Kit Whitfield's debut novel to be published in 2006

US publishers Del Rey have bought the rights to Kit Whitfield's debut novel "Bareback", and the rights to a further, as yet, untitled novel. I'm especially delighted with this news, as I've been following Kit's career for years. Earlier this year, I nominated Kit Whitfield as "Authortrek New Writer of the Week".

To find out more about her, you must visit our Kit Whitfield page:

http://www.authortrek.com/katharine_whitfield_page.html

I've no doubt that the novels will be stunning successes.

Kevin Patrick Mahoney

Hodder pay 6 figure sum for Kathleen Jacobs' debut novel

Kathleen Jacobs' debut novel "The Friday Night Knitting Club" has been described as “Steel Magnolias meets The Jane Austen Book Club with Knitting!” It’s about a group of women who knit in a club above a delicatessen in New York. The craft of knitting enables each of the women to make transitions together. As they knit the wool together, they bond to each other just as keenly. Sounds a bit like “How to Make an American Quilt” to me, but according to “The Bookseller”, Hodder have paid a six figure dollar sum for the novel.

http://www.authortrek.com/kathleen_jacobs_page.html

http://www.authortrek.com/the_friday_night_knitting_club.html

Harry Potter and the Unsold Books

2.5 million copies of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” have remained unsold in the US, as struggling publisher Scholastic misjudged demand, and printed too many copies. The firm now fears that they will be faced with an avalanche of copies returned by bookstores. The firm has earned $600m from the Harry Potter franchise, but misjudgements like this have prevented it from maximising the profit. There were reports earlier in the year that Disney might buy the North American rights for the Harry Potter series by purchasing Scholastic.

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, visit:http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

Daniel Radcliffe wants Harry Potter to die!

Daniel Radcliffe has said that he wants Harry Potter to die in the final film: “I think it would be a very good ending if he had to die in order for evil Voldemort to die… (but) I wouldn't want it to be sentimental. I don't like sentimental ends to books or films.” Radcliffe has also hinted that he may not appear in the last 2 films, but we at Authortrek.com think that this is about as likely as Ewan McGregor not appearing in Star Wars Episodes II and III (i.e. not very likely).

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, visit:http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

J. K. Rowling pulps Jarvis

Pulp front man Jarvis Cocker is disappointed that J. K. Rowling has vetoed a commercial release of the songs he wrote for the upcoming movie “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”. Which is probably just as well, considering that Warner Bros lawyers are already embroiled in a legal battle with a Canadian band over the use of “The Wyrd Sisters” name. British film censors have also announced that the movie will be given a certificate “12A” rather than the “PG” awarded to previous films, due to the fact that Harry’s adventures are getting more scary as he gets older.

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, visit:http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

Imelda Staunton to play Professor Umbridge

It’s been announced that British actress Imelda Staunton will play Professor Umbridge in the movie of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”. Imelda Staunton recently received an Oscar nomination for her stunning performance as the title character in the movie “Vera Drake”. “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” will be directed by David Yates, and is due to be released in June 2007.

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, visit:http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

Harry Potter's Hermione too busy for boys

Emma Watson has said that her schedule is so busy, she has no time to see boys. Living 2 hours away from the Harry Potter studios in Oxford, she has to get up at 6 in the morning and gets home at 9 for 11 months of the year, due to the films being shot back-to-back. When she’s away from the studios, the priority is catching up on schoolwork, playing sport, and seeing friends and family. She says, “It's restricting. Long hours. I miss my family a lot… But if I had the chance to do it again, in a million years I would always say yes. I'm so lucky.”

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, visit:http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

Zadie Smith's On Beauty to become movie

FilmFour have bought the movie rights for "On Beauty", and are set to film the novel on a budget of $20m. Alison Owen and Scott Rudin will produce the film. Scott Rudin has previously handled successful literary adaptations, such as "Angela’s Ashes", "The Hours", and also produced "The Wonder Boys".

