Strange Coincidences Between Harry Potter and Paraworld Zero

Originally posted July 27, 2007 HERE

I just watched an interview with J.K. Rowling and I was shocked to hear that she got the ideas for Harry Potter 17 years ago. Holy Cow! That's the same amount of years ago that I came up with the ideas for Parallel Worlds. There must have been something in the water at that time.

I'm constantly frustrated every time I read one of her books, because we seem to be on the same brainwave. I finished Paraworld Zero before the fourth or fifth Harry Potter books came out, although I started writing my book in 1990. And when I read the later Harry Potter books, I found a few similar ideas and characters that I had included in my book.

The other day I was filming a movie trailer for my book and I had the character snap his fingers and then turn his head away. One of my boys said that he was doing that because fire was coming out of his fingers. My boy hasn't read the book, so I asked him how he knew that. He said that he saw it on Fantastic Four. ARRRG! By the time my book gets published it will look like I'm copying ideas from other people!

At least I have video footage of me when I was 14, talking a little about my book. I have the original printed version of parts of the first 6 chapters from 1990, but that doesn't mean anything to most people. I'm sure it will be a battle I'll have to go through to prove myself. As it is, I've already had to change parts of my book after I read the Harry Potter books because they were just too close together.

On a side note: the first book I started writing (even before 1990) was called The Sorcerer's Wand and it was about a boy who discovers his parents (who had died) were magical. He sets off on a journey that would end up with him joining a magical school. No joke. I do have some of that printed out from the 1980s. The computer file died on me twice and I had to rewrite about 60 pages from memory. With so many frustrations, I stopped writing it and then a little later I started Parallel Worlds, which had a similar theme. What a crazy coincidence to Harry Potter! I've said this before that reading Harry Potter (or listening to it, as was the case) was what got me excited to finish my book, so thanks J.K. Rowling for giving me a kick in the behind.