Posted
on July 31, 2013
When
little “Jo” was born in England, on this date in 1965, I bet her
mom didn't tell her, “You're the sweetest little baby, and you're
going to grow up to be really, really rich and famous!”
If
her mom had had any idea, when her baby was born, that her daughter
was going to write the best-selling book series in history, which
would become the highest-grossing film series in history—well, her
mom probably would've given her a middle name!
It
would've been handy to have a middle name, since Rowling's publisher
for the Harry Potter books didn't want a female name on the cover
(Joanne Rowling). Instead, they decided to put her first and middle
name as initials, along with Rowling.
Only
problem: Rowling had no middle name. She had to make up a second
initial. So the “J” stands for Joanne (nickname Jo), but the “K”
doesn't stand for anything at all!
The British (top) and American (bottom) versions
of the Harry Potter books do not
always have the same cover art—
or even the same titles!
How did she do it?
Rowling
had written stuff ever since she was six, so she was used to getting
good ideas and writing stories. However, when she was on a delayed
train trip, one day, and she got the idea of Harry Potter, a boy who
didn't know he was a wizard, she was really excited. It seemed like a
really good idea to her—maybe the best she'd ever had!
Unfortunately,
Rowling didn't have a pen that worked to write down her great idea!
She reports that she was really frustrated with the no-pen
scenario—but she was too shy to borrow one from a stranger.
Fortunately,
Rowling didn't have a pen that worked to write down her great idea!
Rowling now wonders, if she had slowed down her thoughts long enough
to write them down, would she have lost some of the ideas and stifled
others?
Rowling
did start writing the book that night—and so also wrote her own
rags-to-riches story!
Celebrate!
Enter
Harry Potter's world, all over again, with the books or movies.
Check
out the Harry Potter activities at Activity Village
or at iVillage. There
are a whole lot of Harry Potter games and puzzles at Surf NetKids, and
this Pinterest page has everything from wizard recipes to Harry Potter crafts to Hogwarts printables.
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest pages on July
holidays, historical
anniversaries in July,
and July
birthdays.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on August
holidays, historical
anniversaries in August,
and August
birthdays.
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