Barry Delaney asked G. Norman Lippert:

Hi :) I am halfway through book 1 of James and really enjoying it. When you are writing dialogue for Harry, Hermione, Ron etc. do you feel pressure to stay true to their characters and does this lead to lots of revisions?

G. Norman Lippert I absolutely do. I absolutely adore the original golden trio, and yet I feel an immense responsibility to write them not as they were when last we saw them, but as more mature characters, still familiar, but with the requisite number of years having evolved their personalities, honing and maturing their idiosyncrasies. I feel quite content with my representation of Harry, in particular. He is strong, yet sensitive. He is giving to James, Albus, and Lilly the parenting he never had, but so desperately yearned for. And in so doing he is redeeming his own childhood, and healing from the losses therein.

And yet most of all I felt an insurmountable compulsion to represent well-- yet believably-- the marriage of Ron and Hermione. They are so different. And clearly, so many of us were rooting for a Harry/Hermione pairing. I perceive that many readers, in the intervening years, have second-guessed their marriage, and predicted dire outcomes for them as a result.

I believe they are, in fact, a more than suitable pairing. I wanted to represent this. Thus, I allow them to show how their differences actually cement their devotion, rather than undermine it. Ron is the softening agent that conditions Hermione's rigidity, and Hermione gives structure to Ron's goofiness and inherent self doubt.

And yet, most of all, I wanted to show that, when the sticking point comes, all three of them are eager to work together, relying on their shared instinct and rock-solid history, to confront evil even now, just as they did back then, wherever it arises to threaten those they love.

flag