J.K. Rowling, on the eve of the publication of her new adult novel The Casual Vacancy, has given Harry Potter fans a reason to be optimistic. Speaking to the BBC, Rowling said she would consider returning to Potter if she had a “fabulous idea.”
In a televised interview, Rowling also revealed that she is tempted to go back and create a “director’s cut” of two of her Harry Potter novels. Though she didn’t say which ones she’d like to go back to, she mentioned “one early one and one late one,” before explaining that she had felt rushed for two installments.
Talking to BBC arts editor Will Gomertz, Rowling had this to say:
“I had to write on the run and there were times when it was really tough and I read them, and I think ‘Oh God, maybe I’ll go back and do a director’s cut’, I don’t know. But you know what, I’m proud I was writing under the conditions under which I was writing, no one will ever know how tough it was at times.”
Rowling said that the phenomenal success of Harry Potter meant she “had nothing to prove.” “I certainly don’t mean that in an arrogant way,” she added, “I certainly don’t mean that I think I can’t improve as a writer.”
Rowling is certainly at a point in her career where she is looking to venture off into new territory and her upcoming book, The Casual Vacancy has been specifically aimed at a new older audience, containing adult themes and even profanity.
Ever since her final Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which came out in 2007, fans have been clamouring for new stories from the Potter universe. And of course, any new Harry Potter material from J.K. Rowling will certainly be greeted with much fanfare and gross even more money for the already very successful writer.
The Casual Vacancy is due to be released on September 27th, 2012.