Oprah has the power to get just about any person she wants on her show, and today's guest was no exception. We're not quite sure what prompted J.K. Rowling to go on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," but whatever it was, we're happy that it happened. The typically private Jo Rowling opened up about her mother's death, her quick rise to fame and, most importantly, whether or not she'd write more "Harry Potter" books. The answer to that big question? Maybe.
"They're all in my head still. I could definitely write an eighth, a ninth book," J.K. answered cryptically. "I think I am done, but you never know."
Her mother's death in 1990 from multiple sclerosis was the major cataclysm that spurred her to write the "Harry Potter" books. "Yeah, The odd thing is—this is life, isn't it—the books wouldn't be what they are if she hadn't died. I mean, her death is literally on every other page in the 'Harry Potter' books. At least half of Harry's journey is to deal with death, what it does to the living, what it means to die, what survives death," she explained. "If she hadn't died, I don't think it is too strong to say there wouldn't be Harry Potter. The books are what they are because she died."
She said that the only other time she ever cried as much as she did when her mother died was when she finished writing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." "It was a bereavement. It was huge," Jo said. "Initially I was elated, then I cried like I had never cried before. And only twice in my life have I cried like that, [the other] when my mother died."
Both she and Oprah talked for a bit about their own crazy amounts of wealth, but for the once-single-mother-on-welfare, this level of fame was something she said she never saw coming. "No. Never. And I really, really never," she replied when Oprah asked her if she expected this to happen to her. "It overshot the mark so ridiculously. I was so unprepared for it, and this was the thing that I think I really have never spoken about: I was a writer. I had no one near me, either professionally or personally, who could in any way help me when I had questions, like, 'What do you do when the press is searching through our trash?'"
For those of you who missed the show and are too impatient to wait for Oprah's website to put the video online, check out this awesome transcription of the interview on Leaky Cauldron!
What did you think of J.K.'s appearance on "Oprah"?
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