The
first reports and photos from J.K. Rowling's tea party in Scotland from earlier today are up, where she talks about what inspired her to make Ron an arachnophobic; and the reason she released the
Beedle the Bard tales:
Quote:
She revealed during a tea party to mark the publication of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that she had been afraid of spiders since she was a child.
The multi-millionaire author said she gave the same fear to the character Ron Weasley, and then discovered that Rupert Grint, the actor who plays him in the films, was also afraid of spiders.
"I feel sorry for him, because I kept putting Ron in these situations where he had to encounter them," she added.
She talks about story writing and which real life things inspired various aspects of her books:
Quote:
Rowling also revealed, perhaps not surprisingly, that "story writing" was her "best thing" at school, saying: "I used to like it when my stories were read out to the class."
However, she may have disappointed some Edinburgh schoolchildren when she said that the locations in Harry Potter were not based on any buildings in the city.
"There are no real places that I took for places in the Harry Potter novels. The odd person may have given me the odd idea for a character in Harry Potter, but not really places," she said.
Jo discusses her reason for mass-releasing the tales:
Quote:
The author revealed why she decided to make the book much more widely available. "The idea actually came from you, by which I mean Harry Potter fans," she told the 200 primary school children gathered at Edinburgh's Parliament Hall.
"There was quite a lot of high feeling from Harry Potter fans that only someone who had £2 million could afford to read the book. I thought 'fair point', so I thought I'll publish it and then the charity can have that money too."
Many photos of Jo from the event can be seen below and
here:
UPDATE: Jo briefly
talked about the famous Beedle the Bard during her tea party:
Quote:
In her introduction to the book, Rowling explains it is a new "translation" by [Hermione] Granger of works by the 15th century bard, whose life is "shrouded in mystery" except that "he had an exceptionally luxuriant beard."
The book also features a "commentary" by Dumbledore, who reveals that he first heard the tales as a boy and says they are instructive for children.
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J.K. Rowling Beedle the Bard tea party photos & reports (UPDATED) 
