I’m finally getting back to blogging after two weeks of vacation. The first week was on that Alaskan cruise I told you about. Then when I got back, there was the new Harry Potter book to read and a TON of email to read and answer.
First, about that cruise: It was GREAT! We really had a good time. I’ve never been on a cruise before, but as we were getting off the boat, John Olson and I were already thinking about where we’ll go for the next one.
I suggested the Amazon. John was astounded that anyone would consider cruising a warehouse full of books. But I meant the Amazon River, and Princess Cruises really does do a cruise up the river. In any event, we’re thinking about it.
John and I gave 10 hours of lectures, and each of us did 5 to 10 hours of small-group and individual critiquing. I learned some cool things from John’s lectures. He’s already heard all my lectures, but I hope he picked up SOMETHING new.
Some pluses on the cruise:
1) Food is “free”. Not really of course, because you pay for it up front when you get on the boat. But that does mean it’s competitively priced, because before you get on the boat, you could go with another cruise line.
2) The food is great. OK, I don’t recommend eating the sorry, soggy, excuse for a vegeburger. That should never have happened. But generally, the food was terrific, and the buffet is open 24 hours a day. Can’t beat that.
3) Great people. The crew was very friendly, and the folks who came with us for our writing seminar were an excellent crowd.
4) Alaska! Alaska is cool. I didn’t know there was a rain forest in Alaska. Juneau’s in the middle of it. It gets about 100 inches of rain and about that much snow most years. This year it got about twice that. The trip up the Tracy Arm Fiord was worth the price of the cruise.
5) Eagles, whales, seals, otters, salmon, and other varmints. We saw a LOT of all of the above. We saw too many bald eagles to count in the wild, and a few injured ones in captivity. In Juneau as we were driving back to the boat on the bus, the eagles were as thick as seagulls are in San Diego.
6) Glaciers. Glaciers in the wild are blue. Aqua, actually. Very cool. The ones we saw are in full retreat. Global warming and all that.
7) Desserts. Lots of ’em. I had intended to eat one desert for each writer in a group I belong to. It has 170 writers. Unfortunately, about halfway through the cruise, it became clear that my goal was far too short-sighted. So I had . . . 2 deserts for each writer friend. They had to roll me off the boat. OK, I exaggerate a little, but I doubled my lifetime intake of cholesterol, I’m sure.
Some minuses:
1) Those wretched vegeburgers. Gack! Vegeburgers should never have potatoes as the main ingredient. This should go without saying.
2) Drinks are not free. The first day on the boat, we learned this when about 9000 crew members offered us a special deal on drinks–a refillable container that could be had for only $31 that would get us all the sodas we could swill for the rest of the cruise. We declined all 9000 times. Then we found out that it was a pretty good deal, because they way overcharge on drinks. A small bottled water cost me a couple bucks. That is not competitive. But hey–once you’re ON the boat, they’ve got a monopoly on drinks. Not a drinking fountain to be seen anywhere. The buffet had orange juice in the morning, and you could get coffee or tea or hot water free. But cold water? Uh-uh.
3) I’ll take one more kick at those vegeburgers, just because there’s not much else to complain about.
4) Well, there is ONE more thing. I had hoped to blog on the cruise. I did have time. But the internet access cost $.50 per minute IF you brought your wireless laptop (I did). If you used their internet cafe and their computers, it was $.75. And the connection was slow and not terribly reliable. At those prices and with that kind of speed, I had to settle for grabbing my 100+ emails per day and only answering those that were true emergencies. Not a chance to blog or do real email.
5) Phone calls on the ship cost about $10 per minute. My wife made one 5-minute call before we discovered this. The rest of the cruise, we only called home to the kids when we were in port and could use our cell phones.
I had a chance to read some. I took along Harry Potter books #5 and #6. I was kind of fuzzy on #5 and could hardly remember anything in #6. I read both books on the boat, in time to pick up #7 the day we got off the ship. Good timing, because my kids would have KILLED me if we’d been still gone on the day Book #7 came out.
I read HP #7 pretty much straight through and finished it last Sunday afternoon. I’m a slow reader and I wanted to savor it. I thought it was GREAT. Fabulous. A worthy end to an epic tale. Now I’m rereading the whole series so I can read all those little bits and pieces in the earlier books and know what they really mean.
Anyone else read HP #7? How’d you like it? DON’T post any spoilers here, but I’d love to hear your reactions in general on the story.
Welcome back!
Whew! You’re back — I was starting to get a little worried, Randy… Hope you had a chance to rest up some!
Welcome back, Randy.
I near fainted when reading the internet and phone charges. They sure know how to rake in cash.
Nice to have you back. I missed your posts. I have to agree on your assessment of the HP series. What I have been telling people is, “she did her series proud”. What a terrific story, in a terrific universe. I am grateful for the ride.
Because I couldn’t afford THREE copies of HP7 and neither of my teenagers would consent to let anyone else read first (in turns), I had to read all 700-some odd pages out LOUD, so we all got to the end at the same time. Our book arrived in Saturday’s mail at 2:30pm. We finished Thursday and I even have some voice left. Not much, but some.
