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Introduction (Picture- Vieira, Meredith)
J.K. Rowling was born as Joanne Rowling on July 31, 1965 in England. She grew up in Chepstow, Gwent. J.K. (Rowling). Rowling came from a modest beginning, as she discussed in an interview with Meredith Vieira. Her father was a factory manager and her mother was a lab technician. Her childhood was hard as she learned at a young age her mother was diagnosed with MS. (Vieira). At the age of eighteen J.K. Rowling attended the University of Exeter. (Rosenberg). -
Idea of Harry Potter
The idea Harry Potter first came into J.K. Rowling's mind when she was on a train ride to London. She did not have a pen or paper so she just kept all the ideas within her head. While writing Harry Potter and the first novel the Philosopher's Stone, her mother died from MS, which greatly affected her. Rowling's book took much longer to finish. (Urbanette). -
Struggle before Sucess in Edinburgh
Rowling found herself living off of welfare, as she tried to support her daughter ,Jessica, as a single mother. Her part-time secretary job did not support her and her daughter financially. (Urbanette). Their apartment was in such horrible condition that they had mice running around. Later, Rowling went back to get her teaching degree, althought she was still living paycheck to paycheck. This all happened before she became a multi-millionaire, and selling over 100 million books. (Vieira). -
No longer Joanne Rowling
Joanne Rowling adopted the pen name J.K. Rowling. The "K" is from her grandmother's name, Kathleen, as Rowling wanted to honor her. She changed her pen name so that she could gain male readers, as they would think it was a male author. (Rosenberg). Picture- (Cagle, Daryl) -
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J.K. Rowling wrote the rest of her first novel in a café. When it was finished, the book took over a year to find a publisher. Bloomsbury released Rowling's first novle in 1997. (Urbanette). Picture- ("J.K. Rowling's road to riches") -
Success from Movies
With over four of the Harry Potter books published, the first movie in the series was released in 2001. While Rowling was paid $500,000 for the rights, the movie alone grossed $974 million worldwide. ("J.K. Rowling's road to riches). Picture- ("The Harry Potter Cast") -
Inspiration to many
J.K. Rowling was listed as an European hero for the tremendous amount of money she donated to terminally ill children. ("European Heroes"). Picture- ("European Heroes"). -
12th wealthest in Great Britain
The Sunday Times Rich List, listed Rowling as the 12th richest woman in England with a fortune of $798 million. ("J.K. Rowling's road to riches"). -
Life after Potter continued.
Rowling explains in the interview that without her financial troubles this book would not have been possible, as it is a story about people in England living in council estates. (Rowling, J.K. Interview). -
Life after Potter
Rowling's,according to Forbes, estimated fortune is worth one billion dollars due to the success of Harry Potter. Despite that, she continues to write, and has written a new novel aimed for adults called the "Casual Vacancy". (Rowling, J.K. interview). In her interview, she discusses how she feels about continuing to write after the huge success of the Harry Potter novels. Picture- ("The Casual Vacancy")
