Katrina1968 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Just wondering if any of you heard rumors about Rowling working on a new detective series? Supposedly she was seen by Ian Rankins wife while writing in an Edinburgh coffee shop... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Just wondering if any of you heard rumors about Rowling working on a new detective series? Supposedly she was seen by Ian Rankins wife while writing in an Edinburgh coffee shop... Again? I've heard similar rumours at least five times over the last few years! From interviews she's given in the past, I get the impression that if she publishes any books outside of the Potter world, she'll publish under a pseudonym so her work gets a fair response to the writing rather than a constant comparison to Harry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samsiren Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 huh, I haven't heard this - some investigation needs doing me thinks... I would be interested in reading whatever she puts out there - not just because of the success of HP, but because I honestly love the way she writes, with such great care of characters and intricate plot twists and turns, I'm sure a detective book would be amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I haven't read anything but ach, we will find out soon enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I'm just looking forward to her 18,000 words of HP back-story, then she can publish some new books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I agree Ben! haha. I'd like to read a different genre by her, I think it would be really interesting. I think it will be easy to judge it based on Harry Potter though which may damage it's reviews if she does bring one out in her own name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 (edited) She'd surely have to publish under a pseudonym like Claire said, though. It would be impossible for anything to be judged fairly otherwise.. Edited August 11, 2011 by Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I'm surprised no-one else has heard this rumour before - I'm sure it first surfaced a few years ago, unless I dreamt it?!??!! I vaguely remember it being discussed either on radio or on one of the Harry Potter fan site podcasts, but I could be completely wrong. I know there was also a discussion about her writing under a pseudonym, because I'm sure at one point she talked about having an idea for a book for younger children, but suggested that she didn't want it to be bought just because she wrote it, but wanted it to be judged fairly on its own merits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleW Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Writing under her real name she would have a real problem, yes. Everybody would expect it to be as good (or sell as good, for that matter), than HP. She's done a good thing for learning English, BTW. In Germany, it was quite exotic, reading English books, and they were hard to get. But since we had to wait months for the translation of HP, they did sell very good in English. And now it's easier to get any English book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadya Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 My daughter would be delighted to read anything Rowling writes I think. (she's 14 and rereads the Potter series regularly) She likes the humor and the quick way the plots evolve and fold out. Even now she's reading a Potter book in her bed while I'm about to go to my bed and read. (no Potter for me though, I'm reading about Salem, my daughter was laughing when she checked our library books list, novel about Salem topic, a Septimus Heap book, a book titled I killed Schehrazade, I didn't even realise how that list of books sounded ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawr Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 It will be interesting to see her try for a different audience and I imagine a welcome relief and challenge after over twenty years of Potter on the brain! There were large traces of detective fiction in Harry's world anyway and how the characters came across the plot trails and revelations and it was highly enjoyable, it'd be no doubt a good read regardless of the nature imo, she's a naturally gifted tale teller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmylou Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Did anyone else see that documentary she did where she was followed round whilst she was writing the Deathly Hallows and up to it being released? That finished with her in the cafe in Edinburgh where she was writing a new book, which she described as a political fairytale. It also had this bit where she explained what she thought happened to everyone after the series ended, who married who and what their kids names were. It was amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2 Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 This is probably a terrible thing to say, but if she was truly anonymous - if she approaches a new publisher as if she was a complete stranger - would she be published? Particularly in a different genre? Almost all new writers are rejected. I like the Potter series - I've read them all. My greatest triumph was to correctly predicting the big reveal at the end of book 7 when everyone said I was crazy. But I have to admit that she started to sprawl after book 3. Books 1 to 3 were tightly written, but then she became bigger than her publisher. They did not dare to edit her beyond fixing typos. The books tripled in length, including every little detail. Which is fantastic for a Potter fan, but less exciting for the casual reader. I wonder, if she produces a huge, sprawling book in a genre she does not know, and presents it in an anonymous brown paper wrapper to a publisher, would it be accepted? Publishers get thousands of manuscripts, and I am sure some of them are excellent, yet nit everything can be published. Plenty of famous authors were rejected many times. There was even an experiment a few years back when Jane Austen books were anonymously sent to publishers, as if they were by a new author, and many were rejected. The cynic in me thinks that her publisher will know her name, and will rely on that fact. They know that, regardless of the quality of the work (which of course may be excellent, but all publishers and fans say their books are excellent), sooner or later her real identity WILL leak out and then high sales are automatic. the real test is whether the new books sell more or fewer copies with each new release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oceansoul Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I think if she writes a new book or series then she needs to decide who her audience are. Is she writing a kids book or an adults book. I think that's where hp fell flat towards the end. Some of the storyline is quite adult, but the way it's written is childish. I felt that by trying to please everyone the charcters (especially the teenagers) became unbelievable. For a detctive based story line she'd have to stick to write for adults or atleast older teens and stick to that aim through out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 There was even an experiment a few years back when Jane Austen books were anonymously sent to publishers, as if they were by a new author, and many were rejected. If there are publishers who do not recognise Jane Austen when they read it, then they shouldn't be in the business - LOL! She's quite possibly the most instantly recognisable author and if a publisher didn't instantly pinpoint that a) it was Austen and b) someone was possibly plagerising (if they only read the very first page or so) then they're no use! