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J.K. Rowling Announces “The Ickabog” to be Released Online in Installments
Posted by Megs

J.K. Rowling has announced via Twitter and her website that she will finally be publishing a fairy tale she wrote ten years ago. The book will first be published online (for free) in installments so fans can enjoy while dealing with coronavirus. It will then be published in November with illustrations by fans! She has also announced that all author royalties from The Ickabog will go to help groups who’ve been particularly impacted by the pandemic.

UPDATE: The website for The Ickabog is now live! Find the first two chapters on this page of the website.

From her website:

I think The Ickabog lends itself well to serialisation because it was written as a read-aloud book (unconsciously shaped, I think, by the way I read it to my own children), but it’s suitable for 7-9 year olds to read to themselves.

I’ll be posting a chapter (or two, or three) every weekday between 26th May and 10th July on The Ickabog website. We plan to publish some translations soon and will post further details on that website when they’re available.

The Ickabog is a story about truth and the abuse of power.  To forestall one obvious question: the idea came to me well over a decade ago, so it isn’t intended to be read as a response to anything that’s happening in the world right now. The themes are timeless and could apply to any era or any country.

Jo then goes on to announce that she will be asking fans to illustrate the book for her!

Having decided to publish, I thought how wonderful it would be if children in lockdown, or otherwise needing distraction during the strange and difficult time we’re passing through, illustrated the story for me. There will be suggestions about the illustrations we might need for each chapter on The Ickabog website, but nobody should feel constrained by these ideas. I want to see imaginations run wild! Creativity, inventiveness and effort are the most important things: we aren’t necessarily looking for the most technical skill!

In November 2020, The Ickabog will be published in English in print, eBook and audiobook formats, shortly followed by other languages. The best drawings in each territory will be included in the finished books. As publishers in each territory will need to decide which pictures work best for their own editions, I won’t be personally judging the entries. However, if parents and guardians post their children’s drawing on Twitter using the hashtag #TheIckabog, I’ll be able to share and comment!  To find out more about the Illustration Competition, go to The Ickabog website when it launches.

Filed Under: JK Rowling, The Ickabog
Robert Galbraith Discusses Lethal White in New Interview
Posted by Megs

In a new interview with The New York Times, mystery writer Robert Galbraith discusses the newest book in his series on detective Cormoran Strike – Lethal White. The fourth of the Coromoran Strike novels, Lethal White, is available starting today in eBook, audiobook and hardcover formats. A few snippets from the interview may be read below:

Some mystery writers are plotters; they outline, they plan, they know exactly where their stories are going. Others are known as “pantsers” (as in writing by the seats of their pants — sitting down every day and just going where the story takes them). Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I’m definitely a planner. “Lethal White” required a spreadsheet that was more complicated than any I’ve created before. It had nine columns, red text for red herrings, blue text for clues, and various colors for different suspects and themes. Before I start each Strike book, I know exactly who did it, why they did it and how they did it.

When I hear pantsers describing the way they work I feel a mixture of admiration and anxiety. I did an event with Stephen King and John Irving a few years back and Stephen described his process as following a thread to see where it leads. When it came to John’s turn, he said he always knew damn well where the thread led before he started following it. I’m somewhere between the two. The initial inspiration may be one simple idea with no start or finish, but I never start writing a book unless I know exactly where I’m heading.

What brought you to writing crime novels?

I always wanted to write classic whodunits in a contemporary setting. What I love about the genre is that the central puzzle can be clothed a million different ways. There’s also something mythic about a lone detective or a duo, righters of wrongs, imposers of order on chaos. I think I’ve incorporated an element of mystery in all my novels. The Potters were variously whodunits, whydunits and howdidits.

At the end of the interview he noted that he has  the plot of the next Cormoran Strike novel planned and teased that his “good friend” J.K. Rowling is writing a brand new children’s book as well as working on the script for the third Fantastic Beasts film.

Filed Under: JK Rowling, Robert Galbraith
JK Rowling and Fantastic Beasts Cast reminisce over their favorite Hogwarts memories
Posted by Megs

In honor of Back to Hogwarts tomorrow, JK Rowling and the cast of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald reminisce over their favorite Hogwarts memories in a new featurette! Check out the below featurette celebrating #BackToHogwarts tomorrow, September 1st! How will you be celebrating?

Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is the second of five all new adventures in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World™.

At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.

In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.

The film features an ensemble cast led by Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Zoë Kravitz, Callum Turner, Claudia Kim, William Nadylam, Kevin Guthrie, Carmen Ejogo, Poppy Corby-Tuech, with Jude Law and Johnny Depp.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is directed by David Yates, from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling. The film is produced by David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram. Tim Lewis, Neil Blair, Rick Senat and Danny Cohen serve as executive producers.

