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Joanne "Kathleen" Rowling was born
Born to Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer and Anne Rowling, a science technician, on July 31st, 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. -
St. Michael's Primary School
When Rowling was four the family moved to the nearby village of Winterbourne, where she attended St. Michael's Primary School. The school was founded by abolitionist William Wiberforce and education reformer Hannah More. -
Secondary school at Wyedean School and College
At age nine, her family moved again to the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, where she attended Wyedean School and College. Her teenage years were unhappy and complicated due to her mother's battle with multiple sclerosis and a strained relationship with her father, Through this she often wrote fantasy stories and read them to her sister, Dianne. -
University
Rowling took the entrance exams for Oxford University, but was not excepted. So she shifted gears and read for a Bachelor's of Arts in French and Classics at the University of Exeter. -
Graduation and the Next Step
Rowling gradutated from Exeter and moved to London to work as a researcher and billingual secretary for Amnesty International. -
Her short essay was published
The University of Exeter's journal; Pegasus, published her short essay about her time studying Classics entitled "What was the Name of that Nymph Again? or Greek and Roman Studies Recalled." -
Harry Potter was born
While on a four hour delayed train ride from Manchester to London, the idea for a story about a young boy attending a school of wizardry came into her mind. The moment she got off the train she began writing down any idea she couold think of. -
Her Mother's Passing
After suffering from multiple sclerosis for ten years, Rowling's mother; Anne, passed away. Her death heavily affected Rowling's writing and it caused her to add much more detail about Harry's loss in the first book. -
Porto, Portugal
Rowling moved to Porto to teach English as a foreign language. She taught at night and bgean writing during the day. -
Marriage to Jorge Arantes
After 18 months in Porto, she met Portuguese television journalist, Jorge Arantes and few short months later in October they were married. A year later, their daughter; Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes was born on July 27th, 1993. -
Seperation
The marriage did not last long Joanne and Jorge seperated. Although the reasons for the seperation are unknown there are speculations that Rowling suffered from domestic abuse. -
No more ties to Porto
Rowling and her infant daughter moved to Edinburgh, Scotland to be near her sister. At this point, the Harry Potter book series consisted of the first three chapters of the first book. -
Seeing Nothing but Faliure and a diagnoses
With being out of University for seven years, a failed marriage, being jobless and a single mother, Rowling saw herself as a failture. However, there was a bright side. By describing her failure as liberaating it allowed her to focus on writing. During this period of time, Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression and contemplated suicide. -
The End of a Marriage
Jorge tried to find his wife and daughter in Scotland, but it was too late to come looking. Rowling first filed a restraining order against Jorge and a divorce soon followed. -
Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone
The manuscript for her first novel ever was finished! After reviewing her first three chapters, Christopher Little Literacy Agents agreed to represent her on her quest to find a publisher. The manuscipt was submitted to twelve houses and they all rejected her work. -
A Publisher is found
Her manuscript was being published by editor Barry Cunnigham from Bloomsbury, a publishing house in London. One of the main reasons for the decision to publish her manuscript is because of Bloomsbury's chairmans eight-year-old daughter, Alice Newton. After reading the first chapter she was demanding her father for more. -
First book comes with her first Prize
Five months after the publication of her first Novel; Harry potter and the Philospher's Stone, it won its first award. A Nestle Smarties Book Prize. Three months later, the novel won the Biritsh Book Award for Children's Book of the Year. And soon after the Children's Book Award. -
Books become Movies
Warner Bros. purschased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum. The first movie was released on November 2001 and the second movie was released on November 15th, 2002. Rowling had desires and thoughts when drafting her contract. She had principal stipulations that the film was to be shot in Britain with an all-British cast. For these films Rowling assisted Steve Kloves in the writing process, ensuring that his scripts did not contradict future books in the series. -
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaba
The third novel of the series won the Nestle Smarties Book Prize. This would make Rowling the first person to win the award three times running (first, second and third novels). -
Broken records
The fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released at the same time as her third novel in the United Kingdom and the United States. Book sales broke sales records in both countries. In the UK, 372,775 copies were sold in the first day and in the US three million copies were sold in its first 48 hours. She was given Author of the Year in the 2000 Biritsh Book Awards. -
A husband and Children
Rowling married Neil Michael Murray and had 2 children. David Gordon Rowling Murray was born on March 24, 2003, she then ceased work on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to take care of David in his early infancy. Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray was born on Jaunuary 23rd, 2005. -
Rags to Riches
Forbes named Rowling as the first person to become a U.S. dollar billionaire by wiriting books, the second-richest female entertainer and the 1,062nd richest person in the world. Although in 2012, Forbes removed Rowling from their rich list, claiming that her US$160 million in charitable donations and high tax rate in the UK meant she was no longer a billionare. Of which didn't bother Rowling at all. -
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The sixth book of the series was released and broke ALL sales records by selling nine million copies in its first 24 hours. In 2006, the novel receieved the Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards. -
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Rowling finished the seventh and final book of the series on January 11th, 2007. The book was then released 7 months later and broke its predecessor's record as the fastest-selling book of all time. It sold 11 million copies in the first day of release in both the UK and US. The book's last chapter was one of the earliest things Rowling wrote in the entire series. -
The Casual Vacancy
The Casual Vacancy is quite different from the Harry Potter Series for it was book targeted more towards adults. In the first three weeks of release the book sold over 1 million copies worldwide. On Decemeber 3rd, 2012 the book would be turned into a BBC television drama series for which it aired in three parts from February 15th to March 1st, 2015. -
Where is she now?
Rowling was inspired to begin writing stories at a young age. Since the age of 14 she was most influenced by the communist, civil rights activist and writer; Jessica Mitfor and describes her favourite author as Jane Austen. She now is the president of the charity, Gingerbread, for one parent families. She still continues to write and donates all money to charity. She is also contributing money and support to research and treatment of multiple scleorsis which is near to her heart (mother).
