J.K. Rowling – Birthday: 31st July 1965

Facts

• Rowling shares the same birthday as her most famous creation, Harry Potter.
• Twelve publishing houses rejected Rowling’s original Harry Potter manuscript, but eventually small publisher Bloomsbury gave her a chance. Little did anyone know it would become the bestselling book series in history. Her seventh and final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, broke sales records as the fastest-selling book ever.
• Rowling wanted to be an author ever since she can remember: “As soon as I knew what writers were, I wanted to be one. I’ve got the perfect temperament for a writer – perfectly happy alone in a room, making things up.”
• She wrote her first story– called Rabbit – aged six, and her first novel at eleven. It was about “seven cursed diamonds and the people who owned them”.
• It took her five years to plan all seven books in the Harry Potter series. Most of her plans were written by hand on odd scraps of paper.
• When asked why Harry’s scar was shaped like a lightning bolt, she said, “To be honest, because it’s a cool shape. I couldn’t have my hero sport a doughnut-shaped scar.”

Quotes

“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

“We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already.”

“It is our choices… that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.”

“I will defend the importance of bedtime stories to my last gasp.”

“Wherever I am, if I’ve got a book with me, I have a place I can go and be happy.”

“If it’s a good book, anyone will read it. I’m totally unashamed about still reading things I loved in my childhood.”

“Read a lot. Reading really helps. Read anything you can get your hands on.”

Declassified 08/06/2018