J.K. Rowling doesn’t need any introduction. The mind behind Harry Potter is a screenwriter, film producer, TV producer, British author and philanthropist. Best known as J.K. Rowling her full name is Joanne Rowling. She was born on 31st July 1965. Her Harry Potter book series which gained attention worldwide had won multiple awards. Over 400 million copies of books sold around the world. She conceptualized the tale when she was on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. An amazing story of magic where everyone had superpowers. Let’s try to understand what was going on in her mind when she wrote this book. We have gathered a list of interesting facts about J.K. Rowling.
Harry Potter Day
Harry potter fans across the globe know that International Harry Potter Day is celebrated on 2nd May.
Her Favorite Book
As a kid, “The Little White Horse” written by Elizabeth Goudge was her favorite book.
First Story
J.K Rowling was fond of writing from childhood. From childhood she loved to read fantasy books. Joanne even created her own fantasy story book that she read to her sister, Dianne. Being an imaginative mind she wrote her first story “Rabbit” at the age of six. Her mother liked her story very much and even said that she should publish it.
Harry Potter Character based on Rowling
Yes. That’s right. One of the Harry Potter Series characters Hermione Granger was based on J.K. Rowling when she was 11 years old. It means Hermione was living the life of Rowling in the series.
Harry Potter and Rowling shares birthday
Both Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling shares the same birthday which is July 31.
British Actors for Film
While she was producing the film Harry Potter Rowling used only British characters.
She worked as a Researcher
Even before she started writing Harry Potter. After graduating, she worked as a researcher in Amnesty International.
Interesting Letter from her Fan
J.K. Rowling received a letter from her fan, Francesca Gray, who didn’t even know the gender of J.K. Rowling. He even started the letter with “Dear Sir”.
She wrote her inceptive ideas of Harry Potter on a Napkin
When J.K. Rowling came up with the idea of Harry Potter when she was on a train trip so she wrote initial ideas on a napkin because no typewriter was available there. J.K. Rowling herself typed the “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone” using a typewriter.
Publishing Houses Rejected her Work
Publishing houses rejected her work 12 times without knowing the importance of her manuscript. Though J.K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter in 1990 and completed it in 1995. Still it took 2 years to publish it. After being rejected from a lot of publishing houses Bloomsbury finally accepted it.
Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone was sold for $1,500
After receiving a grant from Scottish Arts council for finishing the book, J.K. Rowling sold it to Bloomsbury Company for $1,500.
Book for Adult’s
J.K. Rowling’s first book for adults was published in 2012. Its name is “THE CASUAL VACANCY”.
Her Middle Name
Actually, she has no middle name. She took the name of her grandmother, Kathleen, as her middle name. It means “K” is a borrowed word in her name.
Do you remember King’s Cross Station?
Harry Potter’s Series fans may remember that Harry potter takes Hogwarts Express from King’s Cross Station. The same station where J.K Rowling’s parents were met for the first time.
Crime Novel
J.K. Rowling released a crime novel “Robert Galbraith” in 2013.
Order of the British Empire
In honor of her services for the children’s literature she was awarded Order of the British Empire. She has been its officer since 2000.
Why did she use a pen name?
She used a pen name instead of her real name because it was suggested that young boys would not like to read a book written by women.
Not a Happy Teenager
She said that she faced a difficult time in her teenage because her relationship with her dad was not good. Her mother was diagnosed with sclerosis whom she loved very much.
Inspiration for flying Machines in Harry Potter
Sean was Joanne’s best friend when she was writing Harry Potter. Sean’s car became an inspiration for J.K. Rowling to use flying machines in Harry Potter.
Character and Ideas for Harry Potter
Almost all ideas for Harry Potter are taken from real life. Remember the Dumbledore character, her headmaster was an inspiration behind it. Her experience with depression became the basis for the creation of Dementor creatures.
She was an English Teacher
She applied for a teaching job in Portugal after seeing the ad in The Guardian. Where she taught English as a second language.
Her Mother never knew Rowling was writing a book
J.K. Rowling had been writing Harry Potter for 6 months at that point her mother passed away. Unfortunately, she never told her mother that she was writing books.
Her income was low when she was writing first Harry Potter book
J.K. Rowling had no stable income when she was writing the Harry Potter book. She and her daughter stayed at her sister’s house because they don’t have their own house during those days.
J.K. Rowling’s father sold most of her first Harry Potter collections
She has not talked terms with her father. Once her father asked her to help him pay a debt of 100,000 pounds. Rowling refused to do so. In reaction her father sold her first collections of Harry Potter without her knowing. The collections he sold also included some personal notes.
Richest Author in the World
The richest author in the world is J.K. Rowling with a net worth of $1 billion. Her life changed from an unemployed person to billionaire within just five years.
She was suggested for side job besides writing
When Bloomsbury picked up her first book of Harry Potter to publish it, they suggested her to do a part time job along with writing because there was no much money in writing fantasy books.
She did BA in French and Classics
J.K. Rowling first applied for admission in Oxford University but her entrance test result was not up to the mark. Therefore, she took admission in Exeter University and got a degree in French and Classics.
She spend a lot in Charity Work
Because of her notable charity work J.K. Rowling was awarded British Red Cross Humanity award.
Donation to Edinburgh University
J.K. Rowling’s mother died of sclerosis so she donated a huge amount to Edinburgh University for the creation of a Regenerative Medicine centre. This centre was named in the memory of her late mother “Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic”.
She won Smarties Prize many times
Yes. She became the first person to win Smarties prize three times successively.
She named her daughter after an English Author
J.K. Rowling loved Jessica Mitford (an English author) so much that she named her daughter “Jessica” after her name.
Favorite Sport
Basketball is the favorite sport J.K. Rowling. It became an inspiration for the creation of fictional sport Quidditch. She came up with different names (Snitch, Quaffle and Bludgers) before finalizing the name of the new sport.
These interesting facts about J.K. Rowling showed that she is an incredible women. Are you excited to see her new publication?
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