SS Report on J.K.Rowling Book reading in New York (UPDATED)
 

Last night Biochemkris and I had the immense pleasure of being in attendance at the benefit, 'An Evening with Harry, Carrie and Garp', featuring authors Stephen King, John Irving and J.K. Rowling at Radio City Music Hall in New York city. Proceeds from the event went to benefit the Haven Foundation and Doctors Without Borders.

It was a hot day in New York, but the fans lined up early outside of Radio City, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ms. Rowling at the back stage door. Unfortunately, our hopes were dashed as she did not appear, but it was rather fun to see the many Harry Potter Fans dressed in pride and clutching books under their arms as we waited.

Once inside and seated, we were treated to lovely and often hilarious introductions by actresses Whoopi Goldberg, Kathy Bates and by Daily Show host John Stewart ("yes, my five month old daughter is on line for the next book... we really miss her but we just want the damn book!" and "my two year old son was born with a lightning bolt... yes if you take your fingernail and press it on his forehead long enough he has a lightning bolt").

J.K. Rowling read third and was received with a thunder of applause and belated 'Happy Birthdays'. She looked lovely in a simple black dress and silver high heel shoes (which this reporter felt were rather Slytherin inspired with an intricate serpentine pattern). She joked about following the other great authors but laughingly remarked that "she had the best shoes." She went on to read an excerpt from 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince', chapter 13 'The Secret Riddle' in which Harry and Dumbledore observe the younger Dumbledore meet Tom Riddle for the first time. She did a great job, though she confessed to being quite nervous. She followed up with a session of 'Questions and Answers' which included:


What would Hermione see if she looked into the Mirror of Erised?

To which she replied, at this point, of course, Hermione would see the three friends alive and unscathed and Voldemort gone. In particular, she would also see herself closely entwined with another person. "You can probably guess who?" she teased.


Can Muggles brew potions?

Even with all the proper ingredients, the answer would be no, as there is always still an element of magic involved, therefore a wand is necessary. She also stated that if a muggle were to get their hands on a wand then she would expect something 'accidental and violent' to be the result of that, in a similar way as when a wizard uses someone else’s wand. She also went on to tease us slightly in saying that there would be more in book 7 about the wizard's personal connection to his/her wand.


Is there a chance of redemption and/or side changing for certain characters? In particular the name Snape and Draco were raised.

JKR stated that there was a chance for redemption for almost everyone and pointed out Voldemort as one who had no hope of it. She did not address Snape, however, she did have comments on Draco. "In Harry's point of view, and hers," Draco, given the time to decide, would not have killed... "you have all read the book by now, I hope?" *laughter* "He would not have killed the person in question." She also said the consequences of Draco not being able to kill said person will be seen in book 7.


Why did Ollivander choose the three wand cores that he did as being most powerful?

She stated that these three were her favorites, of course. But there are other wand makers in the world and that they often use things that are particular to their own country. She also said the relationship between a wizard and his wand will become more important in book 7.


With regards to her writing: how do you know when to stop?

JKR replied that she has known for 16 years where she was going with Harry Potter, however, there is always still a lot to explain. She joked that she "will probably leave some things hanging," to which there was much laughter about future companion books to explain it all. But she assured us that she would address the important things. She also, once more, addressed her admiration of people who stopped when the readers still wanted more.


In this day of computers, has anything online influenced you?

To which she replied that she fought with the 'masochistic' desire to read the negative reviews at Amazon.com.

On fan sites in particular, she stated there was a time, when first asked, that "no, she did not go to them. But on a bored day, she googled Harry Potter and was shocked." She made reference to the shipping wars being 'cyber gang warfare' over Harry/Hermione (to which there were scattered cheers and she laughed "oh, you're still out there!") vs. Hermione/Ron with much greater applause. She also laughed about some of the 'weird couplings', but "we won't go there". Further, she stated that the online world was exciting and interesting - "if used wisely."


With regard to rejection, did you ever think of giving up? And if she had - what would she be doing now?

She stated that though she had an agent early on, she did face a lot of rejection. But she believed so strongly in Harry and her story that she was determined to keep going until the very last publisher rejected her, "which was getting close." She felt that if even after 16 years if she was still trying, that she would still be a writer today, though her alternative career would have been teaching.


The authors are scheduled to read again tonight, August 2nd, and Radio City has promised webcasts of the events later this month on MSN.com. Stay tuned!


EDIT: I feel I must add that there are no pictures taken by this reporter during the event, as cameras were strictly prohibited within the auditorium and we respected this rule.


UPDATE:

Gwen, aka Lemonlimeoranges, was also in New York last night and has kindly shared a few pictures she took outside Radio City Music Hall! You may see them here , here , here , and here.

Thank You Gwen!


UPDATE:

Gwen has also found a CNN video clip on Yahoo news with footage from last night's event in which we hear the end of JKR's reading and her answer to Hermione and the Mirror of Erised question, as well as the her answer to 'will Draco redeem himself?'. You may view it here.
Thanks Gwen!

AHHHHH! you went! i wanted to goooooooooo!

AWESOME report, Lissy! WEEE! Thanks!

Lissy you rock!

Thank you so much for that!

wow cool

Wow. Thanks for writing a report of it, Lissy. It sounds great.

So does this mean that he will be back? :shifty: She probably didn't talk about Snape for a reason, so maybe both of them can come back and be good.

