R. L. LaFevers: J. K. Rowling Interview

Friday, July 17, 2009

J. K. Rowling Interview

Posted by Robin L

I watched the ABC special on J. K. Rowling last night. I enjoyed it, but then I'm a pretty easy sell when it comes to shows on authors.

One thing that really struck me about J.K. (she totally doesn't mind if I call her that) was when she said of the last Harry Potter book: "Some people will hate it. Because in order for some people to love it, others will have to hate it. That's the nature of the plot."

And I thought, wow, I wish I could embrace that as well as she does. Because it's undeniably true; if you write something strong enough that will cause some people to love it, that same depth of feeling will allow others to hate it.

But man, I am so jealous of her total ability to accept that. She must have a very open root chakra is what I'm thinking.

7 comments:

Karen Strong said...: I really enjoyed the TV special too. This quote stood out for me too. I thought the same thing when she said that. It really is true!; 7/17/2009 07:34:00 AM
Aspiring Author said...: Ah ha! The reader doesn't matter at all because every reader is not going to like it, just like writers, every reader is different!
Why oh why do i continue to worry 'bout how it'll turn out?; 7/17/2009 09:57:00 AM
Sherrie Petersen said...: I tivoed this to watch with my son. What a great quote from her.; 7/17/2009 08:25:00 PM
Robin L said...: So glad you enjoyed the special, too, Karen.

AA, you continue to worry about how it will turn out because you're human. And a writer. It is our nature to worry. :)

I think you'll enjoy the show, Sherrie. She's an amazing role model, even if she hadn't made a bazillion dollars.; 7/19/2009 10:14:00 AM
Katy Cooper said...: Oh, man! I wish I'd seen this, but thank you, thank you, thank you for talking about this particular book.

I know there are people out there who are Not My Readers. This tells me I need to embrace their Not-my-reader-ishness and almost write in order for them to hate what I'm going.

Not spitefully, or angrily, but to use their imagined dislike of what I'm doing as a Sign I'm moving in the right direction.

I just got back from RWA National where the message for me seems to have been, "Trust yourself." It feels like your post is another whisper of that message.; 7/19/2009 12:40:00 PM
Struggling Writer said...: Dear robin,
A few years a go I began writing. I wrote because my sister was a writer and people always fawned that "wow , a writer?" while my dad bragged proudly.
I...I guess I was jealous.That I wanted praise.
So I started a book, purely out of envy.
The book failed. I moved on to another idea.
Now I believe myself myself to be a writer, I'm no longer jealous.
I enjoy writing but the reason I started to write haunts me.(Is 'haunts' too dramatic?)
Because of that I can't fully give myself over to my 'muse'. I feel I can't truthfully say that I love writng and, while my sister has finished three books, I've yet to write one full rough draft.
Your the only person I could think of asking about...what...to, um, do?; 7/19/2009 05:35:00 PM
Robin L said...: Katy, your point about embracing the Not Your Readers thing is something I have to learn to do for this %$#@$ YA that I'm working on...so your comment reinforced something for me. Love how that works!; 7/20/2009 11:37:00 AM