J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling
Joanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE, FRSL, pen names J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, is a British novelist, screenwriter and film producer best known as the author of the Harry Potter fantasy series. The books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold more than 400 million copies. They have become the best-selling book series in history and been the basis for a series of films which is the second highest-grossing film series in history. Rowling had overall approval on the...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionYoung Adult Author
Date of Birth31 July 1965
CityYate, England
I'm not a billionaire, what a tragedy.
If there is a connection between Harry Potter and my new novel, it's my interest in characters.
I've been writing my entire life, and I'll always write. But at times I have told myself that I don't necessarily have to publish anything else.
The success of Harry Potter has given me lots of freedom. I can pay my bills, and I don't have to prove anything to anyone anymore.
There is plenty of ambitious competition and hypocrisy in the middle class, which makes it a rather fertile environment for a writer.
Many parts of my life are perfectly ordinary, if that's what you mean. One could even call it boring, but that's what I like about it.
Everyone wanted my emotions to be very simple. They wanted me to say, "I was poor and I was unhappy, and now I've got money and I'm really happy."
There was no press involvement, there was no pressure. Life was very pure and it became more complicated.
I'm a very distracted person.
It's going to be really emotional to say goodbye. I'm going to find it very difficult. But it must be done, it must be done.
The world is my oyster. I can do whatever I like.
I think it's difficult to be honest about certain aspects of my work without acknowledging that I have experienced or felt or questioned certain of the themes in the books.
I'm happy to talk in general themes, but when we get down to specifics about my family, for me that's always been off-limits.
I don't feel I owe my readers details of my family's private life.