Joanne "Jo" Rowling has become a publishing phenomenon. In just ten short years, her Harry Potter books have made her the highest grossing writer in history.
How much do you know about the woman that created the Harry Potter books? Learn more about one of the world's most favorite authors with these fun facts about J.K. Rowling and the "Harry Potter" series:
- J.K. Rowling (pronounced "rolling") is a pseudonym. The author's real name is Joanne "Jo" Rowling. She has no middle name; the "K" is taken from her grandmother's name, Kathleen.
- Jo Rowling was born in Yate, near Bristol England in 1965.
- She has one, younger, sister named Di.
- Jo Rowling has been married twice: once in 1992 to Portuguese journalist, Jorge Arantes, and in 2001 to British anethesist, Neil Michael Murray.
- She has three children: Jessica (by Arantes), born in 1993; David (by Murray), born in 2003; and MacKenzie (by Murray), born in 2005.
- Rowling has three homes: an estate named Killiechassie in Scotland; a house in Edinburgh; and a house in London.
- Her "Harry Potter" books has sold over 325 million copies worldwide.
- The first printing of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (the original British title of the first book) was just 1000 copies. The first printing of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will be 10.8 million copies.
- On her Web site, Ms. Rowling says that the character Hermione is roughly based on her own school days.
- Also on her Web site, Ms. Rowling sites the British author Jessica Mitford as an early influence and the person for whom her daughter is named.
- Rowling graduated from the University of Exeter and studied in Paris.
- Her first job after college was as a secretary at Amnesty International.
- Rowling was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.
- Among her many honors, Ms. Rowling has had an asteroid named after her (2006) and a dinosaur by the Indianapolis Children's Museum (2006).
- Jo Rowling taught French in Edinburgh after her divorce in 1993. She worked on her Harry Potter novel at night.
- Ms. Rowling's parents, Peter and Anne, met while departing Kings Cross Station in London (the same station where Harry Potter and his friends depart for Hogwarts).
- Rowling conceived of the Harry Potter story on a long-delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990. It took her six years to complete the first novel.
- The first Harry Potter novel was rejected by nine publishers before London's Bloomsbury Publishing agreed to take on the novel.
Sources: J.K.Rowling official Web site; Scholastic Book Site, J.K. Rowling on the IMBD database
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Sandy Mitchell - Sandy Mitchell is a fulltime freelance writer, based in Cleveland Ohio. Her passion for reading began as early as she could hold a book ...
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