This morning, J.K. Rowling appeared on Good Morning America to celebrate 15 years since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was released. A piece of the interview has been posted on GMA’s website and she talks about Dumbledore and meeting him in real life.
“Of all the other characters in the Harry Potter series, he’s the one I miss the most,” Rowling said. “I feel like I wrote Dumbledore from the back of my head. Sometimes he said things and told Harry things that I only knew I knew or believed until … I saw that I had written them down in the voice of Dumbledore,” Rowling said. “He was the character who was hardest to leave for me. He was the person who I’d have come back physically and sit and talk to me. It would be Dumbledore.”
“I’m afraid I’m going to be very selfish, and if anyone gets a shot, it’s me,” she said with a laugh. “It’s a difficult question and I have mulled it over at length, and I’ve considered world leaders who may benefit from some of his calm wisdom, but finally decided there’s really only one person who should meet Dumbledore and I think that’s me – because, of all the other characters in the Harry Potter series, he’s the one I miss the most.”
Remember, you can order the new Harry Potter 7 book boxed set with art by Kazu Kibuishi on Amazon today! Links for the individual books are below:
Today, July 31st, marks the birthday of two of our favorite people! Harry Potter turns 33 today and J.K. Rowling is celebrating her 48th birthday.
Harry is currently married to Ginny and they have three children; James Sirius, Albus Severus and Lily Luna! Harry currently works as an Auror at the Ministry of Magic and successfully defeated the Dark Lord 15 years ago!
JK Rowling is married to Neil Murray and has three children; Jessica Isabel, David Gordon and Mackenzie Jean. Currently she is enjoying the success of her new book, The Cuckoo’s Calling, as well as working on other projects.
We wish them both amazing birthdays and many more to come!
The big news in J.K. Rowling land lately is the fact that the author wrote a new book, The Cuckoo’s Calling, under a pseudonym and she was outed by the friend of one of the partners at her law firm. Today the BBC is reporting that the author settled out of court with the law firm in question – Russells Solicitors. Rowling took legal action against Chris Gossage, a partner at Russells Solicitors, and his friend, Judith Callegari (who was the one who actually outed Rowling.)
According to the article: Mr Gossage, Ms Callegari and Russells all apologised and the firm agreed to pay the author’s legal costs. It also agreed to make a payment, by way of damages, to The Soldiers’ Charity, formerly known as the Army Benevolent Fund. Rowling explained that she was donating the money “partly as a thank you to the army people” who helped her with research. “But also because writing a hero who is a veteran has given me an even greater appreciation and understanding of exactly how much this charity does for ex-servicemen and their families, and how much that support is needed,” she said.
Rowling will also be donating royalties from the book to the charity. Major General Martin Rutledge, chief executive of ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, was very thrilled by J.K.’s generosity and said: “This donation will make a huge difference to the lives of thousands of soldiers, former soldiers and their families who are in real need. Her tremendous show of support for The Soldiers’ Charity will help to remind people of the many sacrifices made by our soldiers, long after any news of Afghanistan has left the front page.”
A new official site for J.K. Rowling’s pseudonym Robert Galbraith is now online at Robert-Galbraith.com. The website features information about the book as well as a FAQ section where Rowling has answered some burning questions about the book and her alias. Some questions are as follows:
Why did you choose to write a crime novel and why under a pseudonym? I’ve always loved reading detective fiction. Most of the Harry Potter stories are whodunits at heart (‘Order of the Phoenix’ is more of a why-did-he), but I’ve wanted to try the real thing for a long time. As for the pseudonym, I was yearning to go back to the beginning of a writing career in this new genre, to work without hype or expectation and to receive totally unvarnished feedback. It was a fantastic experience and I only wish it could have gone on a little longer.
Have you previously signed any copies as Robert Galbraith? How do we know they are genuine? Yes, I was asked by the publisher to sign a few copies of ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ as Robert Galbraith that were made available for sale around publication. While we can’t verify whether any particular book currently on eBay etc is genuine, any future books I sign in this way will be authenticated. My Robert Galbraith signature is distinctive and consistent; I spent a whole weekend practicing it to make sure.
Was revealing the true identity of Robert Galbraith not simply an elaborate marketing campaign to help boost sales? If anyone had seen the labyrinthine plans I laid to conceal my identity (or indeed my expression when I realised that the game was up!) they would realise how little I wanted to be discovered. I hoped to keep the secret as long as possible. I’m grateful for all the feedback from publishers and readers, and for some great reviews. Being Robert Galbraith has been all about the work, which is my favourite part of being a writer. This was not a leak or marketing ploy by me, my publisher or agent, both of whom have been completely supportive of my desire to fly under the radar. If sales were what mattered to me most, I would have written under my own name from the start, and with the greatest fanfare.
