If you are still curled up in a ball and crying because Harry Potter has officially come to end, and you need a fix ASAP, you’re in luck! J.K. Rowling has announced that she is going to release a new book entitled The Casual Vacancy. Now, it’s not Harry Potter related at all which is devastating for all of us I know , but at least we have some J.K. back in our lives. We have to look on the bright side, Potterheads.

She seems to be going in a different direction with this new novel which seems to written more towards adult readers. For the most part, J.K.’s fan base is twenty-somethings who grew up with the Potter series and now look back with nostalgia and joy at the wonderful world of Harry Potter. For a lot of us, she was our childhood. It seems that this new novel is definitely is not for kids. According to her publisher’s website, The Casual Vacancy tells the story of a man named Barry Fairweather who “dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.”

I think it’s cool that J.K. is taking a different route with this book and exploring other areas. She couldn’t write about wizards forever (even though we wish she would).

What do you guys think about her new book? Will you read it?

J.K. Rowling is one fierce lady. She’s gorgeous, funny, smart, and is a wicked writer. She graced us with the most magical story ever with the Harry Potter series, which catapulted her to a level of fame that most writers can only dream about. Not only did Harry Potter spark a wildfire of reading for an entire generation, but it also created a place for kids to go in their heads and escape their own worlds. I know Harry Potter did a lot for me as a youngster, and it still does today. Because of her success, J.K. Rowling became one of the richest women in the United Kingdom and landed a spot on the Forbes billionaire list last year. However, now she’s been bumped back down to the millionaire’s list.

Don’t worry though, it’s not because she’s spending her unimaginable fortune. Rowling’s moved down because she’s donated so much of her money to charity. According to Forbes, ”New information about Rowlings’ estimated $160 million in charitable giving combined with Britain’s high tax rates bumped the ‘Harry Potter’ scribe from our list this year.” Rowling has always been a charitable lady. She started the Volant Charitable Trust to prevent social inequality and poverty in 2000 and is the president of One Parent Families, a charity for single-parent families. She also has donated millions to multiple sclerosis research. She also wrote several books for charity including Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Quidditch Through The Ages, and The Tales of Beetle the Bard. Read More »

As you probably already know, J.K. Rowling has plans to write a new book for adults. She says, “Although I’ve enjoyed writing it every bit as much, my next book will be very different to the Harry Potter series.” This begs the question, “What will the new book be about?” The Harry Potter series was a huge part of her life for such a long time that it’s hard to imagine Rowling writing about anything but wizardry. While I’m sure many people have their opinions about what the topic of J.K. Rowling’s next book will be, I have a few ideas of my own. I’m (unfortunately) not as creative as her, however, so there’s no way my ideas will be as great as hers. But, here are a few general ideas about what she might write about… Read More »

Perhaps the most controversial category of all in our Most Influential Women poll is Most Influential Fiction Author. You might not think so at first; after all, those tween stars can cause quite a stir among their fans. But think about it — vampires, wizards, murderous children, teen drama, steamy love stories… How can any one person possibly figure out which of these hot topics has had the most influence over pop culture!?

JK Rowling: Did you or did you not grow up under the spell of all things Harry Potter? Dressing up to go to the movies, waiting in huge lines to buy the books on the night they were released, pretending your pencil is a wand (wait, am I the only one who did that?)… You can’t tell me JK Rowling’s literary genius never affected your life.

Stephanie Meyer: Whether you’re now obsessed with vampires or resent the day the Twilight books were ever written, Mrs. Meyer single-handedly started the vampire craze. Read More »

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Let’s be real, seven years at Hogwarts just isn’t enough. I mean those kids need to know a little more than just how to cast a few spells, right? I could totally get down to Rowling penning a few more books on Harry Potter: The College Years. Saved By the Bell did it, Boy Meets World did it, pretty much every other sitcom centered on high school life did it. So why not, Potter kids?

JK, I’ll even help you out a little so you can hit the ground running with this one. According to the sorting hat in my head, here’s where you can expect to see all of our favorite HP characters heading off to earn their degrees.

Click on the gallery button to see where we sent the Hogwarts kids to college!

initiating the gallery...

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I decided to get out of town for the weekend. You know, head to the country where my cell phone doesn’t get service, my computer doesn’t get internet and my hair doesn’t get…clean.

And, obviously, on this particular weekend huge things happened in the world of pop culture and entertainment, which leave me with hundreds of emails and tons of voicemails upon my return. Note: hair extremely greasy.

Um. Dumbledore is gay!?

What? How on earth did I miss that? I mean, really; how the hell did I miss that?

I have read every single Harry Potter book…3 times.

I majored in English in college, meaning I learned the art of reading between the lines in all sorts of texts.

I am a total fag-hag and love (absolutely adore) gay men.

If anyone should have seen that one coming it would have been me.

I am not saying that I am some genius (though, if you would like to think of me as one I am more than happy to agree), but I am saying that I am always on the lookout for interesting sub-plots and the meaning behind everything an author writes. Especially when it involves fabulous and powerful gay men.

So, if JK had indeed intended Dumbledore to be gay from the beginning, I would have seen it. And I did not. There was no pink décor in Dumbledore’s office. There were no saucy memories of late nights in Hogsmeade’s most hoppin’ gay bars floating around the Penseive. There wasn’t even an inkling of interest between Dumbles (as I like to call him) and Cedric Diggory, and how could any gay man not fall for that boy’s eyes, not to mention his skills on the Quiddich pitch? Read More »

I can’t help but wonder if there’s actually any point to writing a review for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I mean, it’s the seventh Harry Potter book. If you’ve read the first six Harry Potter books, I think it’s a safe bet that you’re probably going to read the seventh one, no matter what anyone says about it.

And if you have not read the first six books, there is no way you could possibly understand anything that happens in the last one. Not to mention, nobody really wants to know anything about a Harry Potter book ahead of time, anyway.

That didn’t stop The New York Times’ leading book critic Michiko Kakutani from posting a rather revealing review two days before the July 21 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Photographs of every single page were available on file-sharing websites as early as July 16, and I noticed plenty of mean-spirited, intentional spoilers sprinkled throughout Facebook like landmines, but I would have expected more from the Times.

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• It’s PG-13 rating. We no longer have to feel like that creepy old guy at a kid’s movie.

• Sexual tension. Pretty much everywhere. And Harry finally puts the moves on that chick he’s been eyeing for 2 movies.

• Homoerotic tension. Harry is awfully happy to see Sirius whenever he appears…and the guy does have great hair and a perfectly manicured mustache…

• Ron Weasley. The older he gets, the more he seems to represent the great state of Maine, lumberjack clothing and all. LOVE it! Read More »