#hpcon

It's the last Leviosa Quill feature and while that makes us a little sad, it's also amazing because LEVIOSA IS TOMORROW! We're pracitcally levitating with excitement...or it might be that shipment of billywigs that escaped. There's so much to do and so many things to see, we can't wait to throw open the great hall and welcome you inside!

For our last feature, we caught up with Tobie Easton one of the many authors you'll get to meet at Leviosa. Tobie has a soft spot for the mermaids living in the Black Lagoon and we have it on good authority she can even speak a bit of mermish! Read on to find more about Tobie and her obsession with all things aquatic.

What are you looking forward to most at Leviosa? I’m so excited to be back at Leviosa this year! I’m most looking forward to getting to chat obsessively with people who love reading and magic the same way I do.

What is the best writing advice you've received? It’s a marathon, not a sprint.  That goes for each book you write and for a publishing career as a whole.  It’s very easy to get caught up with the “right now” and the pressure to do everything right away (finish a book, get an agent, sell the next book, sell the movie rights—whatever the goal is), especially when it’s easier than ever to compare yourself to others, but I try to remind myself that what ultimately matters most is the content and quality of the books I’m putting out into the world.

If you could write ANYTHING, without worrying about editor or market constraints, what would that book be about? Actually, since I started writing Emerge (Book 1) before I knew anyone in publishing or anything about the publishing industry, the Mer Chronicles is what I would write free of any market constraints.  I just completely fell in love with exploring the idea of “What if mermaids lived on land?” It’s pure creative, magical fun from my heart and I feel so lucky that I now get to share it with readers.

Can you tell us a little bit about what you're working on now? Yes!  I’m currently working on my first historical fiction novel.  It’s too early to reveal much, but I can say that it’s in a setting I think my readers will love and features a forbidden romance (surprise, surprise).  I’m especially loving the process of writing the worldbuilding.

What's your favorite way to celebrate Potter in your everyday life? Right after college, I read all seven Harry Potter books out loud to my then-boyfriend (now-husband) while doing all the voices—a couple chapters every night before bed. It took a long time, but sharing the books that way was such a fun, special experience. Now that it’s been a few years, we want to start back from the beginning and read all the way through out loud again.

Leviosa Quill time again! The conference is just days away and we’re so excited our team is moving faster than Neville Longbottom after a Tarantallegra jinx. Today we’re bringing you another behind the scenes look with one of our presenters, Professor Cathy Leogrande.

What are you looking forward to most at Leviosa? Discussing academic topics around the Potter franchise now that it has expanded so much. So many other academics have continued to analyze and research aspects of the series.

What's the funniest question you've been asked by an audience member during a presentation? If I thought that Hermione was JKR being a Mary Sue.

What do you enjoy most about presenting at fan conferences? I am one of the few academics who feels the power of a good story by an author who is still alive. Higher ed still tends to stick with the traditional canon, While I love Shakespeare and Steinbeck, I love spending time talking about the Potter novels with others who know the books inside out and want to enthusiastically rehash the Snape debate as well as talk about nifflers and botruckles. I can't always find others like that in central NY so I'm more than willing to fly 3000 miles to find my flock. I still say HP fans are smart like Tolkien fans but a lot more fun.

Can you give us a sneak peek of some the topics you'll be discussing? I am excited about all three presentations. First, I will be discussing how the field of YA lit changed after JKR. The similarities and incredible changes from days of Nancy Drew and Judy Blume are mind-boggling. Second, I will be discussing a wonderful model of dealing with grief and loss using The 8 Horcruxes of Grief: The Harry Potter Grief Model developed by Litsa Williams and Eleanor Haley. Finally, I will be discussing how He Who Must Not Be Named and the Death Eaters have been used to make points regarding a certain White House occupant and his staff. There is great disagreement about whether or not this is problematic by devaluing the severity of some of the issues. My sessions are highly interactive, so get ready to discuss, debate, question and enjoy!

What's your favorite way to celebrate Potter in your every day life? My office at Le Moyne College has all the HP Funkos, my wands and other items, over 200 academic books related to HP, and the fur house banners. The best part is that I have a wall section that separates the banners and I have a decal of the Fat Lady's portrait. I cannot tell you how many students come to office hours and sneak a peek at that before asking if that is the portal to the Gryffindor Common Room. When I tell them yes, they ask how to enter, and I say if they don't know the password they will have to wait for the Head Girl or Boy.

An early post from the Leviosa Quill today! It's less than a week until Leviosa 2019 kicks off in Hollywood and we're more excited than Buckbeak with a sack full of ferrets. Our house elves are hard at work, muggle banishing spell are in place, and there's a whole lot of magic going on.