The film reunites the behind-the-scenes creative team from the first “Fantastic Beasts” film, including Oscar-winning director of photography Philippe Rousselot (“A River Runs Through It”), three-time Oscar-winning production designer Stuart Craig (“The English Patient,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Gandhi,” the “Harry Potter” films), four-time Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (“Chicago,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”), and Yates’ longtime editor Mark Day (the last four “Harry Potter” films). The music is by eight-time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard (“Defiance,” “Michael Clayton,” “The Hunger Games” films).

Slated for release on November 16, 2018, the film will be distributed worldwide in 2D and 3D in select theatres and IMAX by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Filed Under: Fantastic Beasts Films, JK Rowling, The Crimes of Grindelwald
New Details on Harry Potter – A History Of Magic Documentary
Posted by Megs

BBC has released some new information on their upcoming documentary, Harry Potter – A History Of Magic which will be airing on Saturday 28 October from 9.00pm-10.00pm on BBC TWO.

It’s 20 years since J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone first cast its spell on readers across the globe, thanks to the charm, warmth and imagination of its wizarding world. But Rowling’s fantastical creation wasn’t entirely make-believe…

To mark the 20th anniversary of her book, the BBC presents an enchanting new documentary, uncovering the real life traditions of magic at the heart of Harry Potter.

A thrilling journey through legends, belief and folklore, this film goes behind the scenes with the British Library as they search to tell that story through objects in their collection, in an ambitious new exhibition: Harry Potter: A History Of Magic.

J.K. Rowling, who is lending unseen manuscripts, drawings and drafts from her private archives (which will sit alongside treasures from the British Library, as well as original drafts and drawings from Jim Kay) talks about some of the personal items she has lent to the exhibition and gives new insight into her writing, looking at some of the objects from the exhibition that have fired her imagination.

Readings from famous fans playfully recreates some of the best-loved spells, potions and magical moments from the books, and, as we follow the process of the exhibition, we discover modern magic’s counterparts – from real life wandmakers to Quidditch enthusiasts.

Viewers will discover an unexpected relationship between magic, belief and science: from the Anglo-Saxon spells that cure MRSA to the so-called witches who pioneered contemporary medicine and the ancient stargazers who first mapped the wonders of the night sky.

Filed Under: Books, JK Rowling
J.K. Rowling Appearing on ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ This Weekend
Posted by Megs

A new interview with J.K. Rowling will be airing on CBS Sunday Morning on September 24th beginning at 9am. Mark Phillips talks with Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling about the sensation of the London stage (and coming soon to Broadway): “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” The show is 90 minutes long and Jo’s segment could air at any point during the show.

This episode launches the 40th anniversary of the show. According to the press release:

America’s #1 Sunday morning news program, will launch its 40th anniversary season with a new set and an exciting lineup of stories that includes profiles of Shania Twain and J.K. Rowling, along with a look at the fall season in art, movies, books and music, on Sunday, Sept. 24 (9:00 AM) on the CBS Television Network.

The broadcast will mark the first reimagining of the signature set since CBS SUNDAY MORNING launched on Jan. 28, 1979.

“The new set is evocative of the one viewers have come to love since the launch of the broadcast,” said CBS SUNDAY MORNING executive producer Rand Morrison. “The goal is to enhance the visual experience for our viewers, while not shocking them with dramatic changes. The colors are refreshed, the building materials updated, and we have a bit more flexibility in what we can do in the studio.”

The previous set was dismantled and the new set constructed in place over the course of a week leading up to the season premiere. The new set (designed by Jack Morton Worldwide) is a round, multi-level creation that provides multiple positions for anchor Jane Pauley. Additional elements, such as thin tower video panels, will be added in the coming weeks.

In addition to profiles of country star Shania Twain by Lee Cowan and “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling by Mark Phillips, the Sept. 24 broadcast will feature Susan Spencer’s cover story on the trend in children being given unusual names; 60 MINUTES correspondent Lesley Stahl’s chat with author and bookstore owner Ann Patchett; David Edelstein’s preview of the fall season in movies; Anna Werner’s look at what’s ahead in art; Serena Altschul’s report on a museum filled with artifacts found by sanitation engineer; and Tracy Smith’s interview with Iain Armitage, star of the new CBS comedy YOUNG SHELDON.

Thanks to SnitchSeeker for the tip.

Filed Under: Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, JK Rowling
SURPRISE! J.K. Rowling Reveals Title for 4th Strike Novel
Posted by Megs

This morning on twitter, J.K. Rowling played a little game with fans to reveal the title for her 4th Cormoran Strike novel! It didn’t take long for one lucky fan to work out the puzzle and come up with “Lethal White.” There is still no release date for the book but at least now we have a little something to hold us over.

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Filed Under: JK Rowling, Robert Galbraith
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