JK Rowling Announces New Book
Did you hear the news that has the entire Internet abuzz with anticipation and impatience? JK Rowling, the authoress of the Harry Potter series, has announced that she will be releasing a new book intended for an adult audience. Ahem. Squeeing may commence.
Rowling’s statement was brief, and indicated not only that the work will be intended for adults—but that it will also be considerably different from her previous works. She also said that she was grateful that the series gave her the freedom to work on whatever she wants this time, which is true; I can only imagine how it must feel to have such a successful career followed by the time to write whatever you like. And even if her work is not well received, she’s not going to be poverty-stricken with her previous success behind her.
But now I am incredibly curious, as is just about any other Rowling reader, as to what the work will be. More fantasy would be so welcome, but if she’s gunning for the next great piece of fiction, that would be awesome too. So what do you want to see in the novel? Some action or adventure? Perhaps a bit of mystery? Saying it’s that different from her other works is a pretty large blanket statement to make, and could encompass an enormous range of genre and subject material.
I would think that a romance would be out, but you never know; I do like how she lightly touched upon that genre during the Harry Potter adventures. How about a sweeping adult drama or the next Oprah book club selection? I could definitely see that happening (if the book club still exists, that is; I have no idea if it does or not).
My big desire is to have it be full of memorable characters as she is known to create. Even though her stories are known to be full of magic and wizardry, the real grip of her stories was the characterization itself. Rowling and Angie Sage are great at this—casting a wonderful cast of complex characters who stay with you no matter how they change and grow—or even die.
Whatever Rowling ends up releasing, I know that people will be lined up to read it. The next work she writes after this one, of course, will likely be dependent upon what happens with this one. I wish Ms. Rowling the best of luck with this upcoming release and until it’s available, I will be eagerly awaiting it along with the rest of her fans.