O: Do you regret that he can’t be a part of this success?

J.K.R: Well, the estrangement happened post-success, so he was there for a while. I regret much more that my mother never saw any of it. That’s a bit of a killer. I can honestly say I know 100 percent she would have adored it.

O: You started writing before she passed.

J.K.R: But I never told her about it. Six months before she died, I started writing, and I never shared it with her.

O:You regret that?

J.K.R: Hugely. But the odd thing is, and this is life, isn’t it, the books wouldn’t be what they are if she hadn’t died. I mean, her death is on virtually every other page of the Harry Potter books. At least half of Harry’s journey is a journey to deal with death in its many forms. The books are what they are because I loved her and she died.