Thursday, June 14, 2012

Harry Potter Tour In Edinburgh

Click here to see what I'm talking about.

It doesn't matter that I can already identify nearly every spot they mention and nearly every spot in the photo gallery.  It doesn't matter that I already know most of this stuff.
Sigh.
It's Edinburgh.  At Festival time.  And Harry Potter.
I am SO homesick!

Look, for those who don't already know it, I spent several summers and a full year living in Edinburgh. And it just so happened I was living there when Half-Blood Prince was released.  It was awesome to be running around that night taking photos of the carriages taking selected school children up to spend the night at a reading inside the castle.
And the Edinburgh International Book Festival is THE book festival.
Lately, I keep reading about Book Expo America.  Bloggers have been talking about it like it was the be-all and end-all of book festivals.  But after I had a look, I was not all that impressed.  It was what, 3 days?  And I counted 18 authors on their website.  Oh, whoop-ti-do.
The Edinburgh International Book Festival runs usually about 3 weeks.  It has around 800 events and 750 + authors.  It's hard to be impressed by BEA when I've been to the Edinburgh festival several times.
BEA this year had Chris Colfer, Lowis Lowry, and Dan Handler.  Not bad.
Wanna know whom I've met at the Edinburgh Book Festival before?  Try Neil Gaiman, Ian Rankin, Doris Lessing (yeah, she's a grouchy old lady -- but she's also a Nobel prize winning writer), Debbi Gliori, Stuart Hill, Meg Rosoff, Liz Lochead, and at least a dozen others.

Unfortunately, it's been since 2008 since I've been to the book festival.  Or seen the places that inspired Rowling as she wrote Harry Potter.  Or toured the castle.  Or walked the Crags.
Sigh.
I really want to go back.  Really.
Maybe that's why I keep writing Scotland into all my books...... :)

5 comments:

  1. I've shamefully never really got involved in the Book Festival despite living up here for almost 9 years. If you ever get back, we can meet up at some events by all means!

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    1. Oh, you need to go to the book festival!
      Yeah, I know that the city's insane at festival time and locals tend to avoid the Royal Mile. And I don't blame you.
      But the book festival is incredible. And tickets go on sale in a few days. You really ought to see if you can go to it; it is so very well done.

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  2. I've never been to ANY book festivals. A combination of lack of money and a wife that hated me being out of her sight for more than twenty minutes.

    It's something I intend to rectify at some point in the near future as I now ahve no control freak in my life and a writers group that loves doing this sort of thing.

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    1. Well, if you ever get the chance to take the train up to see the Edinburgh Festival, and if you check their website beforehand, you're almost sure to find something to suit you. They just have SO MANY different authors that it's impossible not to find something to suit your taste.

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  3. That sounds wonderful. The most exciting writing related events going on here are a potential proof reading job for an HR guy and a talk for church on Father's Day. I'd rather go to Edinburg.

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