JK Rowling

By Elizabeth Lancaster @lizzydl

Potterheads everywhere are about to get very jealous of some little kids.

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling is building a private Hogwarts playground for her kids. As the creator of this intricate world, Rowling's 40-foot adventure playground is sure to not only include all sorts of sophisticated details, but hold design much nearer and dearer to her vision of Hogwarts.

The playground replication of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be built in the backyard of her Edinburgh, Scotland, castle mansion for a whopping $232,919. But being worth a reported $869.5 million herself, this venture won’t exactly break the bank.

>> Cover For J.K. Rowling's Post-'Potter' Novel Revealed

Fortunately for Rowling and her children, the project does not seem to be an inconvenience for neighbors even though it is so large that Rowling needed a planning permit for construction. The author is, unsurprisingly, very well-liked in the neighborhood, with one neighbor telling MailOnline (via Contact Music), "Nobody around here is going to make a fuss about the tree houses for her children. It's her cash, she can do what she wants with it."

>> J.K. Rowling's 'Blackly Comic' Post-Potter Book Gets Release Date

Each of Rowling's two children will get their own two-story tree house, which are being custom built by luxury tree house makers Blue Forest UK.

We didn’t know it could get better than the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but boy were we wrong!

Tags

Jk Rowling

The cover for "The Casual Vacancy," "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling's first adult novel, has been revealed by her publishers, Little, Brown and Company.

The novel will be released on September 27 and is, according to Little, Brown, a "blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising" tale of the goings on in an idyllic English village after a parish councilmember dies unexpectedly, leaving a hotly sought after seat on the town council open.

"When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock," the official synopsis reads, going on to describe "a town at war."

"Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?"

It seems we'll find out this fall when the anticipated novel hits stores.

"I'm writing, and I've done quite a lot since finishing 'Harry,'" Rowling told MTV News at the U.K. premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2." "I also felt I wanted the last film out of the way before I made any moves on the publishing front. 'Harry' is so huge and I suppose my involvement with the world has still been quite intense. This feels like a new beginning to me."

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Are you excited for "The Casual Vacancy"? Let us know in the comments below.

Tags , ,

Katy Perry

By Zachary Swickey

Katy Perry has shattered records, got her own concert film and now the pop songstress is about to be the latest star immortalized in comic book form.

The "Part of Me" singer will get the (unauthorized) treatment from Bluewater Comic Books in “Fame: Katy Perry.” The graphic novel will tackle Perry’s upbringing as the daughter of two Christian pastors in addition to her struggles landing a record deal in Los Angeles.

Perry is by no means the first to get the comic book treatment courtesy of Bluewater. The company has animated many a celeb in their “Fame” series, including Betty White, Lady Gaga and Angelina Jolie. Although, not all artists were thrilled with the interpretations: the company received cease-and-desist letters concerning their Gaga and Justin Bieber issues.

The company quickly responded at the time, telling MTV News, “We are 100% within our First Amendment rights. We knew our rights on this before we jumped into the biography world. These are 100% biographies on their lives."

Here’s a quick look at some other interesting comic books from Bluewater’s “Fame” series. Read More...

Tags , , , ,

Maurice Sendak, the brilliant author and illustrator of some of the greatest children's books of all time, most notably "Where the Wild Things Are," passed away today, May 8, at his Danbury, Connecticut, home. He was 83.

>> Maurice Sendak, Author Of 'Where The Wild Things Are,' Dead At 83

Earlier this year, the author gave a hilariously biting and curmudgeonly interview to Stephen Colbert on "The Colbert Report." As one of the many children who grew up loving Sendak's works, we thought there was no more fitting tribute to the legendary writer than to bring you what would be his final public appearance. It is Sendak in all his glory.

Watch:

Check out part two of the interview below. Read More...

Tags ,

"50 Shades of Grey" is a bona fide phenomenon. Not only is the erotic novel a bestseller, it is being adapted into a film that has some of Hollywood's hottest leading men falling all over themselves to get cast as Christian Grey, the kinky male lead.

Now, "Saturday Night Live" is taking aim at the S&M book's popularity in a hilarious spoof. What do you get the woman who has it all on Mother's Day? Well, you might want to start with a little alone time.

Watch:

Sidebar: Consider yourself lucky if you are reading this outside of a major city with a popular mass-transit system. We will never look at the middle-aged lady sitting across from us on the NYC subway reading "50 Shades of Grey" the same way again. (And we're not going to lie, we were already a little uncomfortable to begin with.)

Related:
>> 'Fifty Shades of Grey': Experts Cast Christian Grey
>> 'Twilight,' '50 Shades Of Grey' And The Fanfic Phenomenon
>> 'Fifty Shades Of Grey' Rumored Cast

Tags , , , ,

Lost in the 90s

The new book "Lost in the '90s" tells the story of a teenage boy from 2012 named Kurt who travels back in time to April 1994, on the eve of Kurt Cobain’s death, where he meets his teenage parents and helps them fall in love.

While the effects of that tragic day ultimately factor heavily in the novel, author Frank Anthony Polito didn't necessarily plan it that way when he started writing it. "I knew that I wanted the story to open at a school dance where the main character, Kurt, and his '90s cover band, The Pogs, would be playing," Polito tells MTV News. "So I chose April 2012 and April 1994 would be the time he travels back to. I picked a Saturday night, April 7, and when I began researching what happened in April 1994, I realized that April 8th was the day that MTV’s Kurt Loder broke the news of Kurt Cobain’s tragic suicide. There was no way I could ignore such a HUGE event when it came to telling a story set in April 1994 – especially one that involved high school-aged characters."