Wow! the report and the interviewwere wonderful!
Thanks Lissy and Biochemkris

*shaking with delight*

Wow, I wonder if she ever saw this site? Hmmm.. I hope she writes books that are the "other stories" things like what Snape went through when he was with Voldemort before he truly reached the power he did.

Omg! Thank you guys so much for that!! :glomp:

hehehe I hear the other authors were teasing her about that. I don't think she's telling tho! :glomp:

Wonderful! How absolutely exciting!:woot: I can't wait for the webcast!

eeeeeeeeek!!! I love the report. thank you guys. :glomp:
Can't wait for the webcasts :jump:

That's awesome! I wish I could have been there...

She is a great person,,I love Jo.

Ahhhh, awesome report! I wish I could've been there too ... *sigh*

OMG! Thanx for posting this! I wish i could've been there.

Darn!! Something that happened in teh US and I totally didn't even think about trying to go!!
Wish I could have been there.

Thanks for the report, it's awesome!

I would have loved to been there, two of my favorite writers in the same room! Uncle Stevie is a big fan of Jo too, I'm a fan of Stephen King from way back. It was so funny when he like the rest of us couldn't wait for the new Harry Potter.

Those r grt ?s I really think Draco should b redeemed. It must have been cool 2 c :)

Wow that is soo Great stuff!

Great Report! Thanx so much! Would have loved to have been there, myself. ^_^

Yes, but where are the Rockettes???!!!!
 

You're not in Texas, you don't know heat ... <_<

He's funny ... do the Oscar's again Mr. Stewart ... and someone shut up George Clooney ... talking outta his ... *smacks* Hollywood should get an education and a history lesson before it tries to get political ...

I'm sure she meant :malfoy: :one_brow:

:blink: :lol: :lmao: :rotfl: :mwaha: :evillaugh :cry: :lol: :lmao: *edited for time to fit in the alloted posting slot*

Sounds like it was fun, but no one ever asks the really important questions. How will Snape die? Is it gonna hurt alot? Dumbledore isn't coming back is he? Where's Hufflepuff's & Ravenclaws Dormitories? What happened to Cho? Is Tonks going to have cute little werebabies ... :eek: what's Ron's favorite candy? If a tree falls in the forbidden forest and Grawp is taking a nap and ...

Great Report. *goes off to bother someone else now*

lucky you... it sounded like fun

Sounds WAY cool. Wish i could have gone:)

cool!!! I wish I could went and I could have asked some burning questions as well.

I hope it ends how Hermione sees it in the mirror:

What would Hermione see if she looked into the Mirror of Erised?

That would be awesome! Thanks for the great report!!!!!

Cool! Love the report and the pics :)

Sadly, my parents didn't think it was a good idea to let me go to the city alone...and none of them were able to take me...but thanks so much for reporting back to us!

>_> hehe Ottery! No doubt! :lol:

But to describe the NYC heat - 100 degrees, humid, traffic exhaust fumed, subway grate blasted, 1000's of bodies in close contact, just plain congested heat - that is NY.

Great interview, thanks for that!!

Sweet. I just wish I could've attended. Despite the heat, I'd wear my homemade Luna Loevgood costume, right down the bottle corks necklace. :D But still, great report and updates!

Thanks Lizzy I bet it was soooooooooooooooo awesome to be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hehe someone did! Complete with lion-head hat! :lol: And there were lots of kids dressed in school robes and such. We would all deal with the heat to support JKR!


You're all welcome guys! I'm glad you are enjoying! :flowers:

OW , thank you :D you were there? your job were great :)

Just added a video clip guys! Be sure to check it out: http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/scp_v3/...ics-hollow.net

:woot: What a wonderful story Lissy!!! *wishes she could have been there*

awesome report ;_; omg omg omg LOVED IT!

On the side of the theatre we were waiting on to get inside someone collapsed due to the heat. We passed by them as the paramedics worked on them.

There were definitely a bunch of fans from all sorts of sites. I saw representatives from TLC and MN, and probably others (those were the ones sporting tees). Unfortunately, my SS tee doesn't fit anymore in my present condition so, I was not able to represent SS in that way, though Lissy did make sure to wear hers. :D

Thanks for the report!

I love J.K ROWLING :flowers: and she is a great author, now i can't siriously wait until :yes: the book comes out. I'm so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :jump:

wow! that's amazing!!!

Lissy and Kris rock! too bad cameras weren't allowed in there.... tee hee. too bad i live across the continent.... great questions tho, and yes we can probably guess who Hermione would be with in the mirror! :lol:

cool thanks for such an exciting news

i watched it and its so cool

Very interesting report Lissy........ R/Hr rules. Jo rulz...............

*scream*

R/Hr forever!!!!!!:loved:

that's cool. thanks

Wow! thier so lucky they got some footage. thank to the report.

wish draco came back them he would make such a kicka** team with harry (minus the differences) and hope harry doesn't die too.

OMG........***cant wait to hav book 7 in my hands*****

this is awesome stuff!!!! SS IS THE BEST!!!! :woot:

Makes me happy. I like t. :hermy2:

Awesome report, Lissy! Glad you took such great notes to share with us!!Thanks!!

Wow, I wish I could've been there. I like how she answered questions as well. :) Nice pictures.

I love the artical it was a great one.