J.K ROWLING
J.K Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury, July
31st, 1965. Her childhood was generally happy, although she does remember
getting teased because of her name, “Rowling” – She recalls often getting
called “Rowling pin” by her less than ingenious school friends. J.K. Rowling
says she never really warmed to her own name, although, she does remember
having a fondness for the name Potter from quite an early age. J.K.Rowling
studied at St Michael’s Primary School in Gloucestershire, before moving to
Chepstow, South Wales at the age of nine.
From an early age, J.K. Rowling had the
ambition to be a writer. She often tried her hand at writing, although little
came from her early efforts. Aged six she wrote a book about a rabbit with
measles. After her mother praised her effort. Rowling replied ‘well get it
published then.’ She admits it was a ‘Bit of an odd thing for a child of six to
think. I don’t know where it came from…”
In her own autobiography, she remembers with
great fondness, when her good friend Sean became the first person to give her
the confidence that one day she would be able to make a very good writer.
“he was also the only person who thought I was
bound to be a success at it, which meant much more to me than I ever told him
at the time” (1)
Sean was also the owner of a battered old Ford
Anglia, which would later appear in one of the Harry Potter series as a flying
car.
After finishing school, her parents encouraged
her to study French at the University of Exeter. She slightly
regretted choosing French, saying she would have preferred to study English.
However, it was her parents wish that she study something “ more useful” than
English.
After having spent a year in Paris,
J.K.Rowling graduated from university and took various jobs in London. One of
her favourite jobs was working for Amnesty International; the charity, which
campaigns against human rights abuses throughout the world. Amnesty
International, is one of the many charities, which J.K.Rowling has generously
supported since she attained a new found wealth.
It was in 1990 that J.K.Rowling first
conceived of the idea about Harry Potter. As she recalls, it was on a long
train journey from Manchester to London when she began forming in her mind, the
characters of the series. At the forefront, was a young boy, at that time not
aware that he was a wizard. The train was delayed for over four hours, but she
didn’t have a pen and was too shy to ask for one nothing,
“To my immense frustration, I didn’t have a
pen that worked, and I was too shy to ask anybody if I could borrow one.”
But she remembers being very enthusiastic, and
excited about the ideas which were filling her mind.
On arriving at her flat in Clapham Junction,
she began work on writing the book immediately, although, it would take several
years to come to fruition.
It was also in December of 1990 that
J.K.Rowling lost her mother, who died of Multiple Sclerosis. J.K.Rowling was
very close to her mother, and she felt the loss deeply. Her own loss gave an
added poignancy to the death of Harry Potter’s mother in her book. She says her
favourite scene in the Philosopher’s Stone is, The Mirror of
Erised, where Harry sees his parents in the mirror.
In 1991, J.K.Rowling left England to get a job
as an English teacher in Portugal. It was here that she met her first husband,
Jorge Arantes – and together they had a child Jessica. However, after a couple
of years, the couple split after a fierce argument; where by all accounts
J.K.Rowling was thrown out of the house.In Dec 1993, Rowling returned to the
UK, moving to Edinburgh where she tried to finish her first book. She was
surviving on state benefits and bringing up her daughter as a single parent.
She would often go to Edinburgh cafes to work on the book whilst her child had
a nap.
Eventually, she finished her first copy of "The Philosopher's Stone",
and sent it off to various agents. She found an agent, Christopher, who spent
over a year trying to get a publisher. It was rejected by 12 major publishing
houses. But, eventually, a quite small publisher, Bloomsbury agreed to take the
book on. The editor Barry Cunningham also agreed to pay her an advance of
£1500. The decision to take on the book was, in large part, due to his
eight-year-old daughter’s enthusiastic reception of the first chapter (However
she was advised to continue her training as a teacher because she was told
writers of children’s books don’t tend to get very well paid.)
“There’s always room for a story that can
transport people to another place.”
– J.K.Rowling [1]
Within a few weeks of publication, (1996) book
sales really started to take off. The initial print run was of only 1,000 – 500
of which went to libraries. First editions are now said to be worth up to
£25,000 each. She also received a grant from the Scottish arts council, which
enabled her to write full time. After the books initial success in the UK, an
American company Scholastic agreed to pay a remarkable £100,000 for the rights
to publish in America. In 1998, Warner Bros secured the film rights to the
books, giving a seven-figure sum. The films have magnified the success of the
books, making Harry Potter into one of the most recognisable media products.
Under the close guidance of J.K.Rowling, the films have sought to stay close to
the original plot; also at J.K.Rowling’s request all the actors are British and
are filmed in Britain.
On the 21st December 2006, J.K.Rowling
finished her final book of the Harry Potter Series "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (Amazon). The book was released in July
2007, becoming one of the fastest selling books of all time. J.K.Rowling has
said the book is her favourite, and it makes her both happy and sad. She has
said she will continue writing but there is little chance of continuing the
Harry Potter Series. She has published a dictionary of things related to
Hogwarts and Harry Potter, that were never published in other books. Before the publications of books created by
Rowling had been rejected by the publisher 12 times
Since the end of her Harry Potter series, she
says she has finished some short stories, she also hinted on the Oprah Winfrey
Show in 1st October 2010, that an 8th book in the Harry Potter series is a
possibility.On 27 September 2012, Rowling released the ‘Casual Vacancy’ an
adult novel – to mixed reviews. In 2013, The Cuckoo’s Calling was
published. Initially, the author was stated as being Robert Galbraith. But,
this was a pseudonym used by J.K.Rowling. After her authorship was discovered,
sales went through the roof.
J.K.Rowling has sought to protect her children
from media intrusion. In 2011, she gave testimony to the Leverson enquiry about
how unscrupulous reporters sought to intrude into her family’s privacy. After
her books became best-sellers, reporters would often be camped outside her
home. J.K. Rowling said:
“However, as interest in Harry Potter and
myself increased, my family and I became the target of a different kind of
journalistic activity. The effect on me, and our family life, truly cannot be
overstated. We were literally driven out of the first house I had ever owned
(which faced almost directly onto the street) because of journalists banging on
the door, questioning the neighbours and sitting in parked cars immediately
outside the gate. Old friendships were tested as journalists turned up on their
doorsteps, and offered money for stories on me.
After finding a letter from a journalist in
her child’s satchel, she remarked:
“It’s very difficult to say how angry I felt
that my 5-year-old daughter’s school was no longer a place of complete security
from journalists.”
J.K.Rowling currently lives in Scotland, on
the banks of the river Tay, with her 2nd husband Neil Murray; J.K.Rowling has
three children, two with husband Neil.
So the reason to inspire jk rowling because she is a person
who never gives up and learns from previous failures. Even though she is a
single parent but she is responsible
