JK Rowling Fan : An Unofficial Fansite About the Person Behind the Magic

Steven Vander Ark's New Book Approved

Posted on 16 Nov 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

Steve Vander Ark's new book, In Search of Harry Potter, has been approved by J.K. Rowling's lawyers. The book, which goes in depth about the various locations in Harry Potter, presented a controversy after Vander Ark's last book was ruled as copy infrigement.

You can find out more about the book here

New HBP Trailer Now Online

Posted on 14 Nov 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

Although we don't normally report movie news, we are proud to say that the new Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince trailer is now online. It is absolutly wonderful and shows great new scenes!

Check it out at HPANA here!

Harry, A History - An Amazing Read!

Posted on 13 Nov 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 3

Today I went down to the book store and bought myself Melissa Anelli's new book, Harry, A History. As I cracked open the book to read, I found it almost as hard to put down as the Harry Potter books themselves. The book presents a fabulous insight into the world of Harry Potter and the Harry Potter fandom. With detailed descriptions about the entire history of the books, Melissa definently swept me off my feet with what I am positive is the best Harry Potter book not written by Ms. Rowling. Additionally, the book describes Jo's life and feeling in such detail that it seems as though Jo could have written the book herself. Melissa portrayed the true feelings of Harry Potter fans across the nation, concerning the releases of the books and the overall feeling of what Harry Potter means to us fans. Harry, A History manages to combine Melissa Anelli's own personal story with reflecting the feelings of almost every Harry Potter fan in the world, all while giving us a sense of appreciation for Joanne Rowling's hard work.

Hats off to Melissa Anelli and Harry, A History.

To find out more about Harry, A History, visit it's official website here

Extract from The Birthday Book

Posted on 13 Nov 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

An extract from The Birthday Book, a treasury of children's stories and poems, was posted online today. Here, Jo discusses her favorite scene from Deathly Hallows:

"I admit that, at first glance, the extract I've chosen for The Birthday Book might not seem particularly celebratory, given that it has for its subject my hero walking to what he believes will be certain death. But when Harry takes his last, long walk into the heart of the Dark Forest, he is choosing to accept a burden that fell on him when still a tiny child, in spite of the fact that he never sought the role for which he has been cast, never wanted the scar with which he has been marked. As his mentor, Albus Dumbledore, has tried to make clear to Harry, he could have refused to follow the path marked out for him. In spite of the weight of opinion and expectation that singles him out as the "Chosen One", it is Harry's own will that takes him into the Forest to meet Voldemort, prepared to suffer the fate that he escaped sixteen years before.

The destinies of wizards and princes might seem more certain than those carved out for the rest of us, yet we all have to choose the manner in which we meet life: whether to live up (or down) to the expectations placed upon us; whether to act selfishly, or for the common good; whether to steer the course of our lives ourselves, or to allow ourselves to be buffeted around by chance and circumstance. Birthdays are often moments for reflection, moments when we pause, look around, and take stock of where we are; children gleefully contemplate how far they have come, whereas adults look forwards into the trees, wondering how much further they have to go. This extract from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is my favourite part of the seventh book; it might even be my favourite part of the entire series, and in it, Harry demonstrates his truly heroic nature, because he overcomes his own terror to protect the people he loves from death, and the whole of his society from tyranny."

Source: The Guardian

Beedle the Bard Print Run Announced

Posted on 10 Nov 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

Scholastic annoucned today that there will be an initial run of 3.5 million coppies of the Harry Potter spinoff, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Scholastic intends for the books to last through the holidays and serve as great gifts!

"With publishers and booksellers nervous about Christmas sales, a little $12.95 book might be the season's savior. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Harry Potter offshoot by J.K. Rowling, is being published by Scholastic on Dec. 4. This will be the first Rowling book to be published at the height of the holiday season; all her previous Harry Potters were published in the summer—and the timing, although ideal in the gift-giving sense, may present some logistical distribution challenges."

For more, visit Publishers Weekly here!

New Contest for Edinburgh Schools

Posted on 06 Nov 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

A new contest has just been announced for those who attend school in Edinburgh, Scotland. The contest, from the The Edinburgh Evening News, gives students a chance to attend J.K. Rowling's opening of her Harry Potter spinoff, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The contest gives the opportunity to ten schools, where their students can attend the tea party where Ms. Rowling will be reading from the new book and answering questions. Each school is allowed to bring twenty children ages eight to eleven. Entries are due no later than November 10. You can see scans of the paper thanks to Leaky here, here, and here.

New JKR Interview

Posted on 02 Nov 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

As we stated several weeks ago, Melissa Anelli, Leaky webmiss and author of Harry, A History, conducted several interviews with J.K. Rowling. In a newly released interview, Jo discussed spoilers.

