The dreaded Hairy Poohead and the clashing publication dates…

Well, I should have put two and two together sooner, but alas: I’m just not that bright. I saw on Sarah’s blog that Harry Potter And The Gauntlet Of Puberty is hitting bookshops and supermarkets all over the world on 16th Jul 2005. Now this in itself is not a terrible thing as such. After all, Rowling’s turned herself into the richest woman in the galaxy with her tales of magic and thingies – more power to her elbow (though given the state of HP&TOOTP maybe it’s her editors that need a bit more of the old oomph). The reason this is cause for consternation in the MacBride household is that Cold Granite comes out in the US on dates as yet unspecified in – wait for it – June.

Damn.

Given the tales told of the last time another HP book came out (authors’ new books piled on the floor under table to make way for Hogwarts theme nights and other such degrading shenanigans) I can’t help worrying that my humble offering is going to disappear, in a blitz of HP promotion.

Once more: Damn.