Her sister Dianne was born when Rowling was almost two. The family moved to Winterbourne, Bristol when Rowling was four, and then to Tutshill, near Chepstow, Wales at the age of nine. She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College. In December 1990, Rowling's mother succumbed to a 10 year long battle with multiple sclerosis. "I was writing Harry Potter at the moment my mother died. I had never told her about Harry Potter. Dad called me at seven o'clock the next morning and I just knew what had happened before he spoke ... I was alternately a wreck and then in total denial ... Barely a day goes by when I do not think of her. There would be so much to tell her, impossibly much." "There would be so much to tell her..." The Daily Telegraph. Accessed 29 June 2006. Her passing figures prominently in Rowling's own fear of death and its theme in the Harry Potter series.

After studying French and Classics at the University of Exeter, with a year of study in Paris, she moved to London to work as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International. During this period she had the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry while she was on a four-hour, delayed train trip between Manchester and London. When she had reached her destination, she began writing immediately. "J.K. Rowling and Stephen Fry interview". Radio 4, 10 December 2005. Accessed 21 March 2006. Rowling then moved to Porto, Portugal to teach English as a foreign language. While there, she married Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes on 16 October 1992.About.com. "J.K. Rowling and Neil Murray". Accessed 29 March 2006. They had one child, Jessica Isabel, before divorcing in 1993. Their daughter was named after Rowling's heroine, Jessica Mitford. Weeks, Linton. "Charmed, I'm Sure". The Washington Post, 20 October 1999. Accessed 21 March 2006.

In December, 1994, she and her daughter moved to be near her sister in Edinburgh, Scotland. Unemployed and living on state benefits, she completed her first novel, doing some of the work in local Edinburgh cafés whenever she could get Jessica to fall asleep. "Harry Potter and Me". BBC Christmas Special, 28 December 2001. Transcribed by "Marvelous Marvolo" and Jimmi Thøgersen. Quick Quotes Quill.org. Accessed 17 March 2006. There was a rumour that she wrote in local cafés in order to escape from her unheated flat, but in a 2001 BBC interview Rowling remarked, "I am not stupid enough to rent an unheated flat, in Edinburgh, in mid-winter; it had heating".

Harry Potter

Harry Potter books

In 1995, Rowling completed her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on an old manual typewriter.The Harry Potter Lexicon, A History of the Books. Accessed 19 March 2006. Upon the enthusiastic response of Bryony Evans, a reader who had been asked to review the book's first three chapters, the Fulham-based Christopher Little Literary Agents agreed to represent Rowling in her quest for a publisher. The book was handed to twelve publishing houses, all of which rejected it.McGinty, Stephen The JK Rowling Story June 16 2003. Accessed April 9 2006. A year later she was finally given the greenlight (and a £1500 advance) by the editor Barry Cunningham from the small publisher Bloomsbury. BarnesandNoble.com. "Meet the Writers: J. K. Rowling". Accessed 25 March 2006. The decision to take Rowling on was apparently largely down to Alice Newton, the eight-year-old daughter of the company's chairman, who was given the first chapter to review by her father and immediately demanded the next. Although Bloomsbury had agreed to publish the book, Cunningham claims he advised Rowling to get a day job, as she had little chance of making money in children's books."Harry Potter has been very good to JK Rowling July 7 2005. Accessed 9 April 2006.

Soon after, Rowling received an £8000 grant from the Scottish Arts Council to enable her to continue writing. Scottish Arts Council Wants Payback November 30 2003. Accessed April 9 2006. The following spring, an auction was held in the United States for the rights to publish the novel, and was won by Scholastic Inc, who paid Rowling more than $100,000. Rowling has said she "nearly died" when she heard the news. Veritaserum.com, Sorcerer's Stone Book Information. Accessed 19 March 2006. In June, 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher's Stone with an initial print run of only 1000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries. Today, such copies are valued at between £16,000 and £25,000 each. Rare Harry Potter books July 22 2005. Accessed April 9 2006. Five months later it won its first award, a Nestle Smarties Book Prize. In February, the novel won the prestigious British Book Award for Children's Book of the Year, and, later the Children's Book Award. In October 1998, Scholastic published Philosopher's Stone in the States under the title of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a change Rowling now claims she regrets and would have fought if she had been in a better position at the time. "J.K. Rowling: BBC Online Chat". March 2001. Accessed 19 March 2006.

In December 1999, the third Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, won the Smarties Prize, in the process making Rowling the first person to win the award three times running. She later withdrew the fourth Harry Potter novel from contention to allow other books a fair chance. In January, 2000, Prisoner of Azkaban won the inaugural Whitbread Children's Book of the Year award, though it narrowly lost the Book of the Year prize to Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf. Gibbons, Fiachra. "Beowulf slays the wizard". Guardian Unlimited, 26 January 2000, accessed 19 March 2006. That June, the Queen honoured Rowling by making her an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

To date, six of the seven volumes of the Harry Potter series, one for each of Harry's school years, have already been published and all have broken sales records. The last three volumes in the series have all been the fastest-selling books in history, grossing more in their opening 24 hours than blockbuster films. "Potter sales record". EOnline, July 18 2005. Accessed 1 April 2006. "Harry Potter Returns". Infoplease, June 23 2003. Accessed 11 June 2006. Book 6 of her series earned The Guinness World Records Award for being the fastest selling book ever. Daniel Radcliffe, who stars as Harry Potter in the films, was presented and photographed with the award and will be appearing in Guinness World Records 2007.

Rowling is currently writing the seventh and Book Seven of the series. Its title is currently unknown.J.K. Rowling's Official Site. "What is the seventh book going to be called?". Accessed 22 March, 2006.. On June 26, 2006 Rowling revealed that at least two characters will die in the final book of the Harry Potter series, one of them maybe Harry himself. ^*

In June 2006, Rowling was named "the greatest living British writer" by The Book Magazine. Rowling topped the poll, receiving nearly three times as many votes as second-place author, fantasy writer Terry Pratchett. BBC News, BBC News: Rowling voted greatest living British author. Accessed June 11 2006.

Harry Potter films