At the point I was ‘outed’, Robert had sold 8500 English language copies across all formats (hardback, eBook, library and audiobook) and received two offers from television production companies. The situation was becoming increasingly complicated, largely because Robert was doing rather better than we had expected him to, but we all still hoped to keep the secret a little longer. Yet Robert’s success during his first three months as a published writer (discounting sales made after I was found out) actually compares favourably with J.K. Rowling’s success over the equivalent period of her career!
Why the name Robert Galbraith? Do you have anything to say to all those Robert Galbraiths out there? I can only hope all the real Robert Galbraiths out there will be as forgiving as the real Harry Potters have been. I must say, I don’t think their plight is quite as embarrassing. I chose Robert because it is one of my favourite men’s names, because Robert F Kennedy is my hero and because, mercifully, I hadn’t used it for any of the characters in the Potter series or ‘The Casual Vacancy’.
Galbraith came about for a slightly odd reason. When I was a child, I really wanted to be called ‘Ella Galbraith’, and I’ve no idea why. I don’t even know how I knew that the surname existed, because I can’t remember ever meeting anyone with it. Be that as it may, the name had a fascination for me. I actually considered calling myself L A Galbraith for the Strike series, but for fairly obvious reasons decided that initials were a bad idea.
Odder still, there was a well-known economist called J K Galbraith, something I only remembered by the time it was far too late. I was completely paranoid that people might take this as a clue and land at my real identity, but thankfully nobody was looking that deeply at the author’s name.
What research did you do to write ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’? I interviewed serving and ex-military people for as long as they would let me bother them. In fact, all my factual information came from military sources. I know a number of soldiers (both serving and veterans) and I’m close to two people in particular who were incredibly generous as I researched my hero’s background (they also helped me construct a CV for Robert). One of these friends is from the SIB. So while Strike himself is entirely fictional, his career and the experiences he’s had are based on factual accounts of real soldiers.
When the novel opens, Strike is seriously down on his luck. One of the reviews I treasured most (before Robert was unmasked) said that my hero faced his situation ‘with resolve, instead of clichéd self-destruction.’ I gave Strike many of the qualities of the military people to whom I am closest: strength of character, black humour, resilience and ingenuity.
I did a vast amount of research on below knee amputations and I also visited a lot of London pubs. The research involved in creating a contemporary novel was a huge part of the pleasure.
There is also a list of stores where you can buy the book in the US and UK:
Journalist Lizo Mzimba of BBC has released a couple of new statements today regarding the reveal of J.K. Rowling as the author of The Cuckoo’s Calling. The statements come from J.K. and Russells Solicitors (an entertainment industry law firm.) It was revealed today via The Evening Standard that the leak of Robert Galbraith’s true identity occurred because someone had loose lips. In short, a Partner at the firm revealed to his wife’s friend, Judith Callegari, that J.K. was the author and she tweeted to someone who had said they enjoyed the book – read that full story here.
Since the news broke the publisher of the book, Mulholland Books, announced that it will have a second edition print of 300,000 copies. J.K. Rowling also revealed through her Official Site that the book is indeed part of a series.
From Rowling: “I have today discovered how the leak about Robert’s true identity occurred…A tiny number of people knew my pseudonym and it has not been pleasant to wonder for days how a woman whom I had never heard of… prior to Sunday night could have found out something that many of my oldest friends did not know…To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I had assumed that I could expect total confidentiality from Russells…a reputable professional firm, and I feel very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced.”
From Russells Solicitors: “We, Russells Solicitors, apologise unreservedly for the disclosure…caused by one of our Partners, Chris Gossage, in revealing to his wife’s best friend, Judith Callegari, during a private conversation that the true identity of Robert Galbraith was in fact JK Rowling. Whilst accepting his own culpability, the disclosure…was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly. On becoming aware of the circumstances, we immediately notified JK Rowling’s…agent. We can confirm that this leak was not part of any marketing plan and that neither JK Rowling…her agent nor publishers were in any way involved”
J.K. Rowling has updated her official website to comment on how she was ousted as the author of The Cuckoo’s Calling. For fans who are unaware, news broke over the weekend that she published the book back in April under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.
Since that time the book has sold out in most online stores and there are long wait lists at libraries. The book has been spotted on eBay already for over $300! Yesterday I purchased the book on half.com for just under $20, but now the cheapest one on there is $26, followed by $60. The publishing companies are issuing reprint of the book which will carry a revised author biography, which reads ‘Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for J. K. Rowling. So try to get a first edition because they are sure to be rare in the future!
“I hoped to keep this secret a little longer, because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience! It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation and pure pleasure to get feedback from publishers and readers under a different name. The upside of being rumbled is that I can publicly thank my editor David Shelley, who has been a true partner in crime, all those people at Little, Brown who have been working so hard on The Cuckoo’s Calling without realising that I wrote it, and the writers and reviewers, both in the newspapers and online, who have been so generous to the novel. And to those who have asked for a sequel, Robert fully intends to keep writing the series, although he will probably continue to turn down personal appearances.”
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