RAGS-TO-RICHES by Carien Swart

Joanne Rowling, born on 31 July 1965 [age 56] is a well-known author. As soon as you hear the name J.K Rowling your head immediately goes to Harry Potter, but very few of us actually  know where the magic all began.

 

J.K Rowling  discovered she was pregnant and moved in with Jorge Arantes, father of the child. She soon had a miscarriage. Ignoring her friends concerns about her relationship she married Arantes in 1992 and became pregnant again with a baby girl, Jessica. In the meanwhile Arantes grew abusive. After a big fight in November 1993 he kicked them out. Joanne and her daughter depended on the welfare. She then moved in with her sister.

 

The inspiration suddenly hit her while traveling on a train from Manchester to London in 1990. When she arrived in Edinburgh in 1993, she sent out the first 3 chapters to over a dozen of literary agents, whom only one replied and asked the rest of it.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is a collection of novels. It follows the adventures of Harry Potter, a young boy who enters Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns about  magic and sorcery, and meets his arch nemesis, Lord Voldemort. The rest of the characters are also learners who attend Hogwarts, some of the most well-known include Hermione Granger,  Ron Weasley  and  Draco Malfoy.  Learners who attend Hogwarts are also sorted into house, such as Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin, based on their personalities.

There was also concerns about how boys will react towards a female author thus Joanne Rowling added the letter “K” from her grandmothers name, Kathleen, to make her name appear more unisex. She published her first book in 1997 and after 10 years she became the first worldwide billionaire author. Joanne said “I was set free because my greatest fear had been realised and I still had a daughter that I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. Rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

 

While her life looks charmed from the outside, the author no doubt carries the reminder of her years as a struggling single mom wherever she goes, like the scar on the forehead of the character that made her so famous.