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Welcome to The Genre Traveler! Please sign up using the form to the right so that you'll get all the latest updates to the site. You also might want to sign up for the RSS feed, which you can do via email or your favorite RSS Reader. I heard about this from The North Orange County Harry Potter Meetup Group:

Scholastic has announced that seven lucky U.S. Harry Potter fans, under the age of 21, will be selected in a sweepstakes and flown to London to join J.K. Rowling at a midnight launch event for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows leading up to the book release at 12:01 a.m. on July 21, 2007.

The winners will attend "J.K. Rowling and the Moonlight Signing" at London's Natural History Museum and will join 1,700 fans who will have the opportunity to meet J.K. Rowling and have their book signed. They will also be among the lucky 500 fans who will be selected to attend a midnight reading with their favorite author. The Scholastic sweepstakes winners will be given a copy of the U.S. edition of the book.

But hurry: Entries must be received by June 15, 2007.

For more information: www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/events/sweepstakes.htm

Many are predicting that gas prices in the U.S. will be curbing many people's travel plans this summer. I just learned of one place that is trying to reduce the impact of rising gas prices on their business and it can benefit genre travelers heading out to Orlando. Here's the info:

VillaDirect (www.villadirect.com), a vacation rental management company in Central Florida, will provide guests booking a minimum seven-night stay in any of VillaDirect’s more than 550 vacation pool homes, town homes or condominiums now through June 30 with a $50 gas card upon check-in. In addition, anyone staying seven nights or more will have their "end of stay" house cleaning fee waived -- an added savings of up to $150.

Rentals range in size from 900 to 4,820 square feet and include such amenities as "plush furnishings, full kitchens, washers and dryers, cable or satellite TV, not to mention a private pool." Also, more than 50 percent of VillaDirect’s homes, town homes and condominiums feature a games room, equipped with pool table, air-hockey or foosball. Also, "many of VillaDirect’s vacation rental units offer multiple master suites with private bath, themed kids’ bedrooms with PlayStation or Xbox game systems and access to the resort-style amenities within the gated communities where they are located."

This "Tanks-A-Lot" special can be booked online by using promo code "Fuel" or by asking for promotion, "Free Tank of Gas" when making a phone reservation. (Note: Gift cards will be given at time of check-in, and are not refundable or replaceable. This special cannot be combined with any other discounts or promotions including construction discounts.) For more information, visit VillaDirect.com or call (877) 259-9908.

Have you ever wanted to walk the land that formed the backdrop to Washington Irving’s tale The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? Well now might be a good time.

Recently, an $11 million grand estate restoration was completed at Tarrytown House Estate, located just 25 miles north of Manhattan. In celebration, they are offering "an overnight experience to entice history buffs, architectural enthusiasts and American culturists".

According to the press release I received, Irving once wrote of the area, "If ever I should wish for a retreat…I know of none more promising than this little valley."

From now through November 30, The Mansions of Sleepy Hollow Country Package offer a special vacation package including a night in the grand King Mansion at Tarrytown House Estate, which was built in 1840 and purchased in 1900 by Thomas King, vice president of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

Other perks of the package include:

• Breakfast for two in the estate’s elegant dining room


• Admission for two adults to any of the nearby historic sites, including Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate; the Union Church of Pocantico Hills; Philipsburg Manor; Washington Irving’s Sunnyside; Lyndhurst; and Van Cortlandt Manor.

The rate for this package is $269 per night based on double occupancy. Taxes and gratuities are additional. Reservations are available by calling 914-591-3148 or online at www.tarrytownhouseestate.com.

Or, at least that's the plan. Unlike most pod-tour providers, AudioSnacks allows users to post their pod-tours for the chance to make money off them. Kind of cool, huh? Check them out at: www.audiosnacks.com/Home.aspx.

I saw this story today and just had to share it with you.

Airline moves dead body to 1st class afer woman dies in economy cabin
LONDON (AP) - A first-class passenger on a flight from Delhi to London awoke find the corpse of a woman who had died in the economy cabin being placed in a seat next to him, British Airways said Monday. ... More

I don't know what to say ... it just seems like the opening act to a horror story.