HARRY Potter might have waved his wand and cast a spell, but author J.K. Rowling sat down and cheerfully signed 1,600 books for schoolkids on Monday as she launched her first United States book tour in seven years.
‘This is an amazing treat for me,’ Rowling said of the mass book signing and reading for cheering Harry Potter fans who gave her a pop star welcome in Los Angeles.
‘I really miss being able to interact directly with the readers. Everyone keeps saying, ‘it must be so onerous. Doesn’t it hurt your hand?’ But, honestly, that’s the bit I really enjoy,’ Rowling told reporters.
This is the first book tour in the United States in seven years. The 42-year-old British author stated that after 10 years of writing to meet a deadline, she is now on vacation and has not started writing the Harry Potter encyclopedia fans have been clamoring to get their hands on.
Rowling told the 1,600 children in Los Angeles that Harry Potter will be one tough story to follow up on.
Rowling’s latest, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the series, sold more than 11 million copies in the first 24 hours it was released in the U.S. and Britain.