For your most comprehensive "On Beauty" reading guide ever, visit:

http://www.authortrek.com/on_beauty_page.html

For your Zadie Smith biography, Zadie Smith bibliography, Zadie Smith interviews, Zadie Smith articles, Zadie Smith short stories, Zadie Smith reviews, and Zadie Smith essays, visit:

http://www.authortrek.com/zadiesmithpage.html

Russell T. Davies in danger of overstretching himself with Torchwood

The BBC has announced a new series called "Torchwood", which is to be broadcast on BBC Three next year. "Torchwood" is an anagram of "Doctor Who", and will star John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness. This character made several memorable appearances in the BBC's new series of Doctor Who in 2005. Captain Jack is Doctor Who's first openly gay/bisexual companion. Torchwood will screen between series of Doctor Who. Captain Jack will be part of a team looking at alien activity on modern day Earth in the series. According to Russell T. Davies, "Torchwood will be a dark, clever, wild, sexy, British crime/sci-fi paranoid thriller cop show with a sense of humour - the X Files meets This Life". Like Doctor Who, it will be broadcast in 13 45 minute episodes. The preceding series of Doctor Who will subtly plug Torchwood. Having said that, the Doctor Who homepage on the BBC is also plugging the show in quite an irritating way (without the links to the usual Doctor Who content). There are no plans to have cross over episodes between the 2 series as yet. It looks like it will be the most successful spin-off show that Doctor Who has ever generated (well, it's got to be better than K9 and Company).

However, I have my reservations. Just how is Russell T. Davies going to maintain quality by being so highly involved in both series? It often happens in the States that when you're a successful writer/producer who has a big hit with a cult TV show, the production company immediately commissions them to produce a spin-off show. Since the writer then becomes stretched between both shows, they get overwhelmed, and have to delegate, and both shows suffer from a lack of attention to detail. I'm thinking mainly of Joss Whedon here, and I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that Buffy went rapidly downhill after the commissioning of the distinctly iffy Angel. Prior to that, Chris Carter worked on both The X Files and the distinctly iffy Millennium, and both shows suffered from his divided attention. The producers of Star Trek in the 90s were never that successful at generating concurrent Star Trek series, with the result that they wrecked the franchise by producing too many episodes of diminishing quality.

Admittedly, Russell T. Davies has slightly less of a burden than either Carter or Whedon here, as the combined 26 episodes of Doctor Who and Torchwood will equate to about 1 series of an equivalent US show. Hopefully there will be more opportunities for other writers who have been successful in writing other Doctor Who stories in book or audio CD format (although the BBC Doctor Who novels are now restricted to a handful of trusted writers). Yet Russell T. Davis has written weakly before under far less pressure: is anyone really that fond of the second series of Queer as Folk? There is a real danger that the Doctor Who franchise will be weakened if there is no room for innovation. I'm not saying there should be a free-for-all - far from it, as if you produce too much Doctor Who, there is also the risk that each episode becomes less of an 'event'. However, the Doctor's future should not be restricted to just the same handful of writers, as good ideas may be limited and staleness may result. Let's touch wood that both the new series of Doctor Who and Torchwood will work.

Kevin Patrick Mahoney

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Harry Potter actor nervous about being seen topless

Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe has admitted that he is nervous about seeing his nude screen in the forthcoming “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”. Daniel is actually only topless in the scene, as he “had a pair of flesh-coloured underwear on which was just like really something you'd never want to wear!”

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, visit:http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

J K Rowling wins 2 Quills Awards

J. K. Rowling has won 2 Quills Awards for “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”. She won the book of the year category, and best children’s chapter book. “You’ve made a sleep-deprived mother very happy,” said J. K. Rowling in her acceptance speech. The awards were voted for by the reading public. Since this was the first time they were awarded, public awareness was not quite as high as it could have been. The ceremony will be broadcast on October 22nd by NBC.

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, visit:http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

Picturing the Eye of the Tiger

How do you picture the Life of Pi? – Yann Martel talks to Zoe Paxton about the competition to illustrate a new edition of “Life of Pi”, which has been launched by British publishers Canongate and “The Times”. My first reaction is that you couldn’t possibly surpass the cover that Andy Bridge had originally done for the iconic Canongate edition that went on to win the Booker Prize in 2002. However, Yann Martel has encountered some quite novel interpretations of the novel from the general public, and it appears that the competition is aimed at encouraging the reader to progress from their birth and to crawl around a little, a la Roland Barthes. Only one winner will be chosen to illustrate the novel 25 black and white plates, and 6 plates in full colour. The contract with Canongate will be worth £5,000.00 to the winner. Details on how to enter can be found here.

