 This biography is exclusive to PhoenixNet. It is original work, based on facts described in 'Conversations With J.K. Rowling' and 'J.K. Rowling: The Wizard Behind Harry Potter'. Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in a small town near Bristol called Chipping Sodbury. She claims that it is quite coincidential that someone born in a place with such an awkward name would grow up to collect weird place names and place them in her stories. J.K. Rowling (or, as she likes to be called "Jo") wrote her first book when she was 5 or 6. The book was called 'Rabbit'. It was about a rabbit who got the measles, so his friends came to visit him. Other things Jo wrote at a young age include a short story she wrote in fifth grade. The story was about cursed diamonds, and at that time she considered her story to be a novel. It's no wonder Jo has such an imagination. She grew up reading books by E. Nesbit and other famous children's authors. The time Jo had the measles, all she could remember was her father reading her 'The Wind in the Willows'; she didn't remember being ill at all. After she'd been to university, Jo really didn't seem to know what to do with her life. Her parents encouraged her to be a secretary, as she was very smart and spoke various languages such as French and English, as well as bits of Latin and Portugese, etc. She had several jobs as a secretary, but she the career just didn't suit her. Instead of taking the minutes during a meeting, she would write down new ideas for stories. This can be quite an issue with your employeer! Jo had spent a year in Paris once and she really enjoyed that. She wanted to teach English to foreign students. She moved to Portugal, where she got a job teaching English. She seemed to like the job and the students liked her. While in Portugal, Jo fell in love in a young, handsome Portugese reporter. They were married within a few years of meeting each other. However, their marriage lasted less than a year. Jo got pregnant and things just didn't seem to be working out with her husband. They were soon divorced. Then one day, Jo recieved a letter from her sister Di. Di talked about how she had recently moved to Edinburgh, Scotland. Having just divorced her husband with a baby on the way, Jo thought it would be good to get out of Portugal and move to Edinburgh. Once in Edinburgh, Jo lived with Di for a few months. Eventually, Jo had to move out. She had little money and she couldn't find work anywhere. With no where to turn, nothing to do, Jo's friend Sean gave her some money. She used to money to purchase a small, rundown flat. The flat, contrary to popular belief, was heated. Jo would leave her flat every afternoon and push her newly born daughter, Jessica, around the city. Once Jessica had fallen asleep, Jo would go into a café (Nicolson's Café, be exact) and drink only one cup of coffee. While Jo was in Nicolson's, she would sit at a table in the back (by a window) and write ideas, notes, and even chpaters to the Harry Potter books. It took Jo five years to complete the first novel (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone), along with various parts and plots of the other 6 planned volumes in the series. When 'Harry Potter and the Philosophet's Stone' was completed, Jo decided to get it published. There was only one problem- she couldn't afford a typewriter or even the most out of date computer. Despite the long hours (and obvious hand cramps!) Jo wrote out the entire book by hand. She then made numerous copies and hired an agent. She then sent the copies of the book out to publishers all throughout the United Kingdom. Nearly every publisher who recieved a copy of the book turned the project down, dismissing it as having a plot to complicated for the targeted child audience to understand. The only company that did like the book was Bloomsbury Publishing. They decided to publish the entire Harry Potter series! When Jo's agent called her and told her that Bloomsbury liked the book, she says in the documentary 'Harry Potter and Me' "It was the happiest moment in my life, next to the birth of my daughter Jessica!" That's pretty amazing, isn't it? Well, after the book had a major wave of popularity in Britain, Jo figured it was time to go international. The copyrights to the Harry Potter series went on auction to American publishers in the late part of 1997. Arthur A. Levine, an imprint of Scholastic Press purchased the rights for a huge sum of money, more than he ever expected! In fact, the sales of the American copyrights to the books hold a world record to this day! |
|