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmylou Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Especially as Pride and Prejudice has one of the most famous opening lines of all time... 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 There was even an experiment a few years back when Jane Austen books were anonymously sent to publishers, as if they were by a new author, and many were rejected. If there are publishers who do not recognise Jane Austen when they read it, then they shouldn't be in the business - LOL! She's quite possibly the most instantly recognisable author and if a publisher didn't instantly pinpoint that a) it was Austen and b) someone was possibly plagerising (if they only read the very first page or so) then they're no use! Here's an article about it! It made the news and was part of a documentary which is on a loop in the waiting room at the Jane Austen museum in Bath!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 I'm surprised no-one else has heard this rumour before - I'm sure it first surfaced a few years ago, unless I dreamt it?!??!! I vaguely remember it being discussed either on radio or on one of the Harry Potter fan site podcasts, but I could be completely wrong. I know there was also a discussion about her writing under a pseudonym, because I'm sure at one point she talked about having an idea for a book for younger children, but suggested that she didn't want it to be bought just because she wrote it, but wanted it to be judged fairly on its own merits. I did read this somewhere - perhaps on her site? She said she would use another name so that the book would be judged on its own merit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 She'd surely have to publish under a pseudonym like Claire said, though. It would be impossible for anything to be judged fairly otherwise.. Books 1 to 3 were tightly written, but then she became bigger than her publisher. They did not dare to edit her beyond fixing typos. The books tripled in length, including every little detail. Which is fantastic for a Potter fan, but less exciting for the casual reader. I agree. I'm sure I read somewhere that, due to the strict secrecy surrounding the plot, there were multiple editors and they were only allowed to edit something like one page at a time (not in sequential order). It then makes perfect sense that only typos and grammatical errors could be picked up. You can't pick up on continuity, repetitiveness etc if you're only editing one page! I don't know how Rowling can think she will be able to protect her identity though. I think it be leaked even before her new book is published. To be an anonymous, 'new' writer, she would have to be in contact with a fair few people in the publishing industry. If she tries to be too anonymous, people will get suss pretty quickly, and if too many people are let in on her identity, obviously it will leak quickly there as well. I hadn't heard the rumours about Rowling writing detective novels, but it makes pretty good sense, and I think she could tell some good stories there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleW Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 It would be interesting, if she published anonymus and the truth would come out some months later! I'd bet, she wouldn't sell that much, probably get some bad critics, and when everybody knows, who she is, sales would explode and she'll be praised. It's all about her name! And she couldn't talk any publisher into publishing her anonymus. He will lose millions if he does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samsiren Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I don't know if I agree with it being all about her name... she is a fantastic story teller, who just happens to have shot into the public arena because of the books/ films success - sure she'd get people judging before she published anything new... but you could hardly call her a one hit wonder, each and every one of the books in the series was a stand alone story in its own right, and fantastically written and thought out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyzenthlay Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 I'd be sad if she wrote another book and I never read it due to a pseudonym. Sure, I should like the book "for its own merit" but that doesn't mean a thing if I never pick it up now does it? There are millions, thousands, billions of books out there. Which ones you read are either arbitrary or controlled by PR/word of mouth. I love Jo, and if this means her book will slip through my fingers I'll be pissed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 I'd be sad if she wrote another book and I never read it due to a pseudonym. Sure, I should like the book "for its own merit" but that doesn't mean a thing if I never pick it up now does it? There are millions, thousands, billions of books out there. Which ones you read are either arbitrary or controlled by PR/word of mouth. I love Jo, and if this means her book will slip through my fingers I'll be pissed. Don't stress it wouldn't be a secret for long (unless it was a turkey .. then she would probably never own up to it ) I mean she published the Harry Potter books under her initials because her publishers thought boys would be more resistant to a female author. But, it didn't take long before her real identity was revealed. I just want her to write something .... anything ... hurry up Jo, some of us can't wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inver Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Did anyone else watch her 'Who do you think you are' last night on BBC....was really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauraloves Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Did anyone else watch her 'Who do you think you are' last night on BBC....was really good. I missed it! Need to go back and watch it on iplayer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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