For more details about Yann Martel, including a Yann Martel biography, Yann Martel bibliography, Yann Martel interviews, and the most comprehensive "Life of Pi" reading guide, visit:

http://www.authortrek.com/yann_martel_page.html

Harry Potter thievery spreads to Germany

The security guard who stole 2 copies of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” from a Corby distribution centre appeared in court yesterday. He admitted stealing the books and possessing an imitation firearm. Still at issue however, is whether Aaron Lambert actually pointed the imitation firearm at a reporter. Aaron had tried to sell the books to national newspapers. A date has yet to be set for the next hearing of the case. Meanwhile, a Harry Potter fan in Germany has been arrested for stealing 6 copies of the recently released German edition of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood”. The 24 year old man stole the books from a shop in Hanover railway station, and finding it a bit difficult to run with the 6 large books, he stormed into another shop to demand a carrier bag. He punched a shopper in the face who protested at his rudeness. The thief threatened to kill anybody who got in his way. He was not armed, and was finally apprehended by the police. He told the police that he just could not wait to find out who the half-blood prince was.

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, visit:http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

John Banville wins 2005 Man Booker Prize

John Banville has confounded the bookies and the critics by winning the 2005 Man Booker Prize for his novel "The Sea". The bookies had Julian Barnes down as favourite, and the public vote on the Man Booker webpage had gone to Kazuo Ishiguro, while we at Authortrek.com had favoured Zadie Smith. However, the judges were charged with choosing the best novel of the year, and we must respect their judgement. John Banville, in his acceptance speech, thanked his publishers, Macmillan Picador, for sticking with him even though previous novels have not sold as well as they could have done. "The Sea" will undoubtedly reacquaint the reading public with John Banville's work.

http://www.authortrek.com

Mavis Cheek's next novel to be about Anne of Cleves

In an interview with Kevin Patrick Mahoney from Authortrek.com, Mavis Cheek revealed that the book she is currently writing is to be about Anne of Cleves:

"I'm very interested in Anne of Cleves... A). because she was rejected for her looks, and I think we're in a very lookist age, and it was probably one of the biggest rejections for looks in the world ever. I'm fascinated by the art of it, the Holbein portrait of her. And also the fact that she was reportedly dull, manic, boring, (but) she was actually clever. She came from a very dull little neck of the woods in Cleves, got the most wonderful settlement from Henry and led the life of Riley before she died. She wasn't allowed to marry, which she probably did see as a great drawback, because I think she would have wanted children, but apart from that, she lived it up. (Henry VIII) was rather fond of her in the end. So I'm trying to marry the discovery of her with a contemporary heroine, but not too on the nose - it wouldn't want make great parallels. It's very hard. I wanted to do an historical novel, but it was far too presumptuous to put words into the mouth of a real person. I couldn't do it... because it seems to me wrong. So I read about 302 books on Anne Cleves and I'm now going to do it through... Any words that are made up will be done through the mind of my heroine, my contemporary. That's my way around it. That's the theory. At the moment, my heroine is a recent widow, and although I wanted her to really rather upset about it, (she) isn't. Which is causing… some problems, on the grounds that I'm not quite sure how sympathetic she'll be to my readers, if she's quite so cavalier about her husband who's popped his clogs. I think there's an analogy there, which... you often find this in writing that you don't quite know why you're doing something, and it's only later, more or less when the book's finished, when you see the themes that have always been there, that you've been working through somehow with a vague idea. I think that's one of the exciting bits about writing when you discover parallels you didn't know you knew. Like the Brunel thing where my character in “Patrick Parker” dumps one woman for a better type of wife for him. Which is exactly what Brunel, Patrick's great hero, did."

