Joanne Kathleen Rowling

Joanne Kathleen Rowling (http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/edsites/images/jkr2301.jpg)

J.K. Rowling is the author of the magical Harry Potter series. She is definitely a heroine. Her first four books made it onto to the top four spots on the New York Times best-seller list, but she asked that the future Harry Potter books not be considered for later lists. She also inspired the New York Times to make a separate list for children’s books. J.K. Rowling is an award winning author who has had her books made into movies, and when they are being made she has her say in what she wants to happen; or if there is something she doesn’t like, it won’t be in the movie. But J.K. wasn’t always the famous author that she is now. She went from a poor, single, mother with a child to a rich, married, successful author with a child. J.K. Rowling survived five years of not enough food, water, sleep, and money to finish her first Harry Potter book, called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Because most people in America don’t normally realize philosophers are like magicians, book companies in America changed the title to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. J.K. Rowling also wrote two books that appear in the Hogwarts library, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quadric Through the Ages, for Comic Relief, one of the most famous charities in Britain. J.K. Rowling is a worldwide known heroine.

J.K. Rowling has a very interesting early life. J.K. stands for Joanne Kathleen. J.K. preferred to be called Jo. Jo was born on July 31, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, England. At the age of six, Jo wrote her first short story called, “ Rabbit”. Though Jo wrote a series of stories about “Rabbit”, she didn’t share her stories and short poems with anyone but her sister Di. Ever since this early age, Jo knew she wanted to be a writer. She wore the government-issued National Health glasses, “ Thick as the bottom of a bottle”, as Jo says. Her next-door neighbors were the Potters, where Harry’s last name came from. Jo liked the name Potter a lot better than her own, Rowling. Soon, the Rowlings moved to The Forest of Dean. Jo loved to go wandering through the fields along the Wye River with her sister, Di. In school, Jo was very smart and loved to write. She describes herself in school as very, “bookish” in school. At lunch, Jo always told stories about herself and her friends performing dangerous and amazing stunts that Jo and her friends could never perform in real life. In Jo’s early life, she was very shy. J.K. also loved the magical world of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series, with its themes of courage, loyalty, justice, honesty, and fairness. When J.K. was twelve years old, she began to write her first novel. It was a long story about seven cursed diamonds. But the novel did not have much of a plot, and its characters were not believable. J.K. finally learned the trick to writing and would later advise young authors, “ The most important thing is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will give you an understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary. And it’s a lot of fun! And also, start by writing about things you know—your own experiences, your own feelings.” In high school, Jo traded in her overly thick glasses for contacts, and she began to feel less shy. She became happier and surer of herself. In high school, Jo’s best friend was a boy named Sean Harris. Sean had a turquoise car where he and Jo would sit and talk for hours. Sean was the only one besides Di that knew about J.K.'s writing. By the last year of high school, Jo was at the top of her class.

Jo graduated from college with honors in English, French, and German. Her parents wanted her to continue studying languages so she could work as a secretary at an international company. Jo followed her parents' advice, and enrolled at Exeter University in Devon to learn how to speak French fluently. While at Exeter Jo earned a degree in French, and taught in Paris for a year. Jo also studied the ancient stories of the Greek. Jo graduated from college in 1986. Soon after she graduated from college, she moved to London to work as a secretary. This job was one of a lot of unsatisfying jobs Jo worked at. These jobs included lots of secretarial work, and a job at a publishing company where her job was to send out rejection letters to young authors whose work was refused by the publisher. Jo used her lunch hours and spare moments to put together ideas for novels, always working really hard but she never seemed to be able to finish her novels.

