List:

https://open.spotify.com/user/1226318453/playlist/6h5mCg008D4VxjkWuudzQ7

 

Dear Yara, The bands in London, November 12th. Want to catch up? David So casual. So nonchalant. You’d think we were only acquaintances, that we’d once sipped a couple of beers together instead of tattooing love on our skin and reciting marriage vows. I read the e-mail again and analyze the shit out of it. How can I not? I count out the words: thirteen. The punctuation: four. His name, my name. A flippant, casual turn of phrase: catch up. In the end, there’s only so much psychoanalyzing you can do to a thirteen-word e-mail. I move on with my life, feeling rather pathetic. But not before I e-mail him back. And okay, sure, I don’t move on with my life. What does that even entail? Forgetting? Forgiving? Being happy? Besides, I know what he wants to talk about. I know why he’s coming. Hi David, Yeah, sounds good. Let me know when and where. Yara My e-mail is a word shorter. I’m that petty.  

Tarryn was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. She immigrated to America with her parents when she was thirteen, and spent the next eighteen years in South Florida where she earned her degree in Psychology, wrote her first novel, and had two children. In 2012, on a whim, she moved her family to Seattle, Washington where she currently makes her home safely away from the sun. Tarryn is the founder of Guise of the Villain, a fashion blog, and has written eleven published novels. Tarryn is a Slytherin.
Website: www.tarrynfisher.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authortarrynfisher Instagram: https://instagram.com/tarrynfisher/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tarryn__Fisher        

 

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