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Did you make up the plot
in every aspect first by charting the characters and knowing exactly
what you would do with them, or did you just piece a lot of it
together as you wrote? |
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I always have a basic plot
outline, but I like to leave some things to be decided while I
write. It's more fun. :-) |
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When is your fourth book
coming out and what will it be called? |
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It's coming out in July.
I prefer not to say the title at the moment. I'm superstitious
about my titles. |
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Is there anything that
you can reveal about the fourth book? |
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Yes! Harry goes to the
Quidditch World Cup, and you also find out about some other Wizardry
schools. |
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Do you now or have you
in the past kept a journal? If so, do you believe that it helps
in your writing? |
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I've never managed to keep
a journal longer than two weeks. I get bored with my life. I prefer
inventing things. |
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What is Nearly Headless
Nick's last name? |
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It's in Book I: De Mimsy-Porpington.
;-) |
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Why does Professor Dumbledore
like sherbet lemons? |
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Because I like sherbet
lemons! And he's got good taste. :-) |
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Was it hard to think of
the monsters' names? |
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Some of the monsters are
from folklore, so I didn't invent them. In Book IV you'll see
some creatures I did invent, and I had fun making up their names.
But I'm not going to say what they are. :-) |
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What do you think has
been your greatest experience because of Harry Potter's success? |
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The last American tour.
Because for the first time I realized how many children love Harry.
It was a moving experience for me. |
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What makes some witches/wizards
become ghosts after they die and some not? |
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You don't really find that
out until Book VII, but I can say that the happiest people do
not become ghosts. As you might guess, Moaning Myrtle! |
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How long have you been
writing? |
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As far back as I can remember.
The first story I finished was when I was six years old. |
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What about the rumors
of a movie? |
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There is going to be a
movie made by Warner Bros. But it hasn't gone into production
yet, so there's no more I can tell you about that one. |
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What would your advice
be to any other young people that would want to write stories? |
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The most important thing
is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will give you an
understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your
vocabulary. And it's a lot of fun! And also, start by writing
about things you know -- your own experiences, your own feelings.
That's what I do. |
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I heard a lot of rumors
as to why the fourth book isn't out yet in the U.S. What is the
truth and when will it be out? |
|
The reason it's not out
yet is because I haven't finished it. :-) The first book took
me five years to write, so I'm speeding up, a lot! But I still
can't produce a novel in six months. |
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What did the Potter parents
do for a living before Voldemort killed them? |
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I'm sorry to keep saying
this, but I can't tell you because it's important to a later plot.
But you will find out later! |
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In the first book you
said Slytherin house Quidditch captain was sixth year Marcus Flint.
If there are only seven years of Hogwarts, why is he in the third
book? |
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He had to do a year again!
:-) |
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How do students at Hogwarts
get educated in Muggle subjects? Do they even need to know other
things besides magic? |
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They can choose to study
Muggle subjects. In the third book, Hermione takes the class Muggles
Studies, and that's where they learn about Muggles in school. |
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Since Harry Potter's parents
were sorcerers and Petunia was Harry's mother's sister. Shouldn't
Petunia be a witch or wizard? |
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No. As Hagrid explains
in Book I, sometimes a witch or a wizard occurs in an otherwise
Muggle family, just as a Squib is a non-magic person who occurs
in an otherwise magic family. |
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Do you think that you
will write about Harry after he graduates from Hogwarts? Isn't
there a University of Wizardry? |
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No, there's no University
for Wizards. At the moment I'm only planning to write seven Harry
Potter books. I won't say "never," but I have no plans to write
an eighth book. |
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Will we ever get a Defense
Against the Dark Arts teacher who lasts more than a year? |
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I'm not telling you. ;-) |
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Is Harry Potter ever going
to fall in love with Hermione or is he going to fall in love with
Ginny Weasley? |
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In Book IV Harry does decide
he likes a girl, but it's not Hermione or Ginny. However, he's
only 14, so there's plenty of time for him to change his mind.
