J. K. Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter books at a coffee shop, she says. At the time, she was out of work and on the dole, which could have provided some inspiration. She had the luxury of time, at any rate, and a coffee shop might not be a room of one's own, but it's not half bad.
Who will the next J. K. Rowling be?
Publishers want to find such an author. The Harry Potter series brought in tremendous profits, and what business wouldn't want to match one success with another?
According to literary agent Marianne Gunn O'Connor, that author would be Shane Hegarty.
The fantasy author brings plenty of experience at writing fantasy, what with his being a journalist.
Let's hope he wasn't making things up when he worked with Fintan O'Toole on their piece of non-fiction that explored Ireland in 1916 at the time of the Easter Rising.
Mr. Hegarty can now leave his job at the Irish Times and focus on his graphic novels for young adults.
His "comic adventure" in its first draft was picked up after a bidding war at the children's book fair in Bologna, for a reported six-figure sum. HarperCollins has signed him on for a four-book series that is aimed at the pre-teen set.
So we shall see if the story of Finn the legend hunter can appeal to the same demographic that gobbled up Harry Potter novels as fast as Ms. Rowling could write them.
HarperCollins is banking on it. To the tune of six figures.
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