There were definitely lots of Powerful Emotional Experiences to go around. We all cried and cheered. And I think the ending was fitting and brilliant. Kept us guessing right to the last page. Loved the last book. Loved the whole series.
Oh, to write like J.K. Rowling (wouldn’t hurt to have a fraction of her royalties either, while I’m dreaming).
Welcome back!
I loved the book…I got it on saturday morning, and read it straight for six hours and finished it.
By the end – I was hardly breathing properly. Had to stop and take a deep breath.
Sounds like a great cruise. Living vicariously here on the east coast – will have to settle for defrosting the freezer and watching the ice cubes mount in the tray.
Read HP as soon as I got home from critique weekend and totally fouled any hope of writing for two days while I read. Loved it! Had several expectations that didn’t pan out, but definitely not disappointed. Oh, to be able to spin like that.
I thought, like “bomb” at an airport, merely saying the word “vegeburger” on a cruise ship was justification for both legal and physical flayings. What were you thinking? Cruise ships are an alternate universe where Earthly dietary and ethical concerns don’t apply. Next time try the raw bacon burger. Much safer bet.
I loved HP-7 more than I’m willing to admit in polite company, with the qualifier that I agree with an online wag who noted that reading the last chapter was like being force fed a cup of sugar.
Welcome back to dry land and all the internet you can eat!
Welcome back! Glad you had a great time. Going to post pics of it on your site?
I agree that HP 7 was great! Action from beginning to end and the perfect ending for the series. Sometime I hope to re-read them all; it’s interesting to see JK growing as a writer as she went along.
Welcome back, Randy.
Charging for the drinks? Yikes, I’m glad we chose Royal Caribbean, they didn’t. My favorite part of the Alaska Cruise we went on was interviewing the crew about their respective countries. I discovered that cruise lines are a great way to move money from developed countries to poor ones in the most effective way possible — to the little guys. Governments give money and a large percentage goes to corruption and waste. Individuals earn money and they send it home to grandma, who buys chickens.
Liked HP7 but could not for the life of me remember most of HP6. Read an article that proposed part of the HP phenomenon is that so many people have read it, the experience becomes more intense not because of the book, but because it is shared with others. This rang true as I remembered being an early Trekkie — the fun of finding people who were also Trekkies. And it is still so much fun to find somebody else who loved the book I loved.
Enjoy the ride! -MLE
Glad you’re back. Sorry I missed that cruise!
Wish I could’ve made the cruise. Maybe the next one. The Amazon would be GREAT. We could go fishing for new books as we cruise among the pallets.
My HP7 book hasn’t arrived yet. :'( It’s been all over the U.S., including travelling THROUGH Oklahoma, before actually settling in OK late yesterday, which means I have to wait until Monday to get it.
I’ll be caught up by Tuesday…
My wife and I went on an Alaskan Cruise August 2002. My wife summed it up best: it was the honeymoon we should have had. I DID buy the unlimited drink card right away, but it was only $20 then. I guarantee you I got my moneys worth out of that card. We got to watch a chunk of ice the size of a bus fall into the water – amazing!
So you read slow and finished HP7 the day after it was released? That’s not slow! My daughter and I went to our local department store when they opened (7am) on the 21st and snagged a copy. She had 50 pages left by Sunday morning when she got on a bus to go to camp. I didn’t finish until Wednesday. She didn’t get to finish until she came back on Thursday evening.
I thoroughly enjoyed it except for the profanity. I’d say it has as much as the first six books combined and none of it is necessary. These are supposed to be kids books.
Welcome back Randy! Too bad I couldn’t go on the cruise. As for Harry Potter, am I allowed to admit I haven’t read any of the books, although I am curious about them.
Welcome back. Glad you didn’t fall overboard.
I have only two comments and I hope one of them isn’t too controversial for your blog. I am asking it sincerely, I promise.
First the easy one, I also love cruises! I’ve never done an Alaskan one though, but my husband and I have done several Caribbean cruises. We love to snorkel. And I mean LOVE to snorkel! God’s imagination and sense of humor are evident in His creation of so many strange looking fish. Caribbean cruises are worth every penny!!! As far as the desserts, I am right there with you. I ordered 2 different ones every night, and I am not joking!
Now, don’t everyone jump all over me about the following, because I am willing to admit I was wrong if you all say so. But … I have never read any of the Harry Potter books. I haven’t seen any of the movies either. I was afraid too, they have witchcraft in them. I thought Christians were supposed to stay away from that abomination to God. Which has always been a little confusing to me, as The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is good, but it has the White Witch in it. Perhaps the difference is CS Lewis was a Christian and tried to incorporate Christian principals????
Again, I don’t want to start a whole argument here, but since you’ve read them all, I’d like to hear your opinion. Randy, perhaps you can explain it to me next week at OCW, as it sounds like I am really missing out.
Tammy
Welcome back, Randy! I checked your blog frequently during the past two weeks hoping for a glimmer into Alaska cruising. I’m a meat-a-tarian, what were you thinking? Vegeburgers on a cruise!
