--- title: J.K. Rowling Wrote a Fairy Tale on Her Dress description: The Harry Potter author keeps the fairy tale manuscript hanging in her closet canonical: https://time.com/4851254/j-k-rowling-fairy-tale/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-10T14:59:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:45:14.123Z og:title: J.K. Rowling Wore a Secret Fairy Tale on a Dress og:description: The Harry Potter author keeps the manuscript hanging in her closet og:url: https://time.com/4851254/j-k-rowling-fairy-tale/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8be21e0010e3506d/6988b9c98fd2ee2b5b355bf2/jk-rowling.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" European Premiere - Red Carpet Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: J.K. Rowling Wore a Secret Fairy Tale on a Dress twitter:description: The Harry Potter author keeps the manuscript hanging in her closet twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8be21e0010e3506d/6988b9c98fd2ee2b5b355bf2/jk-rowling.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch J.K. Rowling Explain the Time She Wore a Secret Fairy Tale on Her Party Dress by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 10, 2017 2:59 PM UTC  J. K. Rowling attends the European premiere of "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" in London, on Nov. 15, 2016. J. K. Rowling attends the European premiere of "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" in London, on Nov. 15, 2016.Karwai Tang—Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 10, 2017 2:59 PM UTC In an [interview](http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/10/world/amanpour-j-k-rowling-interview/index.html) with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Harry Potter author [J.K.Rowling](http://time.com/4812905/jk-rowling-misogyny-twitter-rant/?iid=sr-link1) revealed that she wrote a manuscript for a new fairy tale and while she decides whether or not to publish it, she’ll keep it hanging in her closet. Why her closet? Because she scribbled the story across a dress. “On my 50th, the theme of my 50th birthday, which I held at Halloween, even though that’s not really my birthday, was come as your own private nightmare,” [Rowling](http://time.com/4832926/jk-rowling-most-popular-tweets/?iid=sr-link9) told [CNN.](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/10/world/amanpour-j-k-rowling-interview/index.html) “And I went as a lost manuscript. And I wrote over a dress most of that book. So that book, I don’t know whether it will ever be published, but it’s actually hanging in a wardrobe currently.” [Rowling](http://time.com/4819719/j-k-rowling-stephen-king-donald-trump/?iid=sr-link3) has frequently spoken about her love of writing by hand, whether [spells for fans](http://www.today.com/popculture/j-k-rowling-shares-handwritten-expecto-patronum-spell-assault-survivor-t92321) or the first drafts of the _Harry Potter_ books. “Normally I do a first draft using pen and paper, and then do my first edit when I type it onto my computer,” [she told Amazon](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html?docId=563819), adding that she has “been known to write on all sorts of weird things” when she didn’t have a notepad handy. “The names of the [Hogwarts](http://time.com/4713730/jk-rowling-trump-kushner-slytherin/?iid=sr-link10) Houses were created on the back of an aeroplane sick bag,” she told Amazon, adding: “Yes, it was empty.” In that context, perhaps writing a story on a dress isn’t so odd after all. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4851254/j-k-rowling-fairy-tale/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4851254/j-k-rowling-fairy-tale/"},"headline":"Watch J.K. 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