Meyer: the New JK Rowling

Hogwarts creator will get honorary degree

(NEWSER) - Harvard students will get a Hogwarts send-off at their spring commencement this year, reports the Crimson, with Harry Potter author JK Rowling as the keynote speaker. "Perhaps no one in our time has done more than JK Rowling to inspire young people to experience the excitement and the sheer joy of reading,” said the university's president. More»

Rumor has JK Rowling writing crime novel

(NEWSER) - J.K. Rowling has been spotted writing something in an Edinburgh cafe like the one where she penned the first Harry Potter book, and fellow author Ian Rankin says she's moving in on his territory—crime fiction. Rankin admits he hasn't personally talked to Rowling about her next project; it was his wife who saw her "scribbling away." More»

Ancestry.com unveils Robert Pattinson's relation to Dracula

(NEWSER) - This is sure to send all those Twilight-obsessed tweens into a tizzy: Robert Pattinson, aka Edward Cullen of the Twilight films, is related to Dracula. At least, he’s related to Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula character, the AP reports. Twilight author Stephenie Meyer is also, conveniently enough, related to Vlad. More»

Twihards can read 'Short Second Life of Bree Tanner' for a month

(NEWSER) - In a “special thank you to fans,” Twilight saga scribe Stephenie Meyer has OKed the free online release of her latest, an Eclipse-related novella called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Two days after the 192-page volume hits bookstores on June 5, it will available on the web as a read-only file for a month. So, no downloading or distribution! Right. More»

Vampire's Assistant has an identity crisis

(NEWSER) - Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant isn't particularly freaky, and it sure could use some assistance. Some critics' takes:

• Peter Travers doesn't deign to explain the film's loose ends. "All you need to know is that the movie is a setup for sequels that I hope never come," he writes in Rolling Stone. It also "commits the cardinal sin for a vampire movie: It’s bloodless."