JK Rowling biography
Its not magic, but it does sound like a fairytale

JK Rowling biography. Joanne Rowling was born on the July 31, 1965 in Gloucestershire, England to parents Peter James- and Anne Rowling. From a very early age she enjoyed telling and writing stories, and often acted them out with her younger sister Di.

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." -Albus Dumbledore

She went to school in Bristol, then at the age of 9 they moved to Wales where she finished school. After school, influenced by her parents she went to study French at Exeter University (though she admits she would rather have studied English), as it had better career opportunities according to them.

Finishing her degree, she worked as a secretary for several companies in London. At one time she was working with Amnesty International which really opened her eyes to some of the problems in the world.

In 1990 while on a train that was delayed for 4 hours, she came up with the concept for Harry Potter and started writing the first novel. A pivotal point in the JK Rowling biography happened when her mother passed away at the young age of 45 from multiple sclerosis. This influenced her in a deep and profound way and it impacted on the Harry Potter story.

To try and deal with life at that difficult time, she took up a English teaching position in Porto, Portugal. This is where she met and married her first husband, Jorge Arantes, a TV journalist. Her first daughter, Jessica Isabel Rowling Antares, was born on July 27, 1993. The marriage to Jorge didn't work out and they separated in November 1993. This gave Joanne the opportunity to move back to Edinburgh to be close to her sister, while taking care of her daughter.

Trying to write a book and take care of her daughter as a single mother on a welfare check of £70/week wasn't easy. She'd take her daughter for a walk in a stroller and when her daughter would fall asleep, she'd nip into a café and spend more time writing the novel.

When she finally finished the manuscript in 1995, she sent the first three chapters to an agent, but the first agent just sent it right back. The second agent she sent it to agreed to take it on and asked to see the rest of the manuscript.

Even then, it took almost a year to find a publisher willing to publish it, and they had 12 other publishers saying 'No thanks' to publishing the first Harry Potter novel. Finally a small London publisher, Bloomsbury, agreed to publish after the chairmans daughter read it and couldn't get enough. They gave her an £1500 advance but advised her to keep teaching as children books don't pay very well.

The first print run only had a 1000 books of which 500 were sent to libraries. But the book started winning awards (the first three books won the Nestle Smarties award three years in a row), and the publishing rights in the US was picked up by Scholastic Press for £100,000. Joanne Rowling when she heard the news, nearly feinted.

The K in her JK Rowling pseudonym came about after Bloomsbury suggested that boys might not like to read books by a female author. So she chose the K for Kathleen, her grandmother, as her middle initial.

In 1998, Warner Bros, bought the movie rights to the franchise for an undisclosed 7 figure sum. But JK Rowling still had a big say in the content of the films, including that it had to be shot in Britain and that all the actors had to be British. Coca-Cola won the bid for in-film product placement after agreeing to donate $18 million to Reading is Fundamental charity.

The JK Rowling biography also includes a second marriage. In December 2001 she married Neil Michael Murray and they have two children together, David Gordon Rowling Murray (born March 24, 2003) and Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray (born January 23, 2005).

She has properties in Edinburgh, Perth and London, but still call Edinburgh home. Her mothers death from multiple sclerosis have strongly influenced her charitable donations. She also chairs the One Parent Families charity after her experience as a single mom.

The JK Rowling biography is an inspiring rags-to-riches story as she kept believing in her dreams even through the hard times. And now that she is famous and wealthy, she insists on giving back to being involved with charitable work.

Below is her commencement speech to Harvard graduates in 2008.

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