J.K. ROWLING
Here is a Biography of the author of Harry Potter
Rowling, J. K. (1965- ), British author, who writes about the magical adventures of a boy wizard named Harry Potter. The Harry Potter books dominated bestseller lists in the late 1990s and early 2000s, attracting fans worldwide among children and adults alike.
Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury, a small town in southern England. Rowling knew she wanted to be a writer as early as age six, when she wrote her first story. She graduated from the University of Exeter in England and afterward worked in various jobs while attempting to write fiction for adults.
J.K. Rowling ( Joanna Kathleen Rowling ) started writing really early as young as 12 years old or so. She used to write many short stories when she was small and she used to put many of her friends in them too. She used to think Hermione as herself ( Well, If Hermione turns out to be like JKR then in the books we might have some stories of Hermione ). Not good at math ? Well, don't worry nor was JKR , she once got a zero in math :-)
J.k. Rowling was born in 1965 (37 years old) at Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucesterishire-a fitting birthplace for someone who loves strange but believable names but the sad part is that J.K. Rowling's mother is not in this world any more to see what she has created and she would have been immensely proud because Rowling's Mother's biggest passion were books. I hope J.K. Rowling's Father lives a long and happy life. :-)
"Some of the Characters have been made up in The Harry Potter book" Says Rowling but many of them are on real-life people. Harry Like Ian Potter, JKR's Close Friend. Ron a boy she knew & Hermione as herself !
Rowling moved to Portugal at age 26, where she taught English. While there, she married a Portuguese journalist, and they had a daughter in 1993. During this time she began writing a book about an orphaned boy who lives with his mean-spirited aunt and uncle and does not know that he is actually a wizard with magic powers.
By 1995 Rowling was divorced, and she moved to Edinburgh, Scotland.
Unable to pay for childcare, Rowling went on public assistance and continued writing her book, often jotting down passages in cafés while her daughter slept at her side. Her finished manuscript was rejected by a number of publishers before its publication as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Britain in 1997. This tale of Harry Potter, who learns of his magic abilities at age 11 and then attends the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, appeared in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in 1998. A sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published in Britain in 1998 and a year later in the United States. A third volume, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, appeared in both countries in 1999. By then, the Harry Potter tale had been translated into nearly 30 languages. A fourth volume, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, reached bestseller lists weeks before its publication in July 2000. A motion-picture adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was released in 2001.
A single mother living in Edinburgh, Scotland, Rowling became an international literary sensation in 1999, when the first three installments of her Harry Potter children’s book series took over the top three slots of the New York Times best-seller list after achieving similar success in her native United Kingdom. The phenomenal response to Rowling’s books culminated in July 2000, when the fourth volume in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, became the fastest-selling book in history.
A graduate of Exeter University, Rowling moved to Portugal in 1990 to teach English. There, she met and married the Portuguese journalist Jorge Arantes. The couple’s daughter, Jessica, was born in 1993. After her marriage ended in divorce, Rowling moved to Edinburgh with her daughter to live near her younger sister, Di. While struggling to support Jessica and herself on welfare, Rowling worked on a book, the idea for which had reportedly occurred to her while she was traveling on a train from Manchester to London in 1990. After a number of rejections, she finally sold the book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (the word “Philosopher” was changed to “Sorcerer” for its publication in America), for the equivalent of about $4,000.
By the summer of 2000, the first three Harry Potter books—Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azbakstan—earned approximately $480 million in three years, with over 35 million copies in print in 35 languages. In July 2000, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire saw a first printing of 5.3 million copies and advance orders of over 1.8 million. Rowling, now one of Britain’s richest women, plans a total of seven books in the series, each chronicling a year in the life of Harry Potter, a young wizard, and his motley band of cohorts at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
A film version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire) was released in November 2001. In its opening weekend in the U.S., the film debuted on a record 8,200 screens and smashed the previous box office record, earning an estimated $93.5 million ($20 million more than the previous recordholder, 1999's The Lost World: Jurassic Park). It ended the year as the top-grossing movie of 2001. Production is already underway for a second film installment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
In late December 2001, Rowling married the anesthetist Dr. Neil Murray at the couple's home in Scotland.
