JK Rowling denies finishing romance novel on Twitter after false reports

The Harry Potter author debunked rumours that she was 'celebrating' in a bar

Jess Denham
Thursday 23 October 2014 09:58 BST
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JK Rowling will not be releasing a 'romance' novel anytime soon
JK Rowling will not be releasing a 'romance' novel anytime soon

JK Rowling has been forced to debunk rumours that she has finished a new romantic novel.

Newspaper reports suggested she had been "celebrating" the book's completion in a London bar, but the allegations proved false.

The Harry Potter author posted a series of messages on Twitter to lay out the truth for her fans.

"1) I haven't handed in any kind of novel to my publishers. I'm only halfway through my current book," she wrote, adding that "2) It isn't a 'romantic' novel'".

"And 3) (brace yourselves) I sometimes have a drink even when I haven't finished a book. Yes, that's how rock and roll I really am."

Rowling is busy working on the follow-up to The Casual Vacancy, released under her name in 2011.

She has published two crime novels since, The Cuckoo's Calling and The Silkworm, but chose to adopt the alias of Robert Galbraith instead.

The British writer was left "angry and disappointed" after her law firm leaked the pseudonym last year, despite soaring up the bestseller list as a result.

The Cuckoo's Calling sold out after JK Rowling was revealed as its author

Solicitor Christopher Gossage was fined £1,000 for breach of client confidentiality after he told his wife's best friend Judith Callegari that Galbraith was Rowling's secret pen name.

Callegari revealed the information during a Twitter exchange with journalist India Knight, prompting Rowling to take legal action. She was awarded damages in the form of a "substantial" charity donation.

The first book, which sees private investigator Cormoran Strike brought in to investigate when a model falls to her death from a Mayfair balcony, received praise from crime writers including Mark Billingham and Alex Gray before they knew Rowling's true identity.

Rowling is currently also "tweaking a screenplay" for the three-part film adaptation of Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.

She tweeted a riddle earlier this month for her millions of followers to try and decipher. "Cry foe! Run amok! Fa awry! My wand won't tolerate this nonsense," the cryptic post read.

Fans soon realised that it addressed the Fantastic Beasts movie, with Emily Strong later solving the puzzle.

"Newt Scamander only meant to stay in New York for a few hours...#anagram," she tweeted, before Rowling declared her the winner.

Scamander is the writer of Rowling's 2001 Fantastic Beasts book, a copy of Harry Potter's textbook mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

The magizoologist stars as the lead character in the forthcoming film, which will be set in New York 70 years before Harry's story begins.

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