According to an exclusive report from Entertainment Weekly, J.K. Rowling has created an American alternative to the word “Muggle” for the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them films.
“No-Maj” (pronounced “no madge”) is the American version of the word used to describe non-magic folk. The film series will commence in 1926 New York, and while the name sounds reminiscent of 1920s colloquialisms, as far as we know, it’s the name that even modern-day American witches and wizards would use.
As we know, J.K. Rowling herself has written the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts, but EW also reports that she has created several new words/names for the American wizarding world, which are yet to be revealed.
Pottermore tweeted about the unveiling of “No-Maj,” and Twitter users shared their thoughts:
It is quite a change from “Muggle,” a term that fans are fond of. After all, the word is even part of the English lexicon: It was incorporated into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2003, and is used to indicate “a person who is not conversant with a particular activity or skill.”
There are some fans that approve, saying that the new word fits the vernacular of the time period, the Roaring ’20’s in America. If the word sounds like an insult or a slur, maybe that was its intention in the 1920’s. Even if the word is still used today, language and the meaning of words does change over time. J.K. Rowling created the word, so we have to assume at least some thought was behind it.
What are your thoughts about “No-Maj”? Let us know in the comments!
Today, we have the pleasure of talking with N.Y. Times and USA Today best-selling author Hugh Howey. He is the author of the award-winning Molly Fyde Saga and I, Zombie, but is perhaps best known for Wool.
Woolintroduces readers to the Silo Saga and a ruined and toxic landscape, where a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Sheriff Holston, who has unwaveringly upheld the silo’s rules for years, unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: He asks to go outside.
His fateful decision unleashes a drastic series of events. An unlikely candidate is appointed to replace him: Juliette, a mechanic with no training in law, whose special knack is fixing machines. Now Juliette is about to be entrusted with fixing her silo, and she will soon learn just how badly her world is broken. The silo is about to confront what its history has only hinted about and its inhabitants have never dared to whisper. Uprising.
Woolis available in hard cover, paperback, eBook and audio book. It is on the fast track to be a major motion picture and, at last count, has been picked up by 28 countries for translation. Amidst this whirlwind of success, Hugh was nice enough to answer a few questions about the man behind the books.
Mark Miller: In meeting other authors, I have found that our life story can sometimes be as interesting as the ones we create. Can you tell us a little about your life? What did you do before you were an author? How did that help you become an author?
Hugh Howey: I’ve had numerous jobs and careers. My main gig was as a yacht captain, which allowed me to see quite a bit of the world, meet fascinating people, and get in some wild predicaments. I think each of those helped me be a better writer. Roofing for two years was a great way to daydream and also a great job for wanting one where you worked from home in your pajamas.
MM:Roofing in your pajamas probably doesn’t work too well, but you might be able to get away with it on a yacht. Life experience is key to writing and it sounds like you’ve had some good ones. What about your hobbies, pajama-clad or not, do they add to your writing in any way?
HH:I’m a nut for photography. It definitely adds to my writing. It teaches you to see the details in the world. You also learn to tell a story with a single snapshot.
MM:I believe you share some of your photography on Facebook. You definitely share your life. Being a world traveler and best-selling author, how different is that life now versus about a year ago?
HH:Not so different when it comes to work. But a year ago, I was living in the mountains of North Carolina. Last June, my wife and I moved to south Florida when she took a different job. So that’s changed quite a bit. I now see more sand and far less snow!
MM:Less snow is always good. I will say, at least snow melts. Sand always seems to be hanging around and winds up in some odd places. You traded the beautiful mountains of North Carolina for the beautiful waters of South Florida. Even with the move, it sounds like you are traveling as much as ever. With all the travel and book tours, like Germany and Australia, what do you miss most from your old life? Does your wife have any thoughts on the subject? Does it affect her in any way?
