Growing up with Harry

[author_by_night]

(Yet again, non-Harry Potter people- forgive me.)

Many of us were children or in our early teens when we first picked up the book with that odd guy in front of a train (or on a broomstick, or somewhere else, depending on where you reside.) 

So I'm conducting a survey of sorts, and want feedback from those of you who were in your teens or younger when you first read the books. In a short paragraph or sentence, tell me these things
- Your country of residence.

- The fandom/LJ name you want to be quoted as (in case I decide to quote yours), or if you'd rather not be quoted, but still want to answer. 

- How old you are now, and how old you were then. 

- What it was like, growing up with the books.

If you know someone who grew up with the books (little brother/sister, younger friend, your own kid, etc.), you may also post about that. 

Note: I will be quoting a number of these unless you request otherwise, but it is possible not all answers will be used. I will make an effort to link to this post when I complete the project, but if it is hard to fit the number I recieve in, I will not be able to. However, again, I will link to this.

Oh, and just FYI: I was fourteen when I first read the books. I'm now twenty two. Time flies!

ETA: Thanks to all of you who have replied so far! 41 comments! One of these days I will catch up on replying, but in the meantime, it's been cool hearing all of your stories, and look forward to more. :)

Comments

[alias-iii.livejournal.com]

I was fifteen when I read the first three, a couple months before GoF came out, and only after a couple of friends forcibly put SS/PS into my hands and glared until I started reading; I was a fan of fantasy, but I knew that anything that was as popular as HP had to suck. I'm twenty-two now.

Mostly, HP has been a consistent pass-time for me. I read and write a lot of fic, though my own stuff is rarely finished and even more rarely posted. I've made a really good friend through fandom, whom I've met IRL four times now, including staying at her home twice. Mostly, I just lurk in fandom, but the books have been fascinating to me from the start. I tend to think about them or about fic when I'm in a boring lecture. It's given me a lot to think about as a creative writing major and has definitely had its influences. I definitely understand a lot of details a lot better now than I did when I was 15, some of it in regards to the nuts and bolts of the writing itself, and some of it in regards to how/why characters do what they do. I also have a bad habit of putting classic lit. into HP terms; I see a theme or a plot twist and I think "Oh, JKR employs much the same thing when she..." which I guess is good 'cause I'm seeing the influences that would eventually lead to fiction like JKR's, but I probably shouldn't think of classic English lit. in those terms. Doesn't make it any less fun.

[alias-iii.livejournal.com]

Oh, am an American, and alias_iii is good.