J.K. Rowling was born Joanne Kathleen Rowling on July 31, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury near Bristol, England. Rowling became an international literary sensation in 1999, when the first three installments of her Harry Potter series took over the top three slots of The New York Times best seller list. The phenomenal response to Rowling's books culminated in July, 2000 whe the fourth volume in the series Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire became the fastest selling book in history.
A graduate of Exeter University, Rowling moved to Portugal in 1990 to teach English. There she married and a daughter was born in 1993. After her marriage ended in divorce, Rowling moved to Edinburgh with her daughter to live. While struggling to support daughter and herself on welfare, Rowling worked on a book - the idea for which had reportedly occurred to her in 1990. After many rejections, she finally sold the book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (the work "philosopher" was changed to "sorcerer" for publication) for the equivalent of about $4,000. The book and its subsequent series chronicled the life of Harry Potter, a young wizard and his cohorts at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.
By the summer of 2000, the first three Harry Potter books (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)had earned approximately $480 million with over 35 million copies in print in 35 languages. In July, 2000 Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire saw a first printing of 5.3 million copies with advanced orders for 1.8 million. The fifth installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was released in June, 2003. The sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, sold 6.9 million copies in the United States during the first 24 hours. This was biggest opening in publishing history. The seventh installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was the largest ever pre-ordered book at stores like Barnes & Noble, Borders and Amazon.com.
Rowling, now Britains 13th wealthest woman does not plan to write any more books in the series, but has not entirely ruled out the possibility. In 2008, Rowling did release The Tales of Beedle the Bard, written from the perspective Harry Potter characters. Her fans anxiously await more from Rowling and the world of Harry Potter.
READ-A-LIKES - if you enjoy the works of J.K. Rowling, try these authors...
C.S. LEWIS - The Chronicles of Narnia from the adventures of Digory and Polly as they try to return the wicked witch Jadis to her own world, the magic becomes mixed up and they all land in Narnia, where the witness Aslan blessing the animals in human speech and much more. The books in the series are -
The Magician's Nephew (book I)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (book II)
The Horse and His Boy (book III)
Prince Caspian (book IV)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (book V)
The Silver Chair (book VI)
The Last Battle (book VII)
EOIN COLFER - When a 12 year old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology and a particulary nasty troll. The books in the series are -
Artemis Fowl (book I)
Artemis Fowl - The Arctic Incident (book II)
Artemis Fowl - The Eternity Code (book III)
Artemis Fowl - The Opal Deception (book IV)
Artemis Fowl - The Lost Colony (book V)
T.A. BARRON - When Merlin, suffering from a case of severe amnesia, discovers his strange powers, he becomes determined to discover his identity and flees to Fincayra where he fulfills his destiny, saving Fincayra from certain destruction and claiming his birthright and true name. The books in the series are -
The Lost Years of Merlin (book I)
The Seven Songs of Merlin (book II)
The Fires of Merlin (book III)
The Mirror of Merlin (book IV)
Posts