HH:I miss the steadiness of my writing routine. Travel makes writing difficult. I think my wife gets worn out from me being away from home so much. Since I work from home, I normally keep up with the cleaning and food prep. I also watch and entertain the dog. So it’s a lot more work for her when I’m gone. Plus, I think she misses me. A little.
MM:That is a very familiar routine to me, except for the globe-trotting. Maybe you should try adding some children to the mix…but let’s change the subject. Many consider Wool a must read. When you open a book, what do you consider a must read? What elements are you looking for to make it a must read?
HH:For me, I have to learn something. It has to expand my mind. I mostly read non-fiction, but I read a work recently that blew me away with its prose and plot. It’s called Lexicon by Max Barry, and it comes out in June. One of those books you want to read a second time.
MM:Max is an Australian author and is also known for his online political simulation game Nation States. It sounds like he will be making his mark soon. There are so many up and coming authors these days with changes in independent, digital and self-publishing. There are also a growing number of authors and aspiring authors that write fan fiction, Amazon recently made an announcement about it. You have even posted about Wool fan fiction and seem to encourage it. How do you feel about other writers creating stories in your world? Have you written any fan fiction? If so, can you name the franchise?
HH:I fully support it. Of course, I would never ask or expect anyone to write fan fiction in my world, but when people approached me about it, I gave it my full blessing. The idea of charging money for the fan fiction came from me. I just feel like artists should be bold enough to ask for a dollar for their hard work. And a lot of the fan fiction is better than the source material. I haven’t written any fan fiction, but it’s something I’m keen on now that I’ve seen it work the other way. My first foray might be a Dr. Who episode, just for fun. Maybe I’ll shop it to the studio and see what they have to say. :)
MM:I can picture it now – the TARDIS materializes in a cave; the Doctor and his companion walk out and discover they are at the bottom of an enormous spiral staircase. Or maybe Firefly? After all, you are a captain. Also, don’t think I’ll let your “fan fiction is better than the source material” comment go unnoticed. It is something I have seen from you on more than one occasion: you appear to be a modest, genuine person. It is refreshing. You are as much an author as you are a fan. Allowing for a fanboymoment, are there any established authors that you would like to see write a story in your franchise? Any with which you would like to co-write anything?
HH:Oh, I would hate to suggest that anyone write stories in my franchise. That would have to be up to them. If I co-wrote something with another author, it would ideally be my wife. I’m trying to convince her to publish some self-help shorts. She’s a psychologist with a gift for helping people, and books could reach a much wider audience.
MM:There’s that modesty again. You wear it well and you seem to have a great relationship with your wife. Isn’t that every husbands’ dream to write with his wife? Or at least every husband that is an author? I even have a concept when I can convince mine to join me. We have covered quite a bit already, but I wanted to rewind a little and ask have you always wanted to be an author? And looking forward, where do you see yourself in five years? Still writing or pursuing another goal?
HH:Yeah, this has always been a dream of mine. In five years, I see myself on a sailboat, sailing around the world. Writing as I go, of course.
MM:With Shiftclimbing the charts, it looks like your long term goals are coming sooner rather than later. As you try to hold your laptop steady, bobbing on the Caribbean waves, can readers expect more stories from the silo? What others stories are you looking forward to sharing with the world?
HH: There’s one more book coming out in the series entitled Dust. It will be out August 17th of this year. And then it’s on to other stories.
MM:Every good story deserves to be a trilogy, at least. Whatever those other stories might be (hopefully one Dr. Who episode), this is only the beginning for you. Congratulations on everything so far and thank you for taking the time to be here today. I would like to end with a fun question: If you could be any fictional character, who and why?
HH:I’d be Han Solo. It’s everything I knew from being a yacht captain, but in outer space. That’s the job for me. With a Wookie for a best friend, which is like a dog, but better. A dog you can talk to and play chess with. Sign me up!
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Via Lisnews, I find out the Lexicon is all set to go and be published this January!
Why, pray tell?