;-) |
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If you had to choose one
teacher from your books to teach your child, who would it be and
why? |
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It would be Professor Lupin,
because he is kind, clever, and gives very interesting lessons. |
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How many countries have
you visited since writing Harry Potter? |
|
Um...let me think. Spain,
Italy, France, America. That's all. I will be visiting lots more,
but because my daughter's still so young, I don't like to travel
too much. Unless I can take her with me. |
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Will Harry ever get a
break and not live with the Dursleys? |
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I'm not going to tell you!
;-) |
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Will we ever see Scabbers
again? |
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Yes. You will see Scabbers
again. |
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Will Harry ever get to
go with his godfather (Cornelius Black)? |
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He is in contact with Sirius
Black in Book IV, but as Sirius is on the run, it's difficult
for them to be together at the moment. |
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Is it true you're doing
7 books, one for each year that Harry will be at Hogwarts? |
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Yes, it is true. |
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Do you have an actual
floorplan for Hogwarts? Do you use it when writing the books? |
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I haven't drawn it, because
it would be difficult for the most skilled architect to draw,
owing to the fact that the staircases and the rooms keep moving.
However, I have a very vivid mental image of what it looks like. |
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What made you think of
the people's names and dormitories at Hogwarts? |
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I invented the names of
the Houses on the back of an airplane sick bag! This is true.
I love inventing names, but I also collect unusual names, so that
I can look through my notebook and choose one that suits a new
character. |
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Do you take real people
you know and put them in your books? |
|
The closest I've come to
putting a real person in my books is with Gilderoy Lockhart, who
is an exaggeration of someone I once knew. John Weasley is a little
bit like my oldest friend, a man I was at school with, whose name
is Sean. But neither of them are accurate portraits. |
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How long does it take
to write one Harry Potter book? |
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It depends. The quickest,
so far, was a year. |
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How does it feel to know
that millions of kids are reading your books? |
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Amazing! I don't think
I really realized how many there were until I visited the States
in October, and met thousands and thousands of people at book
signings. |
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How did you come up with
Harry Potter? |
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Harry just sort of strolled
into my head, on a train journey. He arrived very fully formed.
It was as though I was meeting him for the first time. |
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Why are the gnomes bad?
What do they do? |
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Gnomes eat the roots of
your plants, and make little heaps of earth, like moles do. They
are also a bit of a giveaway that wizards live in a house. |
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Did you ever meet a boy
like Harry? |
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I probably met a boy like
Harry, since I've been meeting readers of the Harry books. But
he wasn't based on anyone real. |
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Are any of your female
characters, like Hermione, modeled after your own daughter? |
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No, if Hermione was based
on anyone, she was based on me when I was younger. But my daughter
is turning out to be a bit like me, so she is a bit like Hermione.
:-) |
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Was there a particular
teacher who encouraged you to write when you were a child? If
there was, how did he or she encourage or help you? |
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I had some wonderful teachers,
but I never confided that I wanted to be a writer. So, no. Writing
for me is a kind of compulsion, so I don't think anyone could
have made me do it, or prevented me from doing it. |
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Where were you born and
what was your childhood like? |
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I was born in a place called
Chipping, so perhaps that explains my love of silly names. |
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How can two Muggles have
a kid with magical powers? Also how does the Ministry of Magic
find out these kids have powers? |
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It's the same as two black-haired
people producing a redheaded child. Sometimes these things just
happen, and no one really knows why! The Ministry of Magic doesn't
find out which children are magic. In Hogwarts there's a magical
quill which detects the birth of a magical child, and writes his
or her name down in a large parchment book. Every year Professor
McGonagall checks the book, and sends owls to the people who are
turning 11. |
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Does Harry give Christmas
gifts to his friends? The books mention only gifts he receives.