To read the rest of the interview, please visit:

http://www.authortrek.com/mavis_cheek_interview.html

For more Mavis Cheek information, including a bibliography, links to articles and interviews, please visit:

http://www.authortrek.com/mavis_cheek_page.html

Harry Potter "the only gay in the village" says G. P. Taylor

"Shadowmancer" author G. P. Taylor was asked to leave a comprehensive that he was talking at when he mentioned the words "bum", "bogey", "crap", and "pee" and also referred to Harry Potter as "the only gay in the village".

Headteacher Barbara Vann said "His language was going to go even further but he stopped himself. He started to use the F-word and that is not acceptable in a school environment."

However, G. P. Taylor said that he had described TV as being "crap" in comparison to books, and used the word bogey whilst talking about "Fungus the Bogeyman", an established children's classic. G. P. Taylor is also an ordained priest, so must be well practiced to the art of inoffensive public speaking. Besides, he has given the same talk at many other schools without any objections. With regards to the remark about Harry Potter being "the only gay in the village", G. P. Taylor had accurately assessed that his audience of 12 to 13 year olds would be familiar with this catchphrase from TV's "Little Britain".

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, please visit:http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

Wyrd Sisters in legal battle with Harry Potter movie

CBC have reported that “Wyrd Sisters”, a Canadian folk group, is suing Warner Bros along with Radiohead and Pulp for $40 million, and are trying to prevent the distribution of the movie “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” in Canada. Members of Radiohead and Pulp play members of a fictional band called “Wyrd Sisters” in the film. CBC states that in “their statement of claim the Winnipeg group said the movie infringes on their trademark rights and will damage their reputation.” This is what happened according to the “Wyrd Sisters” webpage: “It all started with a phone call recently from a warner bros lawyer. The fellow said: ‘We're making a big movie and putting together a band of famous musicians together called the wyrd sisters. We're going to make a big splash, sound tracks the whole shebang! So... you don't want our army of lawyers shutting down your girls' band... sign this piece of paper and we'll give you $5000.’…Here's the way it is. We said no. It is our name. We own it. We're not about to be threatened into giving up our name. And Warner Bros has no business making a movie with a band with our name in it without at least some simple courtesy.” However, to make things more complicated, it has to be observed that the first person to use “The Wyrd Sisters” as a title was that other British author of comic fantasy, Terry Pratchett. “Wyrd Sisters” is the title of a novel in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, published in 1988, 2 years before the formation of the “Wyrd Sisters” band.

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, please visit:http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

Ralph Fiennes says that playing Voldemort will be biggest role yet

Ralph Fiennes says that life will never be the same again after accepting the role of Voldemort in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”. “People come up to me and ask if I’m really ‘he who must not be named’.” He regards the role as his biggest ever.

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, please visit:

http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

Anna Friel would love to star in Harry Potter

Contrary to Robert Carlyle, British actress Anna Friel has said that they would love to be in a Harry Potter movie. The former Brookside actress said that she would especially like to play Nymphadora Tonks, Professor Lupin’s lover in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”. Indeed, Anna Friel could be said to be already playing this part, since her real life lover is David Thewlis, who plays Professor Lupin in the films. Anna Friel is currently starring in the movie “Goal”.

For more Harry Potter news, and a J K Rowling biography with links to J K Rowling interviews, articles, reviews, and a "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" reading guide, please visit:

http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html

New Artemis Fowl book announced

The next book in the series, “Artemis Fowl: The Last Colony” is set for release at the end of 2006 or early 2007. According to Eoin Colfer it’s about “an eighth family of fairies who, when humans drove the fairies underground, they decided they didn’t want to go, so they lifted their island out of time…And now the spell is wearing off, and they’re coming back. They’re popping up all over the world for a few seconds”. Apparently, Artemis Fowl is the only person who can predict when they will appear. It’s rumoured that Artemis may be getting a sibling in this book, and that the hidden island may be responsible for the Bermuda Triangle.

For more news about Artemis Fowl and Eoin Colfer, please visit:

http://www.authortrek.com/eoin_colfer_page.html

Robert Carlyle hates Harry Potter

Scots actor Robert Carlyle has said that he would never appear in a Harry Potter movie, saying that it would sicken him. Meanwhile Warner Bros have started casting for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, which will be directed by David Yates. It is due to be released in June 2007.

http://www.authortrek.com/j_k_rowling_page.html