In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Mother's Day, Chief Parenting has announced its inaugural Chief Mommy Officer Hall of Fame inductees, women they feel have "achieved greatness in their respective careers, while simultaneously maintaining their roles as exemplary mothers."

Jo Rowling is, of course, among them: "Unemployed, suffering from depression and solely raising her infant daughter on state benefits, Rowling wrote a little book titled Harry Potter."

Thanks to Shane for the tip.

In the midst of JK Rowling's US-based court trial, her court case in England (over a published photo of her son David taken in 2004) has gone in her favor. The BBC reports:

The agency photo - taken in November 2004 - showed Ms Rowling pushing David in a buggy on a street in Edinburgh.

The picture was published in the Sunday Express and the newspaper later settled the claim.

Judge Sir Anthony Clarke said: "If a child of parents who are not in the public eye could reasonably expect not to have photographs of him published in the media, so too should the child of a famous parent.

"In our opinion, it is at least arguable that a child of 'ordinary' parents could reasonably expect that the press would not target him and publish photographs of him."

Read the full story, including a statement from Jo and her husband Neil, right here. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed!

AbeBooks.com, a site for finding new and used books of all types, analyzed sales data from 2007 and created a list of the top collectible authors. JK Rowling took the top spot followed by Roderick Gordon, Brian Williams, and Stephen King:

On-going demand for signed Harry Potter books means Rowling tops the index although few first editions of her debut book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, reach the market. An autographed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold for $5,500 just after its release last July.

If you're in the market for a signed Potter novel, we recommend you check out our friends at JKR's Army. They'll tell you what to look out for when shopping for a genuine JK Rowling signature. Thanks to Ali for the tip!

Complete transcripts from the JK Rowling/Warner Bros. court case against RDR Books/HP Lexicon are now available. Click here for day one (April 14th), here for day two (April 15th), and here for day three (April 16th).

Thanks to Stanford Law School.

Reuters reported earlier this evening that ABC News "20/20" is working on a behind-the-scenes documentary on Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.

The in-depth profile, which will air in November, includes several interviews, the book tour for the final "Harry Potter" installment, and a tour of locations that inspired her characters. It even hints to what the future holds for Harry and his friends.

Tutshill Church in Gloucestershire has been displaying a visitors' book, featuring the signature of Potter author JK Rowling and a mystery person whose name was 'stolen' and given to a character in the book series, and has so far collected a total of £10,000 ($19,900), taking it a step closer to raising the roof. This is most likely the same book as shown in the recent documentary about Jo.

The church also says it has a first edition signed copy of Deathly Hallows, and is currently still deciding what to do with it, adding "[it might be] used as a prize or go to auction, depending on what will raise us more money."

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

As most of you know by now, JK Rowling and Warner Bros. are currently involved in a court case against RDR Books and the HP Lexicon regarding a print version of the online Lexicon. Some of Jo's main reasons for taking legal action against this book are that she feels it is in breach of copyright of the Harry Potter novels, is not worthwhile to the reader (in that it provides very little commentary, most of which is "derisory" and "facetious"), and that it could detrimentally affect sales of an all-inclusive encyclopedia which she has long expressed a desire to write and from which sales revenue would be donated to charity.

MuggleNet fully supports Jo Rowling in this case. This week will be, without a doubt, difficult and emotional for the author who has spent 17 years creating the series we all love so much. Because of this, we feel that with as much support as possible, this time can be made more bearable for her.

Please feel free to leave any messages of support in the comments, which we will link to from the main page until a verdict on this case is reached. Thank you.

