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If you haven't heard of J.K. Rowling, then you must live under a rock. She makes more money than the Queen of England thanks to her four (soon to be five) Harry Potter novels. She had a lot of rough times, but she never gave up, and now she's livin' the life!

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Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born on July 21st, 1965, in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England. From the very start, she was a storyteller. She wrote her first book Rabbit when she was 5 or 6 and says that she has been scribbling ever since. She remembers herself as freckly, short-sighted, rubbish at sports, bossy and slightly insecure. (sound like someone we know?)

Joanne went to Exeter University and studied French. Though her parents believed she would have a wonderful career as a bilingual secretary, it didn't take Joanne long to realize they were wrong. She found it very hard to pay attention at meetings, and wrote down story ideas instead of taking notes, as she was instructed to do.

In 1990, she was on a delayed train to London when Harry was born. She was bombarded with ideas, and, four hours later, she had the book, the plot and most of the characters planned out. Joanne the began to write the story on her lunch hour in cafes.

In 1992 at the age of 26, Joanne finally gave up at trying to be a secretary, and moved to Portugal to teach French, which she enjyed despite her students calling her "Rolling Stone". There she met and married a Portugese journalist. They had a daughter, Jessica in 1993. But their marrage didn't last long, and it soon ended in divorce.

Joanne then moved to Edinburgh, to be with her younger sister, Di, where she set a goal- to finish and publish her Harry Potter novel. Living on social security and being a single unemployed parent, she worked in a cafe during her daughter's naps.

While struggling to make ends meet, Joanne sufered from clinical depression. Though it was only brief, her experience with depression made a lasting impact on her and inspired her to create the Dementors that appeared in her third Harry Potter book.On depression, Rowling said, "It is that absence of being able to envisage that you will ever be cheerful again. The absence of hope. That very deadened feeling, which is so very different from feeling sad."

Joanne requested a grant to finish her book, which the Scottish Arts Council finally gave her after many rejections. Eventually, she sold Harry Potter aand the Philosopher's Stone for the equivilent to about $4,000 to Bloomsbury (UK).

By this time Joanne was again working as a French teacher. This time being serenaded down the halls by students singing the first line of the theme from Rawhide "Rolling, rolling, rolling, keep those wagons rolling...".
After several months Arthur A Levine Books/Scholastic Press bought the American rights to the first Harry Potter, and Joanne received enough money to give up teaching and write full time. Joanne has described this moment as the happiest of her life.

It wasn't long before Joanne was recognized as a major discovery. The awards and accolades grew quickly for both Harry Potter and Joanne. In 1997 the book won The British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, and the Smarties Prize.

After being renamed Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, the book was published by Arthur A Levine Books/Scholastic Press.

Joanne wrote two more sequels, Chamber of Secrets which was released in 1998, and Prizoner of Azkaban, which was released in 1999. Joanne became an internationally known author when the first three Harry Potter books claimed the top three spots of the New York Times Bestseller List.

By summmer of 2000, the first three Harry Potter books had racked in a total of $480 million dollars, had sold over 35 million copies and had been translated in over 40 languages.

July of 2000, Joanne's fourth and latest Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire hit bookstores everywhere. It had a first printing of 5.3 million copies with advanced orders of over 1.8 million.

Joanne is planning a seven-book saga, each book following one year of Harry's life.

What is the secret of Rowling's remarkable success? Many articles in journals, interviews on television, and discussions on the Internet have tried to analyze the ingredients that make the Harry Potter books irresistible to readers of all ages--the fast-paced cliffhanger action, the sparkling humor, the Dickensian names. But perhaps the true secret lies in what Rowling herself said in an interview published in Book Links magazine: "The book is really about the power of the imagination. What Harry is learning to do is to develop his full potential. Wizardry is just the analogy I use." While magic and wizardry inform many plot elements, the books are ultimately about the innate human desire to be unique and special, to form lasting friendships and connections with others, and to see forces for good triumph over forces for evil.