Jo said, "I remember there was a journalist, a TV journalist, who said at the time, very flippantly, 'Ha, ha, it's all publicity, isn't it?" It just felt so out of control at that point, just felt so out of control that the manuscript had suspiciously turned up in a field, that this guy who had supposedly found it just thought, 'Oh, well, the best thing I can do here is phone some newspaper. ... And then of course we hit book six and we think we've seen the most out-there attempt to get a Harry Potter manuscript early, and of course we haven't come close because the we get the guy with the gun. That was pretty serious, that really was not funny. Fiddy told me and I thought it was a joke. I thought she was making a joke.

Just the mere fact that you've produced something that people want to steal, want to put on the Internet, is, for me, very uncomfortable. And when a gun gets involved, the joke's gone out the window. Completely out of the window. I was appalled. The guy who had the gun pulled on him wrote that he'd been in places like Kosovo and it went through his head, "I'm going die for Harry Potter." God forbid.

There is a view out there, 'It's all good,' it all adds to the hype, makes it more colorful. But no, it was really getting out of control. And as people talked about hype it was feeding off of itself, and it was generating this kind of ugliness...that's way beyond leaking plots, that's into violence and intimidation, and who wants to be associated with that? Who wants their work associated with that? You know, let's just publish it two weeks early. Who wants a gun pulled? So you start to get very anxious about it. ... At that level, it's become utterly divorced from what it's about. It's not about the anticipation for a book at all, it's not about love of a story or even wishing to spoil a story. It's become something that people want to be attached to because it's the quickest way they can see to get some publicity for themselves or notoriety for themselves and you have this fringe - I can't dignify them with the word fan because I think if it wasn't Harry Potter it would be Star Wars or it would be something high-profile enough that they could just get a little bit of face-time. ... it's really got nothing to do with Harry Potter, and yet Harry Potter attracted a large amount of that, latterly, I'd say, for the last three books. ... It's raising expectations in an unhealthy way, it's making people sick of the sound of Harry Potter for the wrong reasons, and most seriously you're getting into the realm of literally fraud, intimidation, violence, theft, and nearly always it had nothing to do with fandom."

Happy Birthday Molly Weasley

Posted on 30 Oct 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

Jo has updated her official website to wish our favorite Potter mom Molly Weasley a very happy birthday!

Deathly Hallows Nominated for Independent Bestseller Award

Posted on 29 Oct 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter series, has been nominated for the Independent Bestseller Award in the childrens category. The award, according to The Times, is "given to the writer of the book most enjoyed by customers of specialist bookshops across the UK".

The other nominees include:
Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman by Francesca Simon
Young Bond: Hurricane Gold by Charlie Higso
Charlie & Lola: I'm Really Ever Not So Well by Charlie Higson
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Mr. Gum and the Power Crystals by Andy Stanton and David Tazzyman
Paddington Here and Now by Michael Bond
Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire by Derek Landy
The Sleepwalker : (CHERUB) by Robert Muchamore
Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz

Source: The Leaky Cauldron

JKR Updates Site with Beedle the Bard Nnews

Posted on 28 Oct 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

JK Rowling updated her official webiste earlier today with news about the launch of her new book, Beedle the Bard. She says that the only way to be able to attend the Beedle the Bard launch in Edinburgh, Scotland is through contests, such as the Scholastic contest and the Bloomsbury contest.

"I'm delighted that the book will now be available to everyone, with the net proceeds of sales going to the Children's High Level Group, the charity I helped found which works with vulnerable children across Eastern Europe."

New JKR Pictures!

Posted on 20 Oct 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

15 new pictures of Jo have appeared online from the Beedle the Bard reading last December. The pictures show Jo reading the book and interacting with fans. You can see them in our galleries here!

In addition, we have some new photos of Jo from 1999, courtesy of Oclumencia. You can see them here!

Beedle the Bard to be Displayed in NY

Posted on 20 Oct 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

With all of the news about the events surrounding the release of Beedle the Bard, even more news has come up announcing that one of the original seven Beedle the Bard books will be displayed in New York from December 4 to January 4. The original copy belongs to Arthur Levine, the original publisher of the American Version of the Harry Potter books.

"There will be a press preview of The New York Public Library exhibit on December 3, 2008 at 10:00am EST. where Arthur Levine will share his experiences editing the series and the thrill of being one of only six individuals who received the special gift from Ms. Rowling. The free exhibit will open to the public on December 4th. "

Source: Market Watch

IF ANY VIEWERS ARE ABLE TO MAKE IT TO NEW YORK DURING THESE DATES, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT KRISTEN@JKRFAN.COM

Tales of Beedle the Bard Contest

Posted on 20 Oct 2008 by Kristen - Comments: 0

Scholastic just announed a new essay contest for the launch of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The contest, opened to American kids, asks contestants to write an essay about ways they have helped people. The five winners will will a once in a life time opportunity to fly to Scotland to attend the Beedle the Bard tea party on December 4, 2008. To enter the contest, visit scholastic here!