Joanne Rowling was born near Bristol, England, on July 31, 1965. She studied French at the University of Exeter, on the south coast of England and spent a year living in Paris as part of her course. After leaving university she worked in London; including a stint with Amnesty International. In 1990, Joanne and her boyfriend moved to Manchester together. After spending a weekend searching for an apartment, the idea of Harry Potter popped into her head when she was travelling back to London on the train.

Not having a pen on her, she spent four hours on the train conjuring up ideas surrounding a scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard. That very evening, she began to write the first book, although Rowling admits those first few pages didn't resemble anything that wound up in the published book. However, the book was put on hold when on December 30, 1990, her mother, who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when J.K. was 15, died. She was only 45 years old.

Nine months later, still grieving for her mother, Rowling left for Portugal, where she got a job to teach English at a language institute. She took the Harry Potter manuscript with her. It had undergone a number of changes since her mother died. Though she didn't finish her book in Portugal as she'd hoped, she met and married a Portuguese man and gave birth to a daughter, Jessica.

The marriage lasted a year, and in December 1993, the divorced mom moved to Edinburgh, where her sister Di was living. Knowing that she needed was to get a full time job to support herself and her daughter, she was determined to finish the book soon, before she became too busy. Whenever her daughter fell asleep, she would put her in a stroller and go to the local cafe and write.

When it was done, she sent the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to an agent, who sent back a polite refusal. The second agent she tried asked to see the rest of the manuscript, then took her on as a client. After the book was turned down by nine publishers, her agent, Christopher, finally found a publisher in August 1996. The book was an immediate success and has been published in many languages. Rowling went on to write a total of seven books about Harry, and each one has been made into a movie, with the final book split into two movies because of its length.

She was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2000 Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Honours List for her services to literature. In 2004, she received an honorary degree from Edinburgh University in recognition of the Potter books and her outstanding contribution to children's literature. She now owns two properties in Scotland, including a castle where she lives with her family. She is the best selling author in the history of literature and the first to become a billionaire. In 2007, Forbes magazine estimated her earnings for the year to be $32 million.Rowling married again in December 2001 and has two children, David and Mackenzie, with her current husband, Neil Murray.

Synopsis

Born in Yate, England, on July 31, 1965, J.K. Rowling came from humble economic means before writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, a children's fantasy novel. The work was an international hit and Rowling wrote six more books in the series, which sold into the hundreds of millions and was adapted into a blockbuster film franchise. In 2012, Rowling released the non-Potter novel The Casual Vacancy.

"I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized and I still had a daughter that I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."

Early struggles

As a single mother living in Edinburgh, Scotland, Rowling became an international literary sensation in 1999, when the first three installments of her Harry Potter children's book series took over the top three slots of The New York Times best-seller list after achieving similar success in her native United Kingdom.

The phenomenal response to Rowling's books culminated in July 2000, when the fourth volume in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, became the fastest-selling book in history.

A graduate of Exeter University, Rowling moved to Portugal in 1990 to teach English. There, she met and married the Portuguese journalist Jorge Arantes.

The couple's daughter, Jessica, was born in 1993. After her marriage ended in divorce, Rowling moved to Edinburgh with her daughter to live near her younger sister, Di. While struggling to support Jessica and herself on welfare, Rowling worked on a book, the idea for which had reportedly occurred to her while she was traveling on a train from Manchester to London in 1990.

Since the release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on 30 June 1997, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide. The series has also had some share of criticism, including concern for the increasingly dark tone.

As of June 2011[update], the book series has sold about 450 million copies, making it the best-selling book series in history, and has been translated into 67 languages. The last four books consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history. A series of many genres, including fantasy and coming of age (with elements of mystery, thriller, adventure, and romance), it has many cultural meanings and references. According to Rowling, the main theme is deat. There are also many other themes in the series, such as prejudice and corruption.

The initial major publishers of the books were Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom and Scholastic Press in the United States. The books have since been published by many publishers worldwide. The books, with the seventh book split into two parts, have been made into an eight-part film series by Warner Bros. Pictures, the highest-grossing film series of all time.

The series also originated much tie-in merchandise, making the Harry Potter brand worth in excess of $15 billion.

Also, due to the success of the books and films, Harry Potter has been used for a theme park.