Personally, I haven’t read any of the HP’s. However, three of our nieces were visiting when the 7th book came out and we made a beeline so the oldest could buy it. She must have loved it…during the rest of the visit we hardly saw her face, just the book’s cover.
Hi Tammy, I’m the wife of a minister and have been a christian my whole life. When the HP books first came out, we were not interested in them at all. When the 3rd one was released, we were asked by church members whether or not we thought they were okay to read. Since neither of us had read any, we couldn’t answer them. So, my husband – willing to “sacrifice” himself – read the first one, then the 2cd, and then the 3rd. He LOVED them, and even encouraged our church members to read them. They are chock-full of Christian principles. I could try to explain about more about the different kinds of magic used in the books, but I don’t think I could do it justice. I urge you to pick up the book called “Finding God in Harry Potter” by John Granger. He does an excellent job of explaining that part of it.
Now, as for HP7 – I thought she did an excellent job!!! It was a great ending to the series, and I will miss reading them.
Welcome back randy!
Hi Tammy, I’m the wife of a minister and have been a christian my whole life. When the HP books first came out, we were not interested in them at all. When the 3rd one was released, we were asked by church members whether or not we thought they were okay to read. Since neither of us had read any, we couldn’t answer them. So, my husband – willing to “sacrifice” himself – read the first one, then the 2cd, and then the 3rd. He LOVED them, and even encouraged our church members to read them. They are chock-full of Christian principles. I could try to explain about more about the different kinds of magic used in the books, but I don’t think I could do it justice. I urge you to pick up the book called “Finding God in Harry Potter” by John Granger. He does an excellent job of explaining that part of it.
Now, as for HP7 – I thought she did an excellent job!!! It was a great ending to the series, and I will miss reading them.
Welcome back randy!
I’m with Charlotte. I’ve not read a single one of the HP books. I know, as a writer, how can I not? My curiosity is piqued, however, given all the publicity about the series ending. I posted a column about it at my blog: offthebookshelf.blogspot.com if you’re interested. Kind of an odd observation that ends talking about politics. Welcome back, Randy. I have missed your columns here. I hope you had a great trip. It sounds like it.
Thank you, D.E. Hale. Excellent advice and testimony. Honestly, I haven’t researched it at all, I’ve been so busy with work, school, and writing, so I had no investigation behind my decision not to read them. However, I like to hear testimonies of people with like minds of Christ, so thank you for the book tip. I will get John Granger’s book before I begin the series.
Thanks, again! Tammy
I’ve read a few things online that said Rowling really needed a better editor, her writing isn’t that good, etc. Here’s the deal, though. I was totally hooked. My wife and I read this last one aloud to each other over three nights. We both really enjoyed it.
FYI: Jerry B Jenkins has some very nice things to say about the Harry Potter books in his book “Writing for the Soul”. He compared kids reading them to him reading “The Wizard of Oz” when he was a kid. He also was a bit torqued that people comdemn the books that haven’t read them.
I don’t think anyone can say that they are OK for every Christian to read. If you don’t want to read them, that’s your decision, and that’s just fine and dandy. I hadn’t read them until my daughter had bugged me about them after a friend of hers had recommended them. My wife was apprehensive, so I agreed to pick up the first book from the library and both my daughter and I read it. After that we were hooked! We now own all the books and movies.
So glad to have you back, you were missed.
We will try to catch the cruise next year. If it’s the amazon, I am sure it will be exciting. I will just go from on rainforest to another, hehe. I will be prepared with mosquito repellent, unless the ship tries to sell it to you!
I don’t read Harry Potter, so I can’t comment, sorry.
Yvette
WELCOME BACK RANDY!!!
I absolutely LOVED HP7!!! I used to be a big Harry Potter fan, but after a while a stop reading the books. I read the entire series over the summer and I just finished #7 today. I was sooooo sad that it was the end of the Harry Potter books that I cried!
I say that while J.K. Rowling doesn’t use MRUs (sometimes I was confused about who was saying or doing what), she does put her reader (me) through an extremely powerful emotional experience!!! Not to mention, it was a real page turner. When I had about 200 pages left, I couldn’t find it in myself to put the darn book down. Basically, all week I’ve stayed up until three in the morning reading (“Just one more chapter!”). Sure I messed up my sleeping schedule, but for the Deathly Hallows, it was worth it!!!
I know I lready commented but I just remembered that I left something out! SO, in order to do J.K. ROwling justice, I also must say that one of the reasons that the books are so great is because she has a wonderful way of not only making colorfful characters, but bringing them to life through the pages. The plots are also always intricate, and she has a great way of setting up plants and giving the reader clues to the twist in every book!
Hey Tammy Bowers: any relation to Betty? It’s a long shot, I know, but you seem to hold the same opinions. Just curious….
Welcome back, Randy.
I, too, have never read the Potter books, and I’m not even sure I want to read them. I’ve been pretty fed up with anything that is mainstream fantasy (witches, dragons, and the likes). I’ve always been more of a fan of darker books, hence my choice of genre 🙂
Sorry, Tom. No relation to Betty. Is that good or bad? I do like the name, though. Betty Bowers. Catchy!