Article in the Daily Mirror.
I am looking forward to Harry being out of my life Jun 21 2003
By Alexandra Williams
AUTHOR JK Rowling admitted to TV's Jeremy Paxman she looks forward to Harry Potter being "out of my life" after the seven book series. Here is an edited version of Thursday's interview for BBC2's Newsnight team:
PAXMAN: Has it come at a price, this success and fame?
ROWLING: The fame thing is interesting because I never wanted to be famous and I never dreamed I would be famous.
I imagined being a famous writer would be like being like Jane Austen - being able to sit at home in the parsonage and occasionally you would correspond with the Prince of Wales's secretary.
I didn't think they'd rake through my bins, I didn't expect to be photographed on the beach through long lenses. I never dreamed it would impact my daughter's life negatively, which at times it has.
It would be churlish to say there's nothing good about being famous - to have a total stranger walk up to you as you're walking around Safeway's and say nice things about your work. That's a very nice thing to happen. I just wish they wouldn't when I'm buying ... you know.
JP: Loo roll?
JKR: Items of a questionable nature, exactly. Never when you're in the fresh fruit and veg section. Never.
JP: Do you think success has changed you?
JKR: I don't feel like quite such a waste of space any more. I totally felt a waste of space. Now I feel it turns out there was one thing I was good at. I'd always expected I could tell a story and it's rather sad that I needed confirmation by being published.
JP: A lot of people when they suddenly make a lot of money feel guilty about it.
JKR: Yes I do feel guilty about it, definitely. I didn't immediately become very rich. The biggest jump was the American advance, which was enough for me to buy a house - not outright but we'd been renting.
I didn't feel guilty, I felt scared because I thought: "I mustn't blow this. I've got some money, I must not do anything stupid with it." Then I felt guilty. JP: Harry and Ron and Hermione are going to be older. How are they going to change?
JKR: Quite a lot because I find it quite sinister the way that, looking at the Famous Five books, they never had a hormonal impulse ... I had a very forthright letter from a woman who had heard me say Harry was going to have his first date and she said: "Please don't do that, that's awful. I want these books to be a world where my children can escape to." She said "free from hurt and fear" and I'm thinking: "Have you read them? What are you talking about, free from hurt and fear? Harry goes through absolute hell every time." So I think a bit of snogging would alleviate matters.
JP: Is Harry going to become a bolshy teenager?
JKR: He's a lot, lot, lot angrier in this book. He really is quite angry a lot of the time and I think justifiably so - look at what he has gone through. It is about time he started feeling a little bit miffed at the hand life has dealt him.
JP: You know what is going to become of all the major characters over the series?
JKR: Yeah, yeah.
JP: Why stop when they grow up? Might be interesting to know what becomes of Harry as an adult.
JKR: How do you know he'll still be alive?
JP: Do you ever wish you hadn't started on it?
JKR: Yes but not for the reasons you might expect. Sometimes I've had very low moments when I thought: "What the hell do I do this for?" But very rare.
I do look forward to a post-Harry era in my life because some of the things that go with this are not that much fun. But at the same time I dread leaving Harry ... I worked on it so hard for so long, then it will be over and I think it's going to leave a massive gap.
JP: It's not a bad thing to go to your grave with, having invented this entire world and made children want to read?
JKR: Oh God, no, not at all. I am immensely proud of Harry and I'm never going to disown it ... and I will defend Harry against all comers.