In The News
JK Rowling Writing New Children's Book in Cafes Again
J.K. RowlingAs readers will recall, author J.K. Rowling has stated several times recently that she is at work on two new projects, one for adults and one for children. The Telegraph has more today on Jo’s efforts with the new book for children, with a brief interview where Jo says she is returning again to write in cafes, just as she did writing the Harry Potter series. Quotage:
“I will continue writing for children because that’s what I enjoy,” reveals Jo, who greatly misses the child wizard. “It’s left me with the biggest emptiness in my life.” She will, however, leave behind the magical world of Hogwarts. “I believe that it’s good for me and good for my readers that I bring myself to work on something different,” she declares.
In a search for inspiration, Jo discloses that she has returned to the Edinburgh cafes where she completed her first novel while unemployed and living on benefits: “I am very good at finding a suitable cafe. I blend into the crowd and, of course, I don’t sit in the middle of the bar staring all around me. In 90 per cent of cases, it’s the cafe’s staff who allow me to work without being bothered.”
On a related note, the worst sort of Muggles or Death Eaters have been out and about recently, as vandals have apparently made off with one of two plaques at the cafe in Edinburgh, Scotland where she wrote much of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone. The Scotsman reports:
Staff at the Buffet King restaurant on Nicolson Street, which used to be Nicolson’s Cafe, said a small brass plaque dedicated to the city author had been taken from the front entrance…One restaurant worker said:”It is only a small plaque and we didn’t even know it had been stolen until someone pointed it out to us.We haven’t contacted the police about it. It’s probably a waste of time for them to even try and find out who stole it.”The city’s culture leader, Deidre Brock, said: “I am hopeful that it is found and put back soon.” The plaque was one of two set up on the street in honour of the writer. The other – which was unveiled by the Edinburgh City of Literature Trust in 2006 – is still in place, fixed to the outside of the building.
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Rachel,
Where in my post do I state that I hate Rowling & her story? Please feel free to direct me to that, as you claim it’s so obvious. What is obvious here is that you truly are sycophantic twit. Is there no room for dissent? For criticism? She made a thoughtless statement. I mentioned it. That alone does not mean I hate her books. It does clearly indicate the knee-jerk reaction typical of hopelessly devoted fools such as yourself.
You may rest assured in the fact that I do have a life & it’s apparently got a much firmer grasp of reality than folks such as yourself, and…
Jeanine,
Again, is it so hard to accept that some people don’t view your hero as the angel you so desperately seem to believe she is?
Isin Moon,
Me, heartless? Not quite. I’m not the one who devalued my husband & children in favor of some fictional children.
Prenz,
Again, where did I state that I do not like her? Show me. Please.
In all honesty, I was pleased with the books & I’m eager to read her next effort. I’d rather she’d just shut up & get on with it & stop worrying about lawsuits of fans of inconsequential cash grabs on her name like RDR’s or anything planned from the hosts of this site.
You pathetic nitwits can bark at me all you want for not being a mindless drone, but I consider it a matter of pride that I have some shred of ability to think critically when it comes to the woman. Rather that that pretend to know the woman based on reading & viewing a few interviews & insisting on calling her “Jo” as if you’re on a first name basis with her. So monumentally sad. And so many of you are grownups!
It would seem that a site moderator is needed here and those that have the need to argue on a fan site should do so elsewhere.
This is the ultimate J.K. Rowling fan site where her work and information about Jo is appreciated. I am quite sure that whatever she is writing will be as excellent as her past work and will be well received by those of us that love her writing.
In life it’s so much easier to tear things down than build them up. People who do it are trying to fill some deep void within themselves. Don’t get angry at the people here who spread hate. Pity them instead. They enjoy being miserable. They actually need to do this to feel good inside.
Yes everyone has a right to their opinion, but the way one expresses that opinion is important. Most of the people throwing insults at JKR are immature, and over time they will see that their actions are futile and sad. If you don’t like J.K. Rowling, her work, the HP fandom, or this website, you can express you contempt in a respectful manner, and move on. There is no reason to hold on to this disdain, or to continue to come back time and time again to express it. Please focus on the positives in your life.
In the words of Say Anything, “It’s the same superiority complex shared by the high school jocks who made your life a living hell; and it makes you a slave to the competitive, capitalist dogma you spend every moment of your waking life [complaining] about.”
One can be a fan and still be critical.
Anyway, this site explicitly states that it´s a site for news and discussion!!!
And if you had read chris` post you would know now that she likes Jo´s works.
Chris: Calling her Jo in your posts spares you time. Imagine to type ROWLING all the time.
