Where everything Started

The cafe where JK Rowling started writing the Harry Potter books - with baby daughter Jessica by her side - has reopened. The cafe had closed and turned into a chinese buffet a few years ago, but a new owner has changed it back: Owner Moira McFarlane, 42, says she’s more than happy for customers to escape the cold and spend the whole day reading, writing or chatting with friends. She said: “It’s a big space, so we need to make it cosy – we will welcome people to come along and sit all day – and write books if they like. ”The businesswoman, who already owns the Spoon Cafe in Old Town and runs the Storytelling Centre coffee bar on the Royal Mile, says the cafe is unlike any other.

Tags: ROWLING, Harry Potter, books

readmore »»

Obama mentions Harry & Rowling in speech to schoolkids

In a speech to the schoolchildren of America, President Obama mentioned Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling to remind kids of the power of perseverance. As The Times Online reports: Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

Tags: ROWLING, Harry Potter, obama

readmore »»

ORIGIN OF HARRY POTTER

Harry Potter is a heptalogy of fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the eponymous adolescent wizard Harry Potter, together with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his best friends from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The central story arc concerns Harry's struggle against the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents in his quest to conquer the wizarding world, after which he seeks to subjugate the Muggle world to his rule.
Since the release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997, which was retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide.[2] The series has spawned films, video games and Potter-themed merchandise. As of June 2008, the seven book series has sold more than 400 million copies [3] and the books have been translated into 67 languages.[4] The seventh and last book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released on 21 July 2007.[5] Publishers announced a record-breaking 12 million copies for the first print run in the U.S. alone.[6]

The success of the novels has made Rowling the highest-earning novelist in history.[7] English language versions of the books are published by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic Press in the United States, Allen & Unwin in Australia, and Raincoast Books in Canada.

Thus far, the first five books have been made into a series of motion pictures by Warner Bros. The sixth, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, began filming in September 2007, with a scheduled release of 21 November 2008.[8] The series also originated much tie-in merchandise, making the Harry Potter brand worth £7 billion ($15 billion).[9]

Tags: Harry Potter, ORIGIN, ROWLING, WARNER BROS

readmore »»