"On Thursday, RDR Books officially withdrew its appeal of U.S. District Judge Robert P. Patterson's decision, and Rowling's public relations agency issued a statement favorable to the release of the rewritten lexicon." The news source is none other than Roger Rapaport of RDR publishing and Lexicon editor/author Steve Vander Ark, in Rapaport's local paper, the Muskegon Chronicle.
What does this mean? Have I reconsidered what I said earlier about the appeal not being about the book?
It means the parties to a litigation still have a say in what goes forward in their name, even when lawyers and law centers get involved. I really wish I'd been a fly on the wall for the discussions between Stanford Law Center and RDR about the appeal. I also wonder if SVA had anything to do with this. No, he's not a party. But he's taken a huge beating in fandom over the lawsuit, and the combo of withdrawing the lawsuit and rewriting the Lexicon will, I believe, help his standing in HP fandom.
Note to self: set Google alert for the Stanford Law Center to see what copyright issue and case they get involved with next. For them, it's not about the book; it's about the principles of copyright. So yes, we will be seeing them again!
Second note: Weirdly, the newspaper reporting this buried the money quote, above, deep in the article itself. Like they didn't realize it was the most important part of the story!
Edited to add: the Leaky Cauldron's news release on this from yesterday.
Edited to add again: Will I buy the new book? I'm not sure; I'm on a pretty tight budget at the moment. But I do want to read it!
The Notice of Appeal has been filed. (Thanks to Carlie for letting me know.)
I haven't read much of the online comments about this, because there really is nothing to comment on, yet.
I will say a few things, though.
RDR has every right to appeal. That's part of the legal system. You believe that the trial judge made a mistake, you have the right to get that mistake fixed.
Now, what one says -- that can be limited. You just cannot yell "do over." Most appeals are based on errors of law -- in other words, saying, "sorry, Judge, but you got the law wrong or interpreted the law wrong." Sometimes, it is based on an error of fact: "sorry, Judge, but your findings of fact were wrong." The latter is rarer, because appeal courts do not want to substitute their own judgment about facts for the trial judge's judgment, under the belief that the person who actually heard the testimony has a better understanding of what was said than the person(s) who read the transcript of the testimony.
So, I really don't want to hear about sore losers, or who is right or wrong, or wastes of money, etc. etc.
Also, the appellate court doesn't give a different decision; rather, they usually send it back to the original judge saying "sorry, you used the wrong law, here is the right one, do it again."
This still doesn't affect you. This is still between the parties. Now, what the appellate court ends up deciding may be controlling -- but only controlling over those courts over which it has jurisdiction. Let's worry about that later.
This is no longer about the Lexicon. It stopped being about the Lexicon once the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society got involved. Hell, it's no longer about JKRowling anymore, for that matter. This is CIS and copyright; the Lexicon case happens to be the vehicle that CIS is using. CIS really doesn't care, one way or the other, about the Lexicon itself; what they care about is copyright. So as long as they have a chance to clarify, refine, or even change copyright law, they will argue this case forward.
Who do you want to create laws -- judges or legislators? Personally, I have always been of the opinion that ideally the legislative branch creates the laws and the judges interpret. At what point does "interpretation" become "creation"? Discuss amongst yourself. Discuss further how your attitude changes depending on whether or not you agree with what the judges are doing. My personal belief (and I'm not unique in this) is that CIS is going to use the Lexicon case to change the law of copyright and, accordingly, this case will end up being appealed to the Supreme Court. Part of the reason I'm not behind CIS is I think it is for Congress, not the Supreme Court, to change those laws.
Disclaimer: yes, I used to be a lawyer but I don't practice anymore. All the above are short and sweet versions and explanations and interpretations of things it takes a long time to cover in law school.
By: Yasmin Coonjah,
on 11/27/2015
By: Alysha McLeod,
on 11/5/2015
By: Mark Miller,
on 5/24/2013
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By: Lizzy Burns,
on 12/5/2008
Thank you, Liz, you rock.