Cobain's death has a huge impact on the characters that populate "Lost in the '90s," specifically Kurt's father, who "loses all hope" after the Nirvana icon's suicide. We talked to Polito about the effect Cobain had on a generation, the reverence for the '90s that marks the book and how revisiting Cobain's music and legacy while writing gave him a new appreciation of Nirvana.

"When I first heard Nirvana back in the day, I chalked them up to another Guns ‘N’ Roses-type 'head banger' band," Polito explains. "But now, I’ve taken the time to actually listen to Cobain’s lyrics, and read about what he was doing musically, and he truly was revolutionary in his thinking."

Read on for our full interview. Read More...

Tags

Pop Bab

Fan fiction is all the rage and if you need evidence just look at the New York Times bestseller list, where "50 Shades of Grey," which was originally developed from an erotic "Twilight" fan fiction entitled "Master of the Universe," is a huge hit and has kind of opened the flood gates.

The latest addition to the cannon: "Pop Baby Krissy Doucet," about an out-of-work dancer ("Keenan Fazio") who strikes the fancy of pop princess Krissy Doucet. A blurb from the book indicates "Krissy" becomes so smitten with "Keenan" she can barely think straight.

"The moment Krissy set her sights on Keenan, she knew he was amazing. Choosing him at the club was one of the best decisions of her life," the blurb reads. "Yet how can she compete with the beautiful Tara Butler? A woman from Keenan's past who understands his sexual desires. Would sharing Keenan in Tara's bed be their only option for love?"

Yowza! With the exception of the bed sharing (which, um, well…), doesn't this story sound kind of familiar?

What if we added this: "Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll might seem like a great theme for a seventies movie, but for Keenan and Krissy it is their way of life," the blurb continues. "The paparazzi say they are in lust, not love. For them, lust and love go hand in hand."

Would it make even more sense if we told you the $4 e-book was written by Diane Story, aunt of Kevin Federline?

OHHHHHH.

According to the official site, "Pop Baby Krissy Doucet" will be in stores April 26 and a sequel "Pop Baby Maddy Fortin" will be released next month. Story also created a contest on her website where the winner can win an actual wedding invitation from Spears and Federline's 2004 wedding. So there's also that…

Britney Spears began seeing Federline when he was her back-up dancer in 2004. They announced their engagement soon after, while Kevin's ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson was pregnant with their second child, and married in October 2004. The couple had two children, Sean Preston and Jayden James, before divorcing in 2007.

Read More...

Tags , ,

Get More: Music News

By Uptin Saiidi (@uptin)

It's time to cross another one off the list. After releasing their book, "What Do You Want To Do Before You Die?," the four guys of "The Buried Life" officially have just made it onto the New York Times Best Seller List.

They released the book last week, hoping to inspire young people.

"When we started 'Buried Life,' we wish we had something like [this] book," Jonnie Penn recently told MTV News. "We were all in college when this thing started and we wish there was somewhere to go to talk about doing crazy things that you want to do in your life. Now this [book], if you go to your friend's house and this is sitting on the coffee table, you know you're like-minded."

The book is filled with submissions from fans saying what they want to do before they die, accompanied by illustrations, quotes, lessons and never-been-told stories like how it felt to play basketball with President Barack Obama.

They’ve been busy working on their new MTV show in addition to spending the past year touring college campuses and most recently doing press for their book, although Ben Nemtin told us they've basically have been working on "Before You Die" for five years.

As the group prepares to tackle more items on their list, Nemtin said he hopes the book will inspire others to believe they can accomplish their own goals and dreams.

"We didn't start this to make a TV show," Nemtin said. "We started this because we felt like we needed to do something and we all got inspired by different things that made us believe we could do anything we wanted. We want this book to give that feeling to anyone who reads it. You can open any page and something can spark in you to do whatever you want to do."

Tags ,

Mindy Kaling

You probably already suspect you like Mindy Kaling. The smarty pants funny girl has carved a nice bit of niche fame for herself playing Kelly Kapoor on NBC's much-loved "The Office," and she did it all without a reality show, a divorce or public meltdown. But casual fans of the show may be less aware of her involvement behind the scenes. Not only is she a key member of the Emmy-nominated writing team that brings the show to life, she's even directed a couple of episodes.

If you follow her on Twitter, you also know she likes Beyonce and online shopping.

I've long been a fan of Kaling. I can always be counted on to rally around smart, funny women, and am eternally more interested in the most mundane things about them (What is Tina Fey watching these days? Does Amy Poehler have a favorite brand of beer?) than I am in the most outlandish details of some boorish reality star's private life. I've always thought Mindy has a unique talent for exposing the tiny sadnesses that add up to make something hilarious and human. I'm a writer too, so my admiration for the talents of other writers is limitless.

Kaling dropped her first book – "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)" – last week and it was exactly as I hoped it would be – funny, observant and weirdly educational. Yes, her book is similar to Tina Fey's "Bossypants" in that it tells the tale of a perfectly sweet, well-adjusted and awkward childhood that gave way to a determined young woman with a passion who pursued it tirelessly until it happened, but – and it could well be Kaling's age and where she is in her life (still single, no kids) – I found it far more relatable.

I'm sure that just about anyone will enjoy Kaling's book, but if you are someone striving in the arts, it is going to hit you like a punch in the stomach. Kaling's tale is deeply relatable, and she is standing on the other side as proof that if you are talented and willing to work hard, you can maybe make it too.

Below are a few bits of advice I gleaned from Kaling's book that I think everyone can benefit from. Read More...

Tags

Dr. Dre is suing the author of the book "Rollin' With Dre: The Unauthorized Account: An Insider's Tale of the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of West Coast Hip Hop" over an alleged loan the rapper gave him, according to TMZ.
Read More...

Tags , ,

SPONSORS
AD:
©2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. MTV and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.