J1: Are you excited about the movie deal for Harry Potter? Where else might we see Harry Potter in the future (toys, video games, etc.)?

R: I am very excited (and a little bit nervous) about Harry Potter the Movie. Warner Brothers have bought merchandising rights, so it is possible that we will be seeing Harry Potter toys. 

J2: Is this the first book / story you ever wrote? If not, is it the first one ever published? 

R: It is the first book I have ever published. At the time I got the idea for Harry I had written and put aside two adult novels. 

J3: Did you always want to be a writer? 

R: Yes, ever since the age of five or six, when I wrote my first “book” — a story about a rabbit called “Rabbit”. 

J4: Where, when, and how do you write?

R: Any time, any place, and longhand! 

J1: Do you have any plans, as a writer, beyond Harry Potter? 

R: I have always written and I know that I always will; I would be writing even if I hadn’t been published. However, Harry is a large and all-consuming project, and I really haven’t got time, at the moment, to decide what will come next. 

J2: What are you reading now?

R: The last novel I read was Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres, which I loved. 

J3: What advice would you give to young writers today?

R: I doubt a writer who has got what it takes will need me to tell them this, but — persevere! 

Sample interview dialogue 4:

J1: What do you like best about your life as a children’s book writer?