'Potter' author keeps Harry's fate to herself

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NEW YORK -- Offering no hints about the fate of Harry Potter, author J.K. Rowling said Tuesday that she is "well into" the seventh and final book in her series and predicts, "Some will loathe it, some will love it, but that's the way it should be."

In her first visit to the USA since 2000, Rowling didn't say when the book would be finished or what it would be titled, but "to an extent, the pressure is off." She said she is having fun resolving the story that began with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997 (Sorcerer's Stone in the USA) and has gone on to sell 300 million copies worldwide.

In June on British TV, she revealed that two of her major characters would die in the final book, triggering speculation and alarm that Potter, the boy wizard, could be doomed. She offered no more hints Tuesday, only that in "an epic saga, the hero has to fight alone."

The book essentially will follow the plot she envisioned when she thought of the series in 1990, although "a couple of characters I expected to survive have died," and one character "has gotten a reprieve."

Rowling is in New York to appear at benefit readings at Radio City Music Hall with fellow authors Stephen King and John Irving. Billed as "An Evening with Harry, Carrie & Garp," it attracted a young, enthusiastic crowd.

Actress Whoopi Goldberg, who opened the program, joked that "Rowling fans are screaming because King's fans told them that Harry is going to bite it."

Earlier at a news conference with Rowling, King and Irving were asked if they had advice about the fate of Potter. Rowling interjected in a stage whisper, "Kill him." Irving said, "I have my fingers crossed for Harry."

King said, " I just want the story to be fair. I love that series. I have total confidence in her." He added, "I just don't want him to go over Reichenbach Falls," the way Sherlock Holmes met his fate.

Asked about complaints that her series encourages Satanism, Rowling replied, "I'm toughening them up for John's and Stephen's books. ... It's a cruel literary world out there."

The readings Tuesday and tonight will benefit relief group Doctors Without Borders and the Haven Foundation, begun by King to help artists left uninsured by accidents or illnesses. They're expected to raise $500,000, "which for three people who write books is a lot of money," King said.

Readings were dressed up as a theatrical production with music and videos. Greeted by a standing ovation, King said, "Is this cool or what?" Adding: "Put a bunch of writers together with a bunch of readers -- what a concept."

Video of the program is to be streamed on msn.com Monday through Aug. 31.

King called it "a magic night ... to be able to fill Radio City Music Hall not with guitars, but with book readers."

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