J.K. Rowling: Deathly Hallows “Is My Favorite”

J.K. Rowling has updated several sections of her official site. The biggest update is in her diary, where she shared her thoughts on finishing the seventh novel:

I always knew that Harry’s story would end with the seventh book, but saying goodbye has been just as hard as I always knew it would be. Even while I’m mourning, though, I feel an incredible sense of achievement. I can hardly believe that I’ve finally written the ending I’ve been planning for so many years. I’ve never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric.

She goes on to say that Deathly Hallows is her favorite book of the series. In the rumors section, she cleared up why the announcement made last week didn’t sound so happy:

This could not be further from the truth! The 21st July publication date has given me enough time to write the book I wanted to write, and for the manuscript to be properly edited. These are the most important things to me. An earlier date – eg, 7/7/07 – would have meant that either the writing or editing was rushed, and neither my publishers nor I wanted that. Any brevity in my announcement was down to the fact that I was busy editing!

Lastly, Jo made two updates to her FAQ section, one addressing what the two other titles she considered for Book 7 were, and another refusing to tell us what “Deathly Hallows” means, as it would give too much away about the story.