Read about it here. Ms. Anelli promises “new canon.”
Oh, well. I look forward to reading the transcript at Madame Pince’s, where I learned this news today.
Any guesses today about what we’ll learn tomorrow? More future relationships or will we learn about events and choices that took place outside Harry’s restricted view? As we’re reading Goblet of Fire, I keep thinking it would be nice to know what Ludo Bagman was up to…. but if it were included in the story, that line would probably require otherwise unnecessary action on Harry’s part to bring the information into his line of sight or would distract and dissipate the reader’s attention from more important story elements.
It’s been two years since what Linda McCabe has called “the interview from Hell” post Half-Blood Prince. Here’s hoping sans Master Spartz that Ms. Anelli asks a few thoughtful questions in with the softballs she is obliged to pitch as the representative of all Fandom.
We’re going to hear more about gay Dumbledore. Here’s the preview from TLC:
Preview of Interview with J.K. Rowling
As we have previously posted, early tomorrow we will post the first-ever podcast interview with J.K. Rowling on PotterCast, our Harry Potter podcast. It’s a rare, informal, discussion which slides between detailed canon, larger statements about the series and writing, and casual banter.
The interview occurred just after the sale of her handwritten book, “The Tale of Beedle the Bard,” for $3.98 million (it was not yet known that the buyer was Amazon.com). We speak of Beedle and the morals in those tales, and Jo reveals that she originally thought there would be thirty or so, but revised that estimate when she conceived the idea of writing them all out by hand.
“‘Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump,’ is the stupidest title ever written by man or beast,” she says, laughing. “When I wrote it I had not, at the point when I gave Ron that title, I didn’t imagine for a second that I was actually going to write the story….I really liked the idea of keeping those titles and then finding out what the stories were.”
She also addresses long-held fan questions about pieces of minute canon, such as the “missing 24 hours” in her timeline, certain characters’ lineage, and the workings of Horcruxes and how they are made. Of course, we also talk about larger issues, such as the recent announcement that popular Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore was gay.
“In the wizarding world…I think you could be gay, pureblood, and totally without any kind of criticism from the Lucius Malfoys of the world. I don’t think that’s something that would interest him at all. But I can’t speak for all witches and wizards,” she said. “To me it was only relevant in as much as Dumbledore, who was a great defender of love and who sincerely believed that love was the greatest, most powerful force in the universe, was himself made a fool of by love.”
We also learn more about wands, which parts of the backstory made her editor want to vomit, the main trio of characters’ post-book-seven plans, and her intentions to “absolutely” write and publish an Harry Potter encyclopedia (jokingly referred to as “The Scottish Book”), but not until she can make sure it’s “done right” and “gives everything.” She also speaks to what she terms her heavy involvement in the the creation of the new Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Florida, assuring it will have quite a lot of “the Jo touch,” as suggested by John.
It’s a very relaxed and fun talk, more so than would be a “formal” interview, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
Hello, Jo? Do you realize we HogPros are out here? That we’re interested in far, far more than the color of Dumbldore’s wardrobe and the missing 24 hours in the timeline? That there are readers who recognize (thanks to a certain HogwartsProfessor) and appreciate the structure and alchemy of your books? And would love to have a literary chat with you?
Hello? You there? We’d LOVE to have you!
Howliony just stalked out of the room…
For those scratching their head and wondering what “the interview from Hell” is all about and why any interview would be characterized as such, here is a link to my post on the subject:
http://lcmccabe.blogspot.com/2007/05/interview-from-hell_29.html
As you can possibly imagine, I have some strong opinions on the matter.
Let us hope that this interview does not include any insults to the intelligence or mental stability of anyone and that the interviewers have a more professional demeanor than the previous TLC/MN interview.
Linda
Ugh! Enough with the “Dumbledore is gay” thing. I’m beginning to wish I’d never read the books or liked them in the first place. There is so much more to the books than that. Please just stop with the promotion of it. Ugh!
athena,
After reading your blog post on the interview from hell, I think your anger & disappointment can be chalked up to the fact that JKR seems to talk too much about the novels. She probably could’ve avoided angering a lot of her fandom by simply declining to comment on any ships until after the series was written & it was already obvious who was with who. I think the same thing’s going on now, with all these ‘revelations’ given by Jo in interviews. I’m of the opinion she should just let us read the books & if she wants to say anything about them, then get to work on her encyclopedia.
I think she slipped up to by squashing the Dumbledore is not dead hypotheses. Let people speculate all they want, until the series is written & you’ve spelled everything out in the books. But I admit I may be in the minority as far as an author’s comments about their works.