A Conversation for J.K.
Peer Review: A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
. Started conversation Feb 2, 2004
Entry: J.K. Rowling - Author - A2159660
Author: Niwt - U162817
I think there may as well be an entry on this.
I'm afraid I've had to leave a lot of bits deliberately vague as the information is hard to find.
I found 4 biographes on J.K. Rowling, and I'm sorry to say none of them are very good and they all give different information.
One biography was just a children's picture book, but there was one by Marc Shapiro, one by Sean Smith and one by Connie Ann Kirk.
The Marc Shapiro one I think is horribly written and gives her birth date as 1966. Most other things - including the other two biographies, Bloomsbury and IMDb - say she was born in 1965. I've chosen that date, as the Sean Smith biography also had her "birth certificate" (it looked genuine, I don't know if it is). Sean Smith says she was born in Yate (so does IMDb), but everywhere else it says Chipping Sodbury (J.K. has said that too).
Most of the biographies focus on how much money Harry Potter made, which is what I'm trying to get away from in this entry. I want it to be about the life of the author, NOT about Harry Potter. Connie Ann Kirk's biography gabbles about what else happened in the year J.K. was born, what happened in the decade, what was of world significance and other crap.
Also, apparently she didn't really have the middle name Kathleen, she just made it up for the publishers of her Harry Potter. It was apparently her grandmother's name. I don't know if this is true or not.
Tell me what you think. I think it should be suitable for the guide, but it may need some changes.
Niwt
A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
Gnomon - time to move on Posted Feb 2, 2004
Well done, Niwt! This is excellent stuff.
Two points:
The paragraph on Warner Brothers coming down heavy on all copyright infringements is a bit out of place. It paints the picture of WB being bad guys, but this is standard practice in the business world. I think you should leave this paragraph out.
In the conclusion you talk about JKR writing an 8th HP book, but you haven't mentioned anywhere in the entry that there will be 7 HP books. You've only mentioned the first five.
Some typos, grammar etc:
July 31st, 1965 --> 31 July, 1965
Literature and Exeter --> Literature at Exeter
Potter, however the atmosphere --> Potter. However, the atmosphere
giants), however --> giants). However
if they know the writer was --> if they knew the writer was
Price Gold Medal --> Prize Gold Medal
Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to --- you've got your italics mixed up here. The first 'and' should be normal while the second should be italic.
A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
. Posted Feb 2, 2004
WB did crazy things like try and sue a woman who had called her brand of clothes "Harry Potter", and first produced them several years before the first book was published (and WB didn't own the copyright until book four was published). And they sued 12-year-olds for having some vaguely HP-related web sites. That annoys me even if it is standard practice, although I've never heard of anyone else coming down that heavily on kids.
Okay I might get rid of it. I shall think about it.
Thank you very much for pointing out errors, I fixed all of them.
Niwt
A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
. Posted Feb 2, 2004
Actually maybe I was exaggerating in my last post. I don't think they actually *sued* many of the kids, I think they just threatened them.
A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
frenchbean Posted Feb 2, 2004
Hi Niwt Great single quotes, oh smug one
It jumps from book 5 to book 8. What about books 6 and 7? Why assume that she'll stop at 8? I know she's said she will, but that should be in the entry. It might be worth saying something about the fact that each book follows a year of Harry's school life - hence the finite number of books
Great entry by the way
Oh and she's just bought a big big house (not a little one at all) up here on the banks of the River Tay...
Fb
A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
Shadowbane Posted Feb 3, 2004
Warner Brothers a multimillion dollar ruthless media company not the bad guys? What a load of (enter expletive here)! I am a passionate beliver in granting free copywrite to small timers and charity publications/ productions! Did you here about David Beckham sueing that charity record? He's either thick or a total (enter expletive here)! Why should a little kid be stopped from writing about Harry Potter (plaigeristic fairy tale that it is)? Why should a charity record have to pay a billionaire pillock like Beckham? Why should a charity show producer struggling to cover his costs have to pay some money grabbing author? Your thoughts please. As a scriptwriter I practice what I preach and offer free rights to anyone performing my work as a charity show! I do however seriously hope that the fat cats at WB get their hands on http://www.freewebs.com/theemmawatsonshrine it's disgusting! (What's worse is I know the rather sick guy who created it!)