One of the programming areas we're excited to bring you is our Lit Track. Filled with fabulous authors and fun panels this one is a don't miss for any book nerd. As book-loving witches and wizards we just couldn't wait for next week though, so The Quill caught up with one of those author's, Lindsay Ribar!

What are you looking forward to most at Leviosa? Oh my goodness, everything. I always have the best time at conventions like these, and I can never predict in advance what my favorite part will be!

What was your favorite part about working with other authors on The Pros of Cons? Pretty much everything! The fact that I could hang out with two of my best friends and call it “work.” The fact that I only had to write one third of the book. Having built-in beta readers wasn’t bad, either!

What was the hardest part? The hardest part was definitely the outlining. Alison and Michelle are both plotters, whereas I’m a pantser—but in order for co-writing to work, plotting is pretty necessary. Which means they had to drag me, kicking and screaming, into the land of outlines.

If you could co-author a book with any author (living or dead) which author would you choose? I think the answer has to be JK Rowling, doesn’t it? I think we could write a great book together! We could collaborate on the world-building and the character development. She could be in charge of the plot. I could be in charge of the feelings, and of making it more gay.

Have you ever written fanfiction? If so, what fandom? Oh yeah, fanfic is what got me into writing in the first place. I started writing fanfic back in elementary school, long before I had an internet connection and long before I knew that “fanfiction” was the term for what I was doing. I’ve written for a lot of different fandoms over the years—The Scarlet Pimpernel, Dexter, Yuri!!! On Ice—but Harry Potter was the one that taught me how to write, how to edit, and how to be edited by others.

What author life goal are you most looking forward to smashing? I will consider myself successful if and when I find fanfic of one of my books, preferably E-rated, written by someone I don’t personally know.

What's your favorite way to celebrate Potter in your everyday life? That would definitely be the “Mischief Managed” tattoo on my left forearm.

Dust off your brooms, pick up a portkey, or grab a pinch of Floo powder because next Thursday, Leviosa 2019 officially kicks off in Hollywood, CA! Haven't got your ticket yet? There's still time and you don't want to miss out on all the Harry Potter fun we've got planned for you.

In fact, today's Leviosa Quill post is all about the spontaneity and silliness that ensues when you get a bunch of Potter fans together, hand them a microphone, and take away all the rules. That's right, we're talking about The Show That Shall Not Be Named, a Harry Potter improv group that inspires more laughs than Severus Snape's moldy underwear! (Too soon?)

The Quill caught up with Stephanie Pressman, proud Ravenclaw and one of the founding members of the improv group, to find out more!

What are you looking forward to most at Leviosa? Connecting with other Harry Potter Fans.

What's the most ridiculous thing you've done on stage? I love to play creatures like the giant squid or magical pets so those can get silly... or playing body parts of other characters like beards, extra arms, wings or private parts.

How many members are in your improv group? 9-10 currently. Our team was started by our talented friend Gian Molina and he passed away several years ago. We have had different cast members throughout the years however, my husband and I were part of the founding team and have been around since the beginning and still continue to perform. Some of our teammates that have graduated from Hogwarts return as celebrity guests.

Do you improv fandoms other than Potter? We have a knack for finding other fandoms that belong in the Harry Potter universe - we have had shows that overlap fandoms like Mary Poppins or Star Wars. Our group has done a 1 off Game of Thrones show and we’ve been asked to do other genres but our goal has always been Harry Potter.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to try their hand at improv? Los Angeles has a bunch of great improv schools- sign up and take a class. Most cities have their own improv classes or contact us we offer workshops!

What's your favorite way to celebrate Potter in your every day life? I love the books and a reread is always essential especially now that I have children. I’m looking forward to reading the illustrated editions with them. We also love baking and cooking treats from the books (I make some great pumpkin pasties) and making some awesome cocktails and butterbeer (which we try to bring to most of our big shows).

It’s a late dispatch from the Leviosa Quill tonight! Our magical printing press was infested with Nargles, alas, but a quick consult with Luna has us back in action.

One of the con staples at Leviosa is our fabulous fashion show. Who can resist stepping on stage and strutting their stuff? Certainly not all the amazing cosplayers we’ve seen over the years. We took a moment to catch up with Leviosa’s own Alexandra Black, our elegant mistress of fashion, to Accio a few tips and costume ideas for all those witches and wizards who will be swarming the catwalk in just over a week.

What are you looking forward to most at Leviosa? Seeing everyone having fun. When you have so many HP fans gathering under one roof, you can definitely feel the magic in the air.

What is the most elaborate costume you've seen at a Harry Potter con? This is a difficult question, I've seen many elaborate costumes. However, if I have to pick one, I'd say Madame Longbottom with her gigantic vulture hat.

