13 July 2005
EXCLUSIVE: THE REAL JK ROWLING STORY
DAY TWO
By Nick Webster
CONJURING up the magical world of Harry Potter has made her as famous as the schoolboy wizard she created. Yet JK Rowling remains an enigma.
Little is known about the private life of the best-selling author who is rarely seen in public. And that's just how she wants it to stay.
The fame and fortune Joanne's novels have brought her is at odds with the quiet life she craves. And being one of the wealthiest women in the world has made her fearful for the safety of herself and her family.
Today, the former single mum, who once struggled on benefits and lived in a draughty Edinburgh flat is richer than the Queen. She now moves between luxurious homes in Edinburgh, Perthshire and London, hidden from prying eyes behind high walls and protected by CCTV cameras.
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Guarding her privacy, she travels in cars with blacked-out windows and instructs her drivers to use their headlights to dazzle any waiting photographers.
Understandably, Joanne, who is 40 at the end of this month, is most security conscious when it comes to her three children.
Eleven-year-old Jessica - her daughter by ex-husband Jorge Arantes, a Portuguese journalist, was followed by two children with her doctor husband Neil Murray - David, two, and daughter Mackenzie Jean, who was born on January 23 this year.
A WARE that her vast fortune could jeopardise her children's safety, they are never photographed or used for publicity purposes.
She is right to be cautious. Joanne has been the target of stalkers, including obsessed American fan Melissa Kumsuk Cho, who repeatedly turned up at her house and made nuisance telephone calls.
Given all this, it seems odd that when she does venture out on foot, it's without a bodyguard. But it's her way of not drawing attention to herself.
On the rare occasions she is spotted in Edinburgh - usually wearing dark clothes which are neither starkly fashionable nor obviously expensive - it is clear she has made an effort not to stand out from the crowd.
One favourite outfit she braves the outside world in is a dark, ankle-length coat and a crumpled velvet hat, worn pulled down over her ears to ward off unwanted stares and hide her telltale blonde hair. Keeping a low profile lets her go about her business unhassled, but that's not the only reason she tries to be incognito.
For JK Rowling, it is all about leading as normal a life as possible.
Considering that Forbes magazine rates her as one of the richest people in the world - she is one of the few women on its billionares list - she does not flaunt her wealth.
She shops in department stores such as Jenners, and while she can afford expensive items from elite Edinburgh jeweller Hamilton & Inches, she goes for cheaper, chunky costume pieces instead.
When she socialises, she avoids glitzy showbiz parties, preferring private dinners in the homes of close friends and family. It was at one such occasion that she met Neil.
They got married in December 2001 at their sprawling 1million 12-acre estate on the banks of the River Tay near Aberfeldy in Perthshire. Their other homes are a detached Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh and a 5.25m six-storey London mansion in Kensington.
Neil obviously shares her desire to lead a normal life. Being married to the super-rich author has not stopped him working at an NHS hospital in Edinburgh.
W HEN they dine out it's rarely at glitzy restaurants - preferring modest places such as Pizza Express.
If one of Joanne's haunts does become public knowledge, she never goes back for fear of being mobbed by fans. When an Edinburgh newspaper revealed that she enjoyed visiting city delicatessen Margiotta, she never returned.
One of the few exceptions to this is the Buffet King all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant in Edinburgh.
Its previous incarnation was Nicolson's - now famous as the place where Joanne wrote Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone a decade ago. She is said to return there occasionally when suffering writer's block.
Back then, as a single mum with just 69-a-week benefits, it was a 4,000 loan from a close friend that kept her dreams of training as a teacher - and finishing her first Harry Potter novel - alive.
The second literary agent she tried, Christopher Little, took her on. But it was a year before he found a publisher, after eight had rejected the manuscript.
Finally, in August 1996, Bloomsbury offered 2,500 to publish the author who now earns 250,000 a day. It's the kind of cash which makes Joanne one of only five self-made female dollar billionaires and the first billion-dollar author.
On her website, she recalls the moment she was told that Bloomsbury had made an offer: "I could not quite believe my ears. 'You mean it's going to be published?' I asked, rather stupidly. 'It's definitely going to be published?'
"After I had hung up, I screamed and jumped into the air. Jessica, who was sitting in her high-chair enjoying tea, looked thoroughly scared."
Since that day, she has sold 265 million books in 200 countries and 62 languages, including Latin and Ancient Greek, earning her 562million. Joanne has also won more literary awards than any other author in the world.
Every book has broken publishing records. The fifth, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, sold 1.8million copies in the UK within 24 hours of publication - making it the fastest-selling book ever. And Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, which goes on sale on Saturday, is expected to top it.
E XPERTS at Waterstone's booksellers predict that on its first day, the sixth Potter novel will sell more than two million copies in the UK and over 10 million worldwide.
Joanne is also credited with kick-starting a reading revolution among a generation more at home in front of a PC or PlayStation than in a library.
And it's not just books. The nation has gone potty for Harry in other ways, too. The first three film adaptations have grossed more than 1.35billion worldwide.
The fourth instalment, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, which will be in cinemas in November, is expected to do the best business yet.
Their astounding success has had a knock-on effect on Britain's film industry. When negotiating with Warner Bros, Joanne insisted they be based in Britain and use only British actors.
As a result, tens of millions of pounds has been pumped into the British economy. Meanwhile, homegrown teenage actors Daniel Radcliffe (who plays Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron) and Emma Watson (Hermione) have become multi-millionaires.
The DVDs have also been a hit. The Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets DVD smashed the one million sales mark in two days. Audio versions of the novels have sold more than 1.1 million copies, making them the best-selling audio books ever. And another 1billion has been generated from toys and other official merchandise.
One of the early passages of Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone contains the line: "Every child in our world will know his name."
It has proved to be astonishingly prophetic - both for the fictional hero and his mysterious creator.
Fan Fictions
Anupamaa
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