Most of the people throwing insults at JKR are immature, and over time they will see that their actions are futile and sad (posted by mollywobbles)
it´s also sad that so many people shy away from tough language and have to sugar-coat everything.
What consequences does it have to be a bit out-spoken?
GOOD GRIEF!!!! All you people that perceive JKR as heartless because she honestly said the end of this Harry adventure, “It’s left me with the biggest emptiness in my life.” READ THE WORDS and SENTIMENT!!!!! Bloody heck! She has a heart that’s why she feels the loss! If you had spent 17 years with a child (the developing of a literary icon) and now that child (Harry et.al.) is grown and on its own … .of course you are going to feel a void! It is, for all intents and purposes, the “empty nest” syndrome. She has just bid a loving farewell to a literary child, that she raised!
If she didn’t feel the loss, I would have lost a tremendous amount of respect for the lady. But, she does FEEL and that is why she was able to create a character and world that has been universally embraced.
It is amazing how Harry and his adventures have transended so many boundries (political, age, race, geographical, language, etc.) And taught us about ourselves and the evils (prejudices, bigotry, racism, cruelty, etc.) we encounter on a daily basis. And most importantly, how to deal with them honourablely and our personal responsibility to not let evil win by inaction.Harry and all his friends (and enemies) will live within us forever, the ideas and ideals have been wonderful lessons and blessings, to all who have the courage to recognize them!
Cat In my heart and in my head Harry and friends will have many more adventures and much love in their well-deserved happy lives PV (post-Voldemort)
And Chris: Just because she says it’s left her with emptiness doesn’t mean she doesn’t care about her family. Please, Jo had a difficult childhood and she has herself said that her idea of ultimate happiness is a happy family. But some people don’t understand how much the books mean to her, and what they did for her.
What do you know about her childhood? And why is she parading her family-problems in public anyway? Even the picture of her dead mother she has shown around on TV. disgusting!
But it says quite alot about somebody to identify that greatly with one´s work, almost like staring in the mirror all the time. But I guess that´s an artist´s disease.
Now, I don’t know what I am doing wrong. but certain thoughts keep leaking off the page. (This is a physical example of the fact that I do run on, a bit) :-)
It is amazing how Harry and his adventures have transended so many boundries (political, age, race, geographical, language, etc.) And taught us about ourselves and the evils (prejudices, bigotry, racism, cruelty, etc.) we encounter on a daily basis. And most importantly, how to deal with them honourablely and our personal responsibility to not let evil win by inaction.
Cat
“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for a good man to do nothing” Edmund Burke 1727-1797
Secunda, I consider myself a very outspoken person. But as I said, the way one expresses their opinion is important. If you dislike JKR’s suit against RDR, there is nothing wrong with that. If you think Jo is ridiculous for suggesting the emptiness she feels for a fictional character, then that is fine as well.
However, you should express those feelings respectfully. Calling people sycophants and nitwits does nothing but make Chris look like a child. As for you Secunda, you spend plenty of time here throwing around insults yourself. You even insulted Melissa Anelli personally a few weeks ago. Does it really make you feel good inside? What can you possibly get out of spending your time here? You make me sad, because you seem like an intelligent person who could put her passion towards something more worthwhile and meaningful. There has to be a worthwhile cause in your community that you can focus your time on, instead of being angry about Harry Potter. Get angry about homelessness or something. You’re wasting your time getting mad at JK Rowling and Harry Potter fans.
Cat, that was great!! And yes, a lot of fans would’ve felt hurt if Jo had said she doesn’t feel the loss. You know the problem with most people today is that they feel attaching an emotional sentiment to anyone or anything is waste of time. Fans love the book, and feel the loss. Jo literally gave it her all, and has emerged as one of the most brilliant writers the world has seen, and she feels the loss of the book too. It’s this feeling that makes us more human and less machine and it’s this feeling that has made the books what they are. If Jo hadn’t felt it, she’d never ever have been able to write it.
Secunda: She never she has never “paraded her family problems in public”. Heaven knows she keeps as far away from publisity as she possibly can. It’s been 10 years and now ONE movie comes out on her life. Never ever has she gone in any interview, “I was a lost, sad depressed soul” except in that documentary. She keeps her kids away from the limelight and is never seen on papers every second day, when she has more to her credit than most people we see in them. She loved her mother, and the loss hurt her. And this loss brought the element of darkness to the book, so she talked about it. And look at our world today,when the media considers it their business to parade the lives of public figures on TV screens. It’s not like she can be a recluse. At least she talks when necessary, and her life story inspires more people in the world.
