Author Bio

Joanne Rowling was born on July 31, 1965 at Yate General Hospital in England. The oldest of two girls to Peter James Rowling and Anne. She has admitted to entertaining her younger sister during their childhood by creating stories for her. She attended St. Michael's village school where her headmaster, Alfred Dunn, is rumored to have inspired the character of Albus Dumbledore. She admits to having a writing desire since the age of six when she wrote a story for her mother titled Rabbit. She describes her teenage self as being "shy and freckly, with no sports ability, but a great love of literature” and admits to have loosely based the character of Hermoine on herself. She attended the University of Eexter where she graduated with a bachelors degree in French and Classics. She moved to London after graduation and worked as a secretary and it was during a delayed train from Manchester to London that she claims the idea for Harry Potter popped into her head. She decided to move to Portugal in 1990 where she met journalist Jorge Arantes, whom she married and conceived a daughter with. After 13 months and a day, the two were divorced, with claims of abuse by Jorge that resulted in a restraining order by Rowling. She moved to Edinburg, Scotland with her daughter where she relied on welfare and was diagnosed with clinical depression. About six months after she began writing, her mother passed away from multiple sclerosis. Rowling admits that her mother’s death affected her. She claims that “the books wouldn’t be what they are if she hadn’t died.” She finished writing the book in 1995 and sent it out to publishers. She was rejected by 12 and finally got the book published by Bloomsbury in June of 1997. Rowling, went on to receive numerous awards including: Booksellers Association Author of the Year (1998, 1999). She is widely known as the first billionare author and has created a charity called Lumous that helps children with things like health, education, and social care.