A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
. Posted Feb 6, 2004
I've mentioned that she's said she'll write 7 books as that is how long Harry is at school for. I think I included it in the entry before.
A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
Gnomon - time to move on Posted Feb 6, 2004
To avoid all confusion about the seven books, I think you should make the following change:
Change the following sentence:
"Joanne has said that if she writes an eighth Harry Potter book it will probably be a long way down the track"
to
"While the planned sixth and seventh Harry Potter books are still on the cards, Joanne has said that if she writes an eighth Harry Potter book it will probably be a long way down the track"
A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
Gnomon - time to move on Posted Feb 6, 2004
We noticed the comment. This is not the place to discuss the issue. It is the place to point out to Niwt issues that she may want to include in the entry.
A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
J Posted Feb 17, 2004
Looks like a sound entry. Lays out all the facts.
Be careful of your use of the word ‘recent’ though. “admitted in a recent interview”... “recently estimated”... both won’t be so recent in a while. And then you’ll look silly.
You may have to end up promising the italics to update it eventually - as more books come out or if she becomes richer or if she ends up in a mental institution or if she goes and does something like... dies.
But don’t let that worry you now.
A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
Ormondroyd Posted Feb 17, 2004
Great work, Niwt!
It seems a little strange that you've mentioned the charity spin-off 'Potter' books but not the titles of the third, fourth and fifth books in the regular series. Which (consults bookshelf) are: 'Prisoner of Azkaban', 'Goblet of Fire' and 'Order of the Phoenix'. My only other nitpick is about the section in which you retell the great story about how J.K. wrote the first book over a series of s in a café: I don't think that '...such short periods of times' is quite English, and I'd lose the '...of times' if I were you.
Although I'm glad that J.K.'s taking as much time as she feels she needs over the remaining 'Potter' books, it's a small shame that it's disrupted the original plan to have Harry and friends growing up in real time - i.e. coming back each year with the characters a year older. Nevertheless, I think it's great that we are getting to see Harry, Hermione and Ron grow up and go through all the torments of adolescence - it does make them seem more real.
BTW, as regards the books not being just for kids: I think that's reflected in the fact of them being available in alternative 'adult' and 'children's' covers. And In the fact that my Mum wanted to borrow my copy of 'Phoenix' when she was 68 and I was 43.
A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
. Posted Feb 20, 2004
Hello, I'm here
Jodan, thank you, I agree that I've used "recent" a lot but the beauty of that is that there's no definite time about what is recent. I never look silly. Seriously though, thanks for that, I might change some of them, but they could still be desccribed as "recent" in five years' time. Well, maybe. I don't mind updates....although I don't think they're likely for a while, as I can't see her suddenly going into a mental institution or dying.
Ormy - thank you also for your comments about the entry and the books. I didn't mention the titles of all the books because that's for the "Harry Potter" entry to do, not the "J.K. Rowling". That's why I've added the link. Will change the "of times", it was probably supposed to be "of time", although even that sounds a little bit dodgy. Actually, just looking at the whole sentence again, I think "of time" will suffice. Anybody disagree?
Okay
Niwt
Key: Complain about this post
Peer Review: A2159660 - J.K. Rowling - Author
- 1: . (Feb 2, 2004)
- 2: Gnomon - time to move on (Feb 2, 2004)
- 3: . (Feb 2, 2004)
- 4: . (Feb 2, 2004)
- 5: . (Feb 2, 2004)
- 6: frenchbean (Feb 2, 2004)
- 7: Cyzaki (Feb 2, 2004)
- 8: Shadowbane (Feb 3, 2004)
- 9: . (Feb 6, 2004)
- 10: Gnomon - time to move on (Feb 6, 2004)
- 11: frenchbean (Feb 6, 2004)
- 12: Shadowbane (Feb 6, 2004)
- 13: Gnomon - time to move on (Feb 6, 2004)
- 14: J (Feb 17, 2004)
- 15: Ormondroyd (Feb 17, 2004)
- 16: . (Feb 20, 2004)
- 17: . (Feb 20, 2004)
- 18: J (Feb 20, 2004)
- 19: . (Feb 21, 2004)
- 20: . (Mar 9, 2004)
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