And Chris, the fact that we call her “Jo” shows her relationship with the fans. She’s more open with them than any talk show host, so there.
PS: Why are all you Jo-bashers landing up on every second thread to talk crap about her? As stated earlier, a fansite consists of fans, people who like the books and the authors. And you may not state outrightly that you don’t like her, but your comments aren’t exactly honey-sweet are they?
secunda, seriously, don’t you have anything better to do?
Posts like that of Lynn, Secunda and Chris are what is making me sick and tired of HP forums. It seems that most of the time these forums are devoted to defending JKR and her writing style. This is why I stopped going to HP4GU, it got to the point where I was reading about sandwiches equaling slavery in DH. This is what I see with Chris’s post, what a joke, many people miss the things that they have devoted their lives too. That does not mean she devalues her family. But you won’t listen nor do you want too. I guess with books as popular as HP you are going to have a lot of people that dislike the series or parts of it, but it seems some of these people go a little far in bashing JKR and her writing style. I find JKR’s writing to be sincere, humorous, and full of wonderful characters. That is my honest opinion. I am in favor of literary debate and character debate, what I am not in favor of is thinly veiled posts designed to infuriate fellow fans and further an agenda. That is what happens in HP forums and we argue and argue and they keep coming back because they are not real people but characters in game that they like to play. Go to these forums and read posts about that have something negative to say about HP. Most of them not all of them give subtle clues as to the motives of the poster. Some of them are also legitimate, intelligent critisism. I am not sure of these agenda’s could be Laura Mallory supporters or others. For awhile it was people in India upset about the lawsuit. It could be RDR reps. or just people that get a kick out of negative feedback. I had a incident like this in HP4GU, my first reply was to a woman who just wanted to start an argument , and later upon re-reading her post and response to my post I realized the deception, it was all a game. She even admitted such, but it was worded again in civil, intelligent wording that veiled her true intentions. And yet we continue to pander to these people and mantain civility because that is what civil online forums do. But an online forum is different than a real face to face because some people will always try to be something the’re not and try to add value to their hum-drum boring lives by playing a villian in an online message board. Just my 50 cents.
i dont know what to think anymore. Ive seen so many comments. i dont know half the stuff people are trying to say. any way im very sad that this is the end of Harry Potter
Yes, folks, with proper care and feeding, you too can have healthy stinky trolls!
Perhaps I should haunt the cafes for a year or so in Edinburgh in an attempt to randomly catch her. As though that would be successful!
Keep up the good work, Jo. I look forward to reading whatever you will publish in the future.
Chris’s idea of “critical thinking” is to namecall anyone who disagrees with him/her. Chris is in favor of “criticism” and “dissent” as long as it’s not directed at him/her.
I think Beedle the Bard show’s she’s not a one-trick-pony. Posted by PigmyPuffPie on March 03, 2008 @ 12:30 AM
Yeah, but we haven’t seen it, have we? So how is it possible to review that against anything else?
Jessie
I’ve been feeling the same way!
I;m actually really glad you posted that comment (random much? :) ). After all this bickering back and forth, I’ve been getting pretty hot and was just about to post something back to Chris, but your comment grounded me and reminded me that the reason we’re here IS to celebrate the HP world, part of which includes obsessing about what’s going on with the movies, NOT to state our opinions until we’re blue in the face to someone who’s mind we can’t change anyway.
Thanks for this bit of reality check!
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Leaky Poll
Moving the HBP film to July 2009 is:
- Completely unforgivable15 (46%)
- Annoying, but I'll get over it11 (34%)
- Not something I care about.1 (3%)
- Cool; who wants to go to the movies in the winter anyway?1 (3%)
- Awesome! I get to save $10 until next year.0 (0%)
- Awesome! I get to save $10 because now I'm skipping this movie!3 (9%)
- I've made a Facebook group, started a protest, called my local councilman, staged a sit-in, started a boycott, and organized a million-fan march because we won't stand for the - wait, what was this about again?1 (3%)
Sod off!!! JK is , has been and will always be a brilliant writer. I am sure that anything she sets her mind to will will be brilliant. She is one of the greatest and most prolific writers of the 21st century. Why would anyone choose to insult our Jo? Sour grapes maybe? Jealousy maybe? Or are you just bloody upset because Harry’s story has been told in it’s fullness and you no longer have anything to fill your empty life.??!! Well get over it. Any true JK fan will not tolerate such rubbish about such a fab woman. She has accomplished much and I am sure she will again. Why are you naysayers even here. Clearly you do not belong. Jo I love ya , as do the other 400Million fans that have purchased the pleasure that is Harry Potter!