“No shield here – crest. I mean all that came in the later editions. This one’s a bit wonky but you get the idea.”
“Perhaps Hufflepuff house would have the respect it deserves from fans if I’d stayed with my original idea of a bear to represent it?”
Drawing of sleeping baby Harry
“Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking”
“was invented in small hotel in Manchester after a row with my then boyfriend. I had been pondering the things that hold a society together, cause it to congregate and signify its particular character and knew I need a sport. It infuriates men, in my experience (why is the snitch so valuable etc), which is quite satisfying given my state of mind when I invented it.”
J.K. Rowling has recently sold her annotated copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for over $220,000, and her official website has been updated with a snapshot of the book’s interior. Pictured here is Snape, as unpleasant as always!
UPDATE: An anonymous bidder has won the Harry Potter author’s rare first edition!
A rare first edition of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” took a massive price at charity auction in aid of the English Pen writers’ association in London on May 21. Featuring J.K. Rowling’s handwritten notes as well as original illustrations, the 1997 book was sold to an anonymous bidder, who bid for it over the telephone, for $228,000.
The “Harry Potter” book appeared along with books from other notable names at the auction hosted by Sotheby’s. Among them were a copy of “Life of Pi“, which got $3,900 and has author Yann Martel’s notes on why the chapters were switched from the original Canadian edition, and a first edition of Margaret Atwood’s “The Blind Assassin”, which fetched $5,460.
“This is a triumphant conclusion to a wonderful project, which has involved the hard work and good will of so many people,” said Rick Gekoski, who curated the collection of annotated first editions for the sale. “I am sure that the buyers of the individual books will be thrilled with their purchases.”
Discover some of the secrets and techniques behind Book of Spells, the first title for PlayStation’s new Wonderbook, and the latest initiative to result from Sony’s partnership with Pottermore.
Meticulously researched, and featuring new writing from J.K. Rowling, Book of Spells brings Miranda Goshawk’s 200-year-old spell book to life, and gives you the chance to master powerful spells as well as read about some of the histories behind them.
I never realized that Evanna had battled with anorexia! I think it was fantastic what JK Rowling said to her. <3 She helped a young girl fight the battle for anorexia! ;D
This is surprising, considering that press coverage put a negative spin on ideas of adapting the book.
The Harry Potter author will “collaborate closely” on the adaptation which is expected to air on BBC One in 2014.
Set in a small-town community in the West Country, it centres on the unexpected death of Barry Fairbrother, which shocks the local villagers.
Rowling said she was “thrilled” that the novel has been commissioned.
“I always felt that, if it were to be adapted, this novel was best suited to television and I think the BBC is the perfect home.”
BBC One controller Danny Cohen said he was excited to bring Rowling’s latest work to audiences.
“[Her] story-telling is of course peerless in its popularity, and I am looking forward to collaborating with her,” he said.
The series will be produced for BBC One by an independent production company with Rick Senat as executive producer.
The BBC said the number and length of episodes will be decided once the adaptation process has begun.
Described by publishers Little Brown and Co as “blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising”, there were mixed reviews for the novel when it was published in September, with Rowling variously described as “unadventurous”, “bleak” and “brilliant” by newspaper critics.
It sold 125,000 copies in its first week on the market, becoming the fastest-selling hardback in the UK for three years and the second biggest seller since records began in 1998.
What do you think? Is the book suitable for TV? Will you watch it?
Our favorite author is widely known for her extensive charity work, even going so far as to lose her Forbes billionaire status.
British author J.K. Rowling donated £10 million (nearly $16 million US dollars) to Edinburgh University to help them reach their fundraising goal of £350 million (US$555 million), says a University World News report dated Nov. 18. Rowling’s donations will fund a clinic for multiple sclerosis and neurodegenerative diseases. The best selling “Harry Potter” series author is no stranger to donating to charity.
Last March, J.K. Rowling dropped off the billionaire’s list, due in part to her donations to charity. According to Forbes, the billionaire novelist donated $160 billion to worthy causes. One of her favorite charities, it seems, is One Parent Families, an organization designed to empower single parent families by providing education, job search and childcare services.
As a former single parent living on welfare while unemployed, Rowling takes an active interest in helping others who find themselves in similar situations.
Rowling also founded her own nonprofit organization, Lumos, to “transform the lives of disadvantaged children by facilitating the end of institutional care for good”.
Rowling’s inspirational gifts just keep on giving.
Throughout her US promotion of The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling has given a lot of interviews. One of the compelling factors in this one is the light she sheds on the film productions of Harry Potter.
Charlie Rose: When you’re writing, do you see it like a movie? I assume, after Harry Potter, you saw the character as exactly the movie character for Harry Potter.
JK Rowling: Interestingly no, I didn’t – with one exception. This is what’s interesting to me. I never saw Dan or Rupert or Emma as … no. Because I’d lived with them so long, I saw my characters in my head. There was one exception. I’ve said this before. Evanna Lynch, who played Luna Lovegood, I saw her. I’m not saying the others weren’t perfect pieces of casting, because I adore those people, but she got in my head. I even heard her voice when I was writing Luna.
CR: How did Harry differ from the actor? How did the picture you had in your head differ from the picture we see on the screen?
JKR: Dan, Rupert and Emma – and they know, I’ve said this to them – they’re much better looking than the kids I saw in my head
CR: Really?
JKR: Yeah, definitely. Emma is beautiful, staggeringly beautiful. In the book, Hermione is a plain Jane, although she sorts herself out a little bit, and she gets a little more styled as she gets older. I am so glad they cast her as Hermione. Emma is a very intelligent girl, who played intelligent beautifully. Even though she’s stunningly beautiful – Emma is not at all about her looks. That’s who Emma is, and that shown through in her portrayal of Hermione. That’s why I was thrilled they cast her because she is such a smart, bright girl. I needed my Hermione to be that kind of person.
CR: Did the movies teach you anything about your characters? Did you see anything about your characters that might have added to their complexity? Because actors can take lines and their job is to to enhance them.
JKR: Yeah definitely, and make them their own. Gary Oldman was fantastic as Sirius. He was amazing. He gave Sirius something that was in my mind for Sirius, but on screen I really saw it – that slight edge of insanity, of being imbalanced, from someone that’d been locked up for a long time. He just played that.
CR: When you’re writing this with the multiple characters you have, is finding somebody that’s a bit crazed thrilling? Because you can do so many things with a bad person.
JKR: You’ve got to reign it in though. You’ve got to just pitch it right because otherwise it becomes like a cardboard and paste caricature. You’ve still got to find the center of the crazy person. Bellatrix, in the books, is probably the most out of control, insane person in the books. She’s vicious. Even more than Voldemort, who has a control about him. But that was how I saw her. There was a lack of boundaries.
The longer video also includes information from the author about The Casual Vacancy.
Tomorrow, those who’ve been eagerly waiting J.K. Rowling’s live webcast will be celebrating it’s arrival.
Tomorrow, Thursday the 11th October, from 5:00pm BST (12:00pm ET/ 9:00 am PT), J.K. Rowling will be answering questions about Harry Potter (including Pottermore) from children around the world in a live webcast.
You can view the webcast on the Scholastic website (for the US version of the site) or on the Bloomsbury website (for the UK version of the site) and watch it live, as it happens.
In the webcast, J.K. Rowling will also be answering a Pottermore-related question that you, our Pottermore fans, voted for at the start of September – ‘Which Pottermore house are you in?’.
Find out what J.K. Rowling has to say about her house and more.
What Pottermore house do you think J.K. Rowling is in? Personally, I’m going with Hufflepuff, or maybe even Ravenclaw.
