Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Who is J.K.Rowling?
Joanne Rowling was born on July 31, 1965 in Yate, Gloucestire, England. Rowling has admitted to being a day dreamer as a child, and would write fantasy stories. She seemed to gather inspiration around her, for instance the headmaster at her childhood school, Alfred Dunn, is rumored to be the inspiration behind her famous character Albus Dumbledore. The character Hermione is loosely based on Rowling herself. However, she has said that only one character was purposefully written about a specific person, Gilderoy Lockhart, although she refuses to reveal the identity of that person.
After divorcing from her first husband, a Portuguese tv journalist named Jorge Arantes, Rowling found herself a struggling single mother on welfare. She was diagnosed with depression and her experience with the illness gave her the idea for the gloomy, happiness draining Dementors in Harry Potter. She still dreamed of becoming a writer and for six years worked on a book that she began on a lengthy train ride. After her first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Rowling had a difficult time convincing anyone to publish it. Even when someone finally agreed to publish it they told her that she should probably find a day job, as she was most likely not going to make any money as a children’s author. A year later Scholastic Inc. won the rights to publish the novel in America for an astounding 105,000. Rowling said that she “nearly died” when she found out the news.
The Harry Potter brand is now worth an estimated $15 billion dollars. Rowling is now Brittan’s 13th wealthiest woman and is even wealthier than the Queen. There are seven total Harry Potter books totaling 4,195 pages, and has been translated into 65 languages. Although the Harry Potter series is complete and there are no current plans to expand, it is not completely ruled out. She married anesthetist Dr. Neil Murray in 2001 and has two children with him. The mother of three has proven to be wildly successful, despite her humble beginnings. She seems to have quite a soft spot for those less fortunate and has dedicated a lot of time and money into several philanthropic organizations.
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