Jo has mentioned on her official site that Luna Lovegood’s her favorite new character.
Jo has also said that Luna is like an “anti-Hermione”.

Straight from Jo –>

? “Yes! I don’t know where she came from but I really like Luna – really fun to write. She’s slightly out of step in many ways but she’s the anti-Hermione. Hermione’s so logical and inflexible in so many ways and Luna is likely to believe 10 impossible things before breakfast”

? “The scene in which I had Hermione, Rita and Luna together in the pub was really fun to write because they are three very different women with very different points of view. You have this very cynical journalist, you have Hermione, who is very logical, upright and good, and you have Luna, who is completely out to lunch but fantastic. I really like Luna. You have these three people who are not on each other’s wavelengths making a deal. It was fun to write.”

? You said that during the writing of book six something caused you fiendish glee. Do you remember what that was?
Oh, god……..What was it? It wasn’t really vindictive [laughs] – that was more of a figure of speech. I know what I’ve enjoyed writing – you know Luna’s commentary during the Quidditch match? [Laughs] It was that. I really enjoyed doing that. Actually I really enjoyed doing that.
You know, that was the last Quidditch match. I knew as I wrote it that it was the last time I was going to be doing a Quidditch match. To be honest with you, Quidditch matches have been the bane of my life in the Harry Potter books. They are necessary in that people expect Harry to play Quidditch, but there is a limit to how many ways you can have them play Quidditch together and for something new to happen. And then I had this moment of blinding inspiration. I thought, Luna’s going to commentate, and that was just a gift. It’s the kind of commentary I’d do on a sports match because I’m — [laughs]. Anyway yeah, it was that.

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