Finally, when she was least expecting it to happen, her best idea came to her. In the summer of 1990, Jo took a train from Manchester to London. The train was delayed, and what usually was a short trip turned into a long four-hour journey. As Jo looked at her window at some cows, a vision of a boy she would later call Harry Potter came to her in a flash of inspiration. She had no pen or paper, so she just let her imagination run wild. Jo could see Harry very clearly in her mind; a scrawny boy with black hair and glasses, and a scar on his forehead. Jo decided that Harry would live with mean relatives and attend a wizard school in a castle. Jo concentrated on the castle, and the different people who would live in the castle. While thinking about Harry Potter, Jo decided it would take seven years to train a wizard. Jo also decided that the story of Harry Potter would be one huge novel divided into seven books, one for each year of school. J.K. was really excited by her idea, and thought it would be fun to write. By the time the train pulled into King's Cross Station, the beginning of the story and many of the characters were very clear in Jo's mind. In Conclusion, J.K. Rowling has a very busy early life.

J.K. Rowling had her struggles- her life wasn’t always like it is now. All though the story seemed so clear in Jo's mind, it was not so easy to get her story down on paper. And writing her story was very time consuming. During the next five years, Jo worked on and off at more unsatisfying jobs while she spent all her extra moments at pubs of cafes jotting down parts of her first Harry Potter book. She also made some drawings of Harry Potter characters, such as Hermione, who J.K. thought was most like herself. Six months after Jo began to write her first Harry Potter book, her mother died of multiple sclerosis. Jo had always thought of her mother as her best friend and was full of regret because her mother, a book lover, had never read anything she wrote. Jo's feelings about her mother were soon reflected in Harry's feelings about his parents' deaths. Jo was not aware of this, her feelings just came out. "Harry is entirely imaginary....He just came out as a part of me." Jo continued to write her story through many changes. In 1991, she moved again to Oporto, Portugal, to teach English. In 1992, while J.K. was perfecting her first book, Jo married a Portuguese journalist. In 1993, Jo's first daughter, Jessica, was born. About three and a half short months later, Jo's marriage ended in divorce. It was a gloomy and depressing time. Jo had no money, no food, and no home. The young author moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, to be near her sister, Di. Jo arrived with a suitcase half filled with Harry Potter notes and chapters and her daughter, Jessica. In Scotland Jo soon moved into a tiny apartment. One of the hardest obstacles for Jo was the fact that Jessica had enough toys to fit in a shoebox. J.K. Rowling had many challenges and obstacles, but she pulled through them.

As soon as Jo finished her first and second book, she made many contributions and achievements. First, J.K. went from a poor, single mother to a rich, married, successful author. Jo also gave time and money to National Council for One-Parent Families, an organization that had helped her in hard times. J.K. wrote two short stories, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quiddich Through the Ages, for Comic Relief, one of Britain's most famous charities. J.K. also went from writing short stories to writing possibly the most popular series in the world. As you can see, J.K. Rowling contributed many things and made many achievements.

J.K. Rowling earned many awards. J.K. Rowling's first three Harry Potter books made the top of the best-seller list. They also won the Smartie's book prize-including her fourth book. Also with sales, dozens of awards came from all over the world. All of her books were made into movies. Jo had her say in the Harry Potter movies. If there was anything she did not want to be in the movie, it wasn’t. J.K. Rowling has earned many awards.

J.K. Rowling has many interesting character traits. J.K. Rowling is determined. When Jo and Jessica had to move into an ant-sized apartment, she and her daughter Jessica and sometimes went nights without sleep and food, she did not give Even though J.K. faces many hard obstacles, she pulls though and again, she does not give up. Jo is also inspired. Her main inspiration is her daughter Jessica. Jo says that writing about Harry with Jessica beside her in a baby carrier became a safe haven. You could also say that in a way, J.K. Rowling is helpful. When J.K. realizes that her books keep making the top spots on the New York Times best-seller list (after book three, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), J.K. asked that future books not be considered for the list. Jo also inspired the list to create a separate list just for children’s books. As you can see, J.K. Rowling has many character traits.

As you can see, Joanne Kathleen Rowling was not always the person she is now. J.K. is a very interesting person, and I am glad I got to read about her and learn about her even more. I personally think that J.K. Rowling is the best author in the world, and I love her books!