What is your favorite costume you've seen at a HP con? Irvin's polyjuiced!Slytherin first year girl. It was original, simple, and it certainly made me laugh. It was a reminder that it's not what you wear, but how you wear it.

What is the best costuming trick you've learned or advice you've received? Don't let mishaps bother you. Make up a story to go with it, eg if you misplaced/forgot a shoe, then the nargles stole them.

What HP costume haven't you seen that you really wish someone would do? Pre-Voldemort Tom Riddle.

How do you celebrate Potter in your everyday life? I am ashamed to say that I haven't done so properly for the last couple of years. I wear Slytherin scarf in the winter, I do try to read at least one chapter of fanfic a week, and I still make HP references whenever I ponder a situation, but other than that, I'm afraid I've been living in the muggle world.

The Leviosa Quill is back with another peek into the programming and people of Leviosa 2019!

Over the years, this Quill reporter has racked up quite the Harry Potter con passport and there are always a few fans who standout from the crowd. Such as Valerie Frankel, a seasoned presenter, prolific author, and a woman who knows how to work an accessory or two. At numerous cons Valerie has sported everything from from a flying pig hat to a dress strung through with LED lights. She exudes a joyful sort of wackiness and her enthusiasm is contagious. Ms. Frankel is presenting every day of Leviosa so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to catch one of her sessions and say hi!

We caught up with Ms. Frankel for a quick word on all things Potter!

What are you looking forward to most at Leviosa? Cons are always fun: speaking and spreading news about my books but also seeing old friends, meeting new ones, discovering cool new products. Potter fandom really keeps growing, with new fan-made spinoffs and spoofs. And I can show off my new anthology on what we’re all up to: Fan Phenomena: Harry Potter.

Any hints of what unique costume pieces you might be sporting this year? Lately I’ve been cosplaying steampunk Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel, but it’s likely I’ll come up with something special. Sometimes I make pieces at the cons or discover something forgotten in the depths of my con bags. On with the shopping!

Which of your presentations are you most excited about? Oh they’re all fun in different ways. The Heroine’s Journey is my staple talk that I give all the time at cons and writer’s groups. But at one group, several people were asking my secret to publishing and writing fifteen books in a year so I guzzled caffeine (yeah, that’s one of my secrets) and shared how I do it: that’s Speed Authoring, which is silly and energetic. Potter talks like The Pantheon of Hogwarts Professors and The Real Deathly Hallows are from the mythology research I’ve done, and those are lots of fun for me too. Care of Magical Creatures is based on the real life animals similar to Rowling’s mythology, and a show I’ve done at a few kiddie libraries. So, everything, really.

If you could interview any author (living or dead), who would it be and what would be your first question? As an English teacher, asking Shakespeare whether he actually wrote all those plays would be awfully satisfying. As for living authors, I’ve approached many on Facebook and in person when I have a question—it’s really gotten quite easy to hang out with our heroes. And it’s awesome when they message me back or even become fans of my stuff.

What's your favorite way to celebrate Potter in your every day life? My books! I post on social media about all my titles, and I have six now on Potter (one just came in today’s mail!). At the same time, there are so many Potter parties at bookstores that I keep an emergency hat and cloak in my trunk.

Time for another dispatch from the Leviosa Quill, your peek into the programming and people of Leviosa 2019!

It wouldn't be a fan con without the fans and there are few fans as dedicated as our own Dark Lord of the Dance, Irvin Khaytman! Irvin has been cosplaying for over a decade and to-date he's created 150 costumes, 60 of them from Harry Potter. When not working on costumes, you can find Irvin leading discussion meet-ups with New York's own The Group That Shall Not Be Named or teaching dance classes every Wednesday with the Dancing Death Eaters.

Eager to learn the secrets of his cosplay prowess, The Quill charmed a few answers out of Irvin recently.

What's the most elaborate costume you've ever created? Hmm... probably the doxy

What's your favorite costume you've ever done? Definitely the portrait of Mrs Black 

What is the best cosplay tip you've ever received? Accessories are the most important thing.

Any sneak peeks you'd like to share of what characters we might expect at Leviosa? I was actually just composing a list of who I'm going to wear to Leviosa!  They'll be some of the less elaborate costumes because I have to fly there, but I can promise a lot of old favorites will be making appearances. And since Sean Biggerstaff's gonna be there, I'm working on crafting an Oliver Wood cosplay.  (If anyone has a giant-ass silver trophy they're not using, please holler.) 

How do you celebrate potter in your everyday life? I'm always decked out in more HP merch than most people wear to conventions (t-shirts, bags, necklaces, etc).  I visit MuggleNet every day.  I listen to every new episode Alohomora! and just became a regular host on that podcast.  I write essays for MuggleNet.