Today on her official website, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has shared with fans a little story about the internet and creating words for the Harry Potter books:
Sitting at my desk trying to invent a word yesterday brought back memories of the last time I did so. I had tried for days and days to hit upon the right name for ‘the receptacle in which a Dark wizard has hidden a fragment of his soul for the purposes of attaining immortality.’ Finally, after much transposition of syllables, I scribbled ‘Horcrux’ on a piece of paper and knew it was The One. But what if somebody had already used it? With some trepidation I typed ‘Horcrux’ into Google and, to my delight, saw what I was looking for: ‘Your search – “Horcrux” – did not match any documents.’
So anyway, yesterday I Googled ‘Horcrux’ again. 401,000 results. As you might imagine, this gave me something of a lift as I went back to scribbling nonsense words on the back of a takeaway menu.
Also, in the news section of her site, she again renewed her warning about autographed merchandise on eBay:
Yes, we’ve been here before, but having strolled over to eBay (come on, I’ve got to have a break sometimes) I note that the forgers aren’t getting any better at my signature. Frankly, some of them are barely trying. So please bear in mind that these ‘certificates of authenticity’ are not worth the paper they are written on.
There is also a new quiz on J.K.’s site today, behind the normally locked door.
(from J.K. Rowling Official Site)