Due to the popularity and enormous
success of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling
is considered one of the most successful writers
of today. J.K. Rowling was born on March 31,
1965 in Gloucestershire, England, and has a
younger sister, Di. She started writing at the
age of 5, and her first novel “Rabbit” was filled
with interesting characters from animal kingdom.
She was inspired to begin writing
while taking a trip by train, and later admitted
that she wanted to create a “special world”
where kids would have absolute power.
Even though she approached writing
with immeasurable devotion, J.K. Rowling could
never imagine the popularity and success that
Harry Potter novels would achieve. Her only
motivation was to begin the book, finish it,
and then publish it. Shortly after the publisher,
Bloomsbury Children’s Book, published her book
in June 1997, J.K. Rowling, in writers’ circles,
was viewed as a “world’s most famous discovery”
of today.
She is the author of most likable
and most famous character in modern fiction,
as well as the author and creator of personal
escape from poverty.
In her childhood, J.K. Rowling
moved twice. While living with her family in
suburbs of Bristol her first neighbor was Ian
Potter, who later became one of her best friends,
and whom she loved very much and never forgot.
With the parental influence, J.K.
Rowling completed her studies of French and
English language. She planned to pursue a career
in being a secretary. However, shortly afterwards,
she realized that secretarial career is not
in her nature. Personally, she describes herself
as an awful secretary, very un-organized, and
not able to concentrate during important meetings.
While working as a secretary she would focus
on making mental notes for her novels, instead
of concentration on her current job.
When she turned 26, she moved
to Portugal and began working as an English
professor. Her classes were held mainly in the
afternoon and in the evenings. Remainder of
the day, she spent focused on her writing. During
this time she began writing a story about a
“wizard”.
In Portugal, she married a local
journalist in 1993, with whom she has a daughter
named Jessica. Shortly after the birth of her
daughter, her marriage ends in a divorce, and
J.K. Rowling, as a single mother, moves to Edinburgh,
Scotland to be closer to her sister, Di. It
is during this phase in her life that she decides
to finish and publish the Harry Potter book.
She was divorced, lived alone with her daughter
in a modest apartment, and depended on welfare
in order to survive. “Harry Potter and Sorcere’s
Stone” was written on a table in a nearby café.
Café servedJ.K. and her daughter as a shelter
from the cold. And it was exactly Harry Potter
that saved J.K. Rowling.
Receiving a donation from Scottish
Artist Association, Joanne was able to finish
the book, and after selling it to English publishers
Bloomsbury and Scholastic Books for $4,000,
she began receiving awards and acknowledgments.
When Harry Potter and Sorcere’s Stone was published
in England in 1997, Joanne gains instant fame.
In that same year, Joanne receives the Children’s
Book of the Year award, along with Smarties
Prize. Rights to the book were bought in numerous
countries, and the book was desired by the readers
worldwide.
Some sources claim that in the
summer of 2000, for the first three Harry Potter
books, J.K. Rowling earned over $400 million.
The series was printed in 35 different languages,
and sold over 30 million copies. In her Harry
Potter novels, Joanne, through the main character,
profusely fights evil at all cost.
She spent 5 years writing her
first book. Joanne does not use a computer,
her work is hand-written. Her favorite illustrations
are either American or Dutch.
J.K. Rowling wrote and continues
to write stories about Harry Potter, a true
literary phenomenon of the current and the past
century. Joanne is a quiet, keeps-to-herself,
and very creative woman. Her talent to create
imaginary characters and depict them in writing
changed her life totally. Exploring the world
of imagination, like written in fairy tales,
made Joanne rich and famous. Millions of readers
worldwide were given happiness with her series
of novels.