I am interested in knowing whether he gives gifts and if they
are appropriate for the receiver. |
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Ron is very sensitive about
his poverty, and Harry knows that Ron might be offended if he
tried to give him too much. You will see in Book IV that Ron feels
awkward accepting too much from Harry. |
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What is your next book
going to be called? |
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I'm still not going to
tell you! ;-) |
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Do you have a role model,
if so, who? |
|
I don't really have a role
model, but I have a heroine! Her name was Jessica Mitford, and
she was a human rights activist. |
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When you were my age,
did you ever write a book? I am in the fifth grade. |
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Yes, as a matter of fact
I did. I wrote a story about seven cursed diamonds. I thought
it was a novel. I think now it was really a very long short story. |
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Where is Azkaban? |
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In the north of the North
Sea. A very cold sea. |
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We are Windy Hills Elementary.
Do you write every day, and for how long do you write? |
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I write nearly every day.
Some days I write for ten or eleven hours. Other days I might
only write for three hours. It really depends on how fast the
ideas are coming. |
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How do you feel about
receiving the British Book Awards Children's Book of the year? |
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Very, very honored. :-) |
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Where did Sirius Black
and Buckbeack go after they went into hiding? |
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Somewhere nice and warm! |
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Do you have any pets/animals?
If so, did any of your ideas for monsters come from watching them? |
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I have a very violent rabbit.
;-) If I'd known what her personality was like, I would have called
her Fluffy, after Hagrid's dog! |
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How many languages is
the book published in? |
|
Oh goodness! Twenty-five,
I think! |
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Would you get a mythical
pet from one of your books? If you could, which one? |
|
If I could, I would choose
a Phoenix, because they have such useful properties, as Harry
finds out in Book III. |
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Did you have any help
writing any of the books? |
|
No, I did it all by myself!
:-) |
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Why did you choose the
lightning bolt as a trademark for Harry Potter? |
|
Just because I decided
that it would be an interesting and distinctive mark. |
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Do you still write in
cafes, or do you have to stay out of public places while you write
so people won't bother you? |
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I still write in cafes,
but I go to different ones now! |
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Will we see the Marauders
map in a future book? |
|
Yes, you'll see it in Book
IV. :-) |
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Is the island that Azkaban
is on located at the southern end of the U.K. since Black had
to pass the Dursley's place on his way to Hogwarts? |
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No, he didn't have to pass
the Dursley's place. He just wanted to. |
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Who is your favorite character? |
|
I love, Harry, Ron, Hermione,
Hagrid, and Professor Lupin. |
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How old is Professor Dumbledore? |
|
Wizards have a longer life
expectancy than Muggles! |
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When the seventh book
in the series is finished, are you going to start on a new topic? |
|
Yes, but what it is, I
don't yet know! |
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What would you think if
a person made one of your Harry Potter books into a computer game? |
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I'd like to play it! |
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How do you visualize Hogwarts
in its entirety? |
|
A huge, rambling, quite
scary-looking castle, with a jumble of towers and battlements.
Like the Weasley's house, it isn't a building that Muggles could
build, because it is supported by magic. |
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Were you ever involved
in a school like Harry Potter's school? |
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No, I wish I had been!
:-) |
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Would you ever want to
consider another job if you had the opportunity? |
|
No. I'm doing the thing
I love best in the world! Although I did enjoy being a teacher.
:-) |
|
Do you already have titles
for all seven Harry Potters? |
|
Yes, I do. And I'm still
not going to tell you what they are. ;-) |
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Does your daughter help
you with ideas for the books? |
|
No, the ideas are all my
own. But my daughter does love the books. :-) |
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Who is you favorite author? |
|
Jane Austen. I find her
un-put-downable. :-) |
|
What kind of books did
you read when you were young? |
|
My favorite books when
I was younger were by Paul Gallico, Elizabeth Goodge, and E. Nesbitt. |
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When you were stuck on
the train was there anything that triggered your imagination,
and did that incident inspire Book III? |
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I have no idea where the
idea came from, it just fell into my head! |
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Scholastic says: We are
almost out of time Ms. Rowling, thank you so much for joining
us. Do you have any parting words you would like to share with
our audience? |
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Don't let the Muggles
get you down! :-) |
