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Not
resting on her laurels, the former single mom and now billionaire
publishing phenomenon has also reportedly turned her hand to crime
fiction following one of the most successful childrens book
series in publishing history.
Conjuring Harry Potter The
rags-to-riches success story of J.K. Rowling began near Bristol,
U.K. where she was born Joanne Rowling on July 31, 1965. Rowling's college days were spent majoring in French at Exeter University in the UK. Subsequent postgraduate work took place in Paris, then in London, where she worked for Amnesty International. The idea for Harry Potter was first germinated during the Rowling's long train commute each day from her home in Manchester to Amnesty International's London office. She kept working on the tale during a brief stint in Portual, where she taught English as a second language, and continued her writing through a failed first marriage to Portugese TV journalist, Jorge Arantes. Suddenly cast in the role as a single mother, Rowling returned to the UK and survived on welfare benefts as she struggled to raise infant daughter, Jessica, in a mice-infested flat in Edinburgh, Scotland.
"I could not afford the luxury of writer's block," the
author later recalled, "so I kept writing." Almost
Like Magic Thinking that young boys would be put off by a woman storyteller, Rowling decided to go under the the pen name J.K., incorporating the K after her grandmother, Kathleen. And the rest is Potter publishing history. When the book, entitled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, hit the bookshelves in 1997 it won almost instant critical notice and garnered 8 international book awards and a cult following of children and adult readers. With millions captivated by the the fully-realized story of boy wizard Harry Potter and his adventures with friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, the book skyrocketed to the top of bestseller lists around the world. And Rowling - in an equally astonishing reversal of fortune - fast switched circumstances from welfare mom to one of the most recognized authors on the planet. To date, equally popular subsequent titles include Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003) Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2005) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007) - all earning Rowling the distinction of being one of the world's richest women. With
profits from related movie and merchandising rights, the author
has overtaken even Queen Elizabeth II on the world's lists
of the most wealthy. Now a reported billionaire, Rowling currently
lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with her husband, Dr
Neil Murray, and has three children. All told, more than 250 million books in the Harry Potter series have been sold in some 61 translations in over 200 countries worldwide. Book 6 in the series, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, (HBP to rabid fans) predictablly broke sales records when it sold 7.9 million copies in the first 24 hours of being published on July 16, 2006, with pre-orders on Amazon.com already having climbed to more than one million. At the time, in a TV interview on the Today Show, the down-to-earth author expressed mixed feelings over the success of Harry Potter, downplaying her glittering success story saying, "life was purer and less complicated in some ways" during her days of single motherhood. Confirming book 7 as the finale to Harry Potter, the author also admitted to somewhat enviable confusion over her future direction, adding... "The world is my oyster now. I can do whatever I want." One of latest of the Harry Potter films, based on Book 7 in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is next to be released in a two-part series beginning in November 2010, The movie stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson reprising their roles as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
J.K. Rowling Pictures, News & Biographies: Hello! Profiles - J.K. Rowling The Leaky Cauldron - Harry Potter News & Updates
J.K. Rowling Quotes: • Poverty is a lot like childbirth - you know it is going to hurt before it happens, but you'll never know how much until you experience it. • Always have a vivid imagination, for you never know when you might need it. •
It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more
than our abilities. •
Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself. •
Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright
dislike.
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Still
In the news as the author Harry Potter book series, J.K. Rowling
will be busy in the next year giving interviews for the release
of the movie version of her final book, 
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