"I really don't want to cry because I'm British. These books, they saved me, not just in the very obvious material sense, although they did do that...I would have to say that there was a time when they saved my sanity." JK Rowling, April 14th

JK Rowling yesterday read a statment outside the court regarding her case against RDR Books/HP Lexicon. A video of this can be seen at the BBC, and what she said in full is below:

"It gives me no pleasure to take legal action, but I am here today because I feel very strongly about an important issue that affects everyone and not just me. If books that plagiarize other works are permitted, authors, fans and readers stand to lose. There are lots of books in many languages that comment on or criticize Harry Potter and that’s fine. But the book in this case is different. It provides no analysis and virtually no commentary. It takes far too much and it offers precious little in return. I would just like to add that I am extremely grateful for the incredible support of Harry Potter fans everywhere."

Some photos of Jo outside court can be seen here.

The HP Alliance has announced this evening that, among several well known authors, JK Rowling is part of an open letter asking everyone in the world to take notice to what is happening in Darfur as part of Global Day for Darfur:

Today is the Day for Darfur, which marks the fifth anniversary of one of the world’s bloodiest conflicts. Over 200,000 people have been killed and over two million have been forced to flee from their homes and villages. Children barely old enough to walk, yet alone run, have seen their homes burnt and razed to the ground, their mothers raped and their fathers killed. Most are now holed up in sprawling camps, traumatised and living in fear. Children in Darfur draw pictures of bombs and guns. It is all they have ever known. Childhood is under attack in Darfur.

Visit the HP Alliance's website to read the full letter, see who else signed the letter, and more.

Earlier this evening author J.K. Rowling attended the Galaxy British Book Awards in London where she received the Lifetime Achievement Award. According to the site, the award "recognizes an enduringly popular author whose books have made an outstanding contribution to contemporary literature."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown had nothing but praise for Rowling:

"She has joined a distinguished line of British authors whose work has got the whole country reading. Her books will be read for many years to come by successive generations."

Thanks to HPANA and everyone who e-mailed for the tip!

Last week we told you about a piece of work appearing in The Birthday Book to mark Prince Charles' 60th birthday.

Now, theBookseller.com is reporting that the piece of work will be an extract from Deathly Hallows. What's more, it will be illustrated by British cartoonist and illustrator Quentin Blake.

Thanks to Pruneau for the tip!

Earlier this year, JK Rowling was awarded by University College Dublin with the James Joyce award. On accepting the award, Jo spoke to hundreds of fans and a full transcript of this can be read below, thanks to LGDS.com. Here's an excerpt:

"Snape, on the other hand, I had to drop clues all the way through because as you know in the seventh book when you have the revelation scene where everything shifts and you realize why Snape was… what Snape’s motivation was. I had to plot that through the books because at the point where you see what was really going on, it would have been an absolute cheat on the reader at that point just to show a bunch of stuff you’ve never seen before, you know… “Oh by the way, in the background this was happening.” So I did know. It was a complicated plotting process but by the time Philosopher’s Stone was finished, I definitely knew all the big things about Snape and Dumbledore because in many ways they’re the two most important characters in the seventh book… Well, other than the trio, Harry, Ron and Hermione."

The London Times reports today that "writing by Anthony Horowitz, Philip Pullman and J. K. Rowling will appear in The Birthday Book, to be published by The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts to mark the Prince of Wales’s 60th birthday." We'll let you know as soon as we have more information.

Thanks to those who emailed!

As mentioned previously and as many of you are well aware, J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. are involved in an ongoing lawsuit with RDR Books over a companion novel seeking publication by Harry Potter Lexicon owner Steve Vander Ark. The Associated Foreign Press is reporting this evening that Jo is expected to appear in court in New York City next month.

A New York Federal District Court Judge ordered today that the case go to trial beginning April 14th and Rowling's presence has been requested by RDR Books.

"We asked for her and they said they would provide her," said lawyer David Hammer. "I would say it would be very unlikely that she would not appear," he added.

The witness list must be submitted by April 4th. We will keep you posted as this story continues to develop. Thanks to Matt for sending this in!

New details have emerged from the interview an Edinburgh University student conducted with JK Rowling in which she openly discussed the depression she dealt with earlier in her life.

“Mid-twenties life circumstances were poor and I really plummeted,” said Rowling. “The thing that made me go for help . . . was probably my daughter. She was something that earthed me, grounded me, and I thought, this isn’t right, this can’t be right, she cannot grow up with me in this state.”

...

"We're talking suicidal thoughts here, we're not talking 'I'm a little bit miserable',"

Click here to read more from The Times.

Author J.K. Rowling will attend the 2008 Galaxy British Books Awards in association with the Richard & Judy Show on April 9th. The announcement was made on the show this past Friday after a short piece officially announcing the awards.

Thanks to Fi for sending this in!

Jo Rowling recently granted a lengthy interview to the Edinburgh "Student" newspaper in which she discusses religious opposition to the books, her depression, Dumbledore's sexuality and more. Below is an excerpt:

How does she react to those who disagree with a homosexual character in a children's novel? "So what?" she retorts immediately "It is a very interesting question because I think homophobia is a fear of people loving, more than it is of the sexual act. There seems to be an innate distaste for the love involved, which I find absolutely extraordinary. There were people who thought, well why haven't we seen Dumbledore's angst about being gay?" Rowling is clearly amused by this and rightly so. "Where was that going to come in? And then the other thing was-and I had letters saying this-that, as a gay man, he would never be safe to teach in a school."

An air of incredulity descends on the room as if Rowling herself still can not believe this statement. She continues: "He's a very old single man. You have to ask: why is it so interesting? People have to examine their own attitudes. It's a shade of character. Is it the most important thing about him? No, it's Dumbledore for God's sake. There are 20 things that are relavant to the story before his sexuality." Bottom line then: he isn't a gay character; he's a character that just happens to be gay. Rowling concurs wholeheartedly.

The Telegraph has a short piece about Jo Rowling continuing to write in cafes:

"I will continue writing for children because that's what I enjoy," reveals Jo, who greatly misses the child wizard. "It's left me with the biggest emptiness in my life." She will, however, leave behind the magical world of Hogwarts. "I believe that it's good for me and good for my readers that I bring myself to work on something different," she declares.

In a search for inspiration, Jo discloses that she has returned to the Edinburgh cafes where she completed her first novel while unemployed and living on benefits: "I am very good at finding a suitable cafe. I blend into the crowd and, of course, I don't sit in the middle of the bar staring all around me. In 90 per cent of cases, it's the cafe's staff who allow me to work without being bothered."

As most of you know, JK Rowling and Warner Brothers are currently in a legal battle with RDR Books concerning a Potter encyclopedia by the Harry Potter Lexicon. JKR and WB are fighting the publication of the book, and just the other day Jo submitted her declaration. In it, she makes several statements about the fandom as a whole. As the AP reports:

Rowling said she was especially irked that the site's owner and the lexicon's would-be publisher, RDR Books, continued to insist that her acceptance of free, fan-based Web sites justified the efforts.

"I am deeply troubled by the portrayal of my efforts to protect and preserve the copyrights I have been granted in the Harry Potter books," she wrote in court papers filed Wednesday in a lawsuit she brought against the small Muskegon, Mich., publisher.

She said she intends to publish her own definitive Harry Potter encyclopedia.

"If RDR's position is accepted, it will undoubtedly have a significant, negative impact on the freedoms enjoyed by genuine fans on the Internet," she said. "Authors everywhere will be forced to protect their creations much more rigorously, which could mean denying well-meaning fans permission to pursue legitimate creative activities."

Leaky has JK Rowling's full declaration right here. Thanks to everyone who's e-mailed with the information, and we'll continue to update you as this case moves forward.

To the discouragement of many, JK Rowling updated her official website today with a new entry to the Rumors portion of her site. She lets everyone know that all of the JK Rowling profiles on popular social networking sites are fake:

I like to imagine them partying with all my imaginary friends ('a close friend confided...') in some bright and shiny alternative universe.